Relation Between Anxiety And Gut Bacteria

In today’s stressful life, we all suffer from anxiety, stress and depression. Many of us go for various kinds of medications, and treatments in order to resolve this issue and live a life that is free from stress and mental pressure. Usually those people suffer from anxiety the most, who are patients of mental disorders, and a number of physical disorders such as disorders related to and associated with stress. Other studies that took place on the subject in the past have reflected that as many as a third of people will be affected by anxiety symptoms during their full lifetime.

A large number of researches have indicated that gut microbiota i.e. the trillions of microorganisms that are present in the gut and perform large number of important functions in the immune system and metabolism by providing essential inflammatory mediators, nutrients and vitamins --  help largely to regulate brain functions with the help of something referred to as the "gut-brain axis." A recent research has revealed that mental disorders can be treated by regulating the intestinal microbiota, although there is absolutely no specific evidence to support this statement. A team of researchers from the Shanghai Mental Health Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, decided to set out in order to investigate if there was any evidence so as to support improvement of anxiety symptoms by regulating intestinal microbiota. They reviewed nearly 21 studies that had looked at almost 1,503 people altogether. Out of the total number of studies, about 14 of these had picked up probiotics as interventions so as to regulate intestinal microbiota (IRIFs), and seven made use of non-probiotic ways, for example adjusting daily diets. Probiotics refer to living organisms that are found naturally in some kinds of foods that are referred to as "good" or "friendly" bacteria as they fight against harmful bacteria and largely help them from settling in the gut. The researchers have found that probiotic supplements in around seven studies within their analysis contained almost only one kind of probiotic, two studies used a product that contain two kinds of probiotics, and the supplements that are put to use in the other five studies included at least three kinds. Overall, around 11 out of 21 studies have showed a positive impact on anxiety symptoms by regulating intestinal microbiota, which means that more than half (52%) of the studies have shown that this approach is effective. On the contrary, some of the studies that had used this approach did not find it working well.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190520190110.htm