Your Gut Microbiome Can Leave You Breathless: Insights on the Gut-Lung Axis
There are some luxuries in life that we often tend to take for granted, our health being one of them. And even when focusing on health, we rarely ever give much credit to breathing. Because the act of breathing is so continuously ongoing in the background of our lives without any conscious efforts, that we often overlook its significance in keeping us alive. Well, that’s until.. the breathing is interrupted.
Asthma is a chronic (long-term) respiratory condition wherein there is inflammation of the airways of the lungs which results in muscle constriction and difficulty in breathing. It is often accompanied by extra mucus secretion, which further blocks the airways. People of all age groups can be affected by asthma. Symptoms generally include chest tightness, shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing, and may sometimes worsen to cause an asthma attack. But how is the gut microbiome involved in this?
We are well aware of the role that our gut microbiome plays in regulating our immune system. In fact, many of our immune cells actually ‘graduate’ from our gut, i.e. they get robustly trained to recognise and fight the foes. But their graduation masterclass is quite comprehensive and involves not just getting adept at confronting the invaders but also distinguishing the cells of our own body from those of the invaders, so that there are no casualties. This is what we call a ‘tolerogenic’ immune system, i.e. a system that does not go into war mode on encountering ‘self’ and common environmental and food molecules. Gut dysbiosis in early childhood has shown to impact how the immune system ‘matures’.
Research has shown that certain species of bacteria like Veillonella, Faecalibacterium, and Rothia were found to be decreased in children that were at a higher risk of asthma. Other studies have highlighted that an increase in certain Clostridium species increases the susceptibility towards developing asthma. Furthermore, substances (metabolites) produced by certain species of the gut microbiome can modify many immunological responses.
Addressing gut dysbiosis can lead the way to effectively understanding the progression and amelioration of asthma. As always, the gut holds many answers. So sync your microbiome to the breath of your life!
References
The Role of the Microbiome in Asthma: The Gut–Lung Axis
