A recent article in the NY Times reports on a Nature study (Link: Bacteria and Malnutrition) which showed that certain bacteria were essential in resolving malnutrition.  Here is an excerpt:

“When children are starving, the bacteria that live in their intestines may determine whether they can be saved, scientists working in Bangladesh are reporting. And they say it may become imperative to find a way to give children bacteria as well as food.

The study, done by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, was published by Nature last week…stool samples showed that severely malnourished children often lack the needed species and do not acquire them even when they are fed nutrition-dense therapeutic foods like the peanut-based Plumpy’Nut or lentil-based porridges for weeks. As a result, they may remain stunted and mentally handicapped although they are getting enough calories to live.“

Another “chilling” story from NY Times describes E.P.R. (Link: “Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation“) which involves rapidly chilling catastrophic trauma victims by draining their blood and replacing with cold salt water.  This has the potential to dramatically improve survival and has been effective in animal models.

Related blog posts:

• Microbiome and the risk of Kwashiokor | gutsandgrowth
• Could antibiotics make you fat? | gutsandgrowth