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Microbiota And Depression Essay

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Microbiota make up a large part of what we are, outnumbering our own cells (Sender, Fuchs, & Milo, 2016.) In class, we focused on the relationship between Microbiota and the immune system. However, I chose to look at the relationship between Microbiota and depression in order to figure out if there is a way we can use microbiota to find a better cure for depression, as well as look further into how microbiota can affect the brain. Depression is a mental disorder that causes individuals to have low self-esteem, low mood, and loss of interest in usually enjoyable everyday activities (Szczesniak, Hestad, Hanssen, & Rudi, 2016.) Over 350 million people in the world suffer from depression, and about 1 million commit suicide each year (Szczesniak et al., 2016.) Studies have shown that gut microbiota can interact with the brain by “cross[ing] the blood–brain barrier, where isovaleric acid interferes with synaptic neurotransmitter release” showing that gut microbiota could have an impact on mental disorders including depression (Szczesniak et al., 2016.) …show more content…

“ Roseburia, Phascolarcto bacterium Megamonas, Lachnospiraceaincertae, Clostridium, Blautia, Oscillibacter, Parasutterella, Parabacteroides, and Alistipes” are gut microbiota that are increased in patients with depression (Jagmag, Tripathi, Jha, & Khurana, 2016.) “Ruminococcus, Dialister, Prevotella Faecali bacterium and Bacteroides” are gut microbiota that are decreased in patients with depression. (Jagmaget al., 2016.) These findings are very interesting, as in theory, a cure for depression that alters gut microbes could become a reality once more experiments are done in the

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