Is mental illness and child developmental problems a problem of your gut and brain not communicating?
Barry Weiner
One of the most fascinating and intriguing subjects that I am asked to write about is the connection between mental illness and a “foul,” gut.
Your gut or gut microbiota is the collective name for the bacteria that lives in your digestive/intestinal tract. The super complex function of the gut can be explained simply as:
- A place where food gets broken down to its simplest elements and absorbed in the body.
- A place where unhealthy foods are ushered out of the body (the process of pooping)
These two functions are made possible by the 100 trillion healthy bacterial cells in your intestines. When you have healthy bacteria you have physical health and according to a flurry of recent research, you have good mental health.
“Big poops, small mental hospitals, Small poops, big mental hospitals.”
“Big poops, small mental hospitals, Small poops, big mental hospitals,” is paraphrased from an often quoted medical saying, “Big stools, small hospitals, small stools, big hospitals,” coined by the famed surgeon, scientists, and missionary Dr. Denis Burkitt (1911–1993). Among his many achievements, Burkitt pioneered the need for fiber in the diet. He noted that people who had regular, big bowel movements, tended to enjoy better health. Equally, people who suffered from constipation and poor bowel movements tended to suffer from digestive maladies and increased risk of colorectal and other cancers. To Burkitt, there was a connection between immune function and the gut. Burkitt’s lymphoma, a mostly pediatric cancer, is named for the doctor because of his work in discovering that this type of cancer is characteristic of a weakened or damaged immune system that makes children prone to the disease.
Burkitt was among the first to recognize that the gut plays an integral role in autoimmune health. Now researchers have expanded this idea to suggest that the gut plays an integral role in mental health and there is a connection between an inflamed gut, neurological disorders, and mental health issues. Simply big poops, less mental illness, small poops, more mental illness.
“My gut tells me . . . “
We have all heard people say, when making a tough decision, “I am going with my gut because my gut is telling me this is the right choice.” So people understand that their guts do talk to them beyond flatulence and the movement of gas. The gut bacteria has a voice, a mind, an understanding of its environment. The gut is often referred to as the “second brain.” More amazingly, the gut shares its thoughts with your brain and your brain, in many instances, “goes with its gut.” There is science that shows this.
In a 2018 study in the Journal of microbiology scientists described the gut-brain relation.
- “It is increasingly evident that bidirectional interactions exist among the gastrointestinal tract, the enteric nervous system (that part of the nervous system that governs the function of the gastrointestinal tract) and the central nervous system.
- Recent preclinical and clinical trials have shown that gut microbiota plays an important role in these gut-brain interactions.
- Furthermore, alterations in gut microbiota composition may be associated with pathogenesis of various neurological disorders, including stress, autism, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, the concepts of the microbiota-gut-brain axis is emerging.”(1)
Alterations in gut microbiota – The problems of gut brain communications
The key, according to some researchers in mental health problems and problems of children’s development is the aforementioned problem of alterations in gut microbiota. These alterations damage the gut’s ability to talk to the brain. What are these alterations, less good bacteria, more bad bacteria. These leads to inflammation of the gut.
In the opening paragraph of a study published in the journal Psychosomatic medicine investigators keyed on the communication aspect of how the gut and the brain send messages to each other:
- “The brain-gut-microbiota axis has been put forward as a new paradigm in neuroscience, which may be of relevance to mental illness. The mechanisms of signal transmission in the brain-gut-microbiota axis are complex and involve bidirectional communications which enables gut microbes to communicate with the brain, and the brain to communicate with the microbes.”(2)
While this indicates a positive relationship between brain and gut can be beneficial, what if inflammation leads to communication problems between the brain and the gut?
Communication problems: Bad thoughts getting through because of inflammation
In the journal Trends in neurosciences, (3) investigators from Oxford University suggested that pro-inflammatory cytokine concentrations (the inflammation that makes a disease worse) are capable of increasing the permeability of the blood–brain barrier permitting access to the potentially physically and mentally pathogenic entities. In simplistic terms – the makers of bad and altered thoughts get through – because they can alter and lower levels of serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate (an amino acid involved in mental health) that would typically block them. We are going to be examining this research in more detail below.
Communication problems: Altered thoughts getting through because of inflammation
In a study published in early 2019 in the journal Brain, behavior, and immunity, investigators found that: “Flavonifractor, a bacterial genus that may induce oxidative stress and inflammation in its host, was associated with Bipolar Disorder.” (4)
In a study published in early 2019 in the journal Brain, behavior, and immunity, investigators found wrote: “Gastrointestinal problems are common in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and although gut microbiota is known to play an important role in Autism Spectrum Disorders through the gut-brain axis, the specific mechanism is unknown. Recent evidence suggests that gut microbiota may participate in the pathogenesis of Autism Spectrum Disorders through immune- and inflammation-mediated pathways.” The research team was able to suggest that immune and inflammatory factors were prevalent in autistic children.(5)
The new consensus in the medical community is that the gut and brain talk to each other. Inflammation is perhaps the most important topic
Returning to the doctors at Oxford University and their colleagues, let’s review their paper: Psychobiotics and the Manipulation of Bacteria–Gut–Brain Signals.
Here is a summary of their fascinating findings on how the gut and brain talk to each other.
1.Gut bacteria produce a range of neurotransmitters through the metabolism of indigestible fibers. These include the following with a very simple and general explanation of its influence
- dopamine (reward and pleasure)
- noradrenalin (alertness and sexual arousal)
- GABA Gamma-Aminobutyric acid (low levels linked to anxiety and issues of chronic pain)
- serotonin (low levels implicated in depression)
- acetylcholine (reward and arousal)
2.The gut produces the neurotransmitters, the neurotransmitters talk to the brain.
The gut talks to the brain through the metabolization of dietary fiber which produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) – a communication link that may control inflammation related to depression.
The gut talks to the brain through the metabolization of dietary fiber which produces short-chain fatty acids. These include acetate, butyrate, lactate, and propionate.
- Short-chain fatty acids have been shown to reduce low-grade inflammation.
- It is suggested that inflammation plays a role in depression.
- Equally high fat diets have been shown to stimulate short-chain fatty acid acetate’s role in triggering the likelihood of obesity and inflammation.
3. The gut produces short-chain fatty acids, the short-chain fatty acids either reduce inflammation and has a positive effect on depression – such as on a high fiber diet – OR -short-chain fatty acids increases inflammation and its negative effects on depression – such as on a high fat diet.
The gut and brain talk about inflammation and how to reduce it. Researchers talk about probiotics and how they can help with this conversation
In the Oxford research above we see that there is correlation between what we eat and what the gut can handle. What the gut cannot handle creates inflammation. Inflammation creates problems of neurological disorders and mental health issues.
A great amount of research from the medical community is now pouring out centering on helping the gut reduce inflammation through probiotics. Why probiotics?
In the medical journal of Reviews in the neurosciences doctors writing in support of probiotics in helping patients with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder wrote that the attention being given to probiotics stems from ineffective treatments currently being offered.
- “Despite intensified research efforts to improve the treatment options and remission rates in mood disorders, no disease modifying treatment exists for these disorders. Accumulating evidence implicates the involvement of the gut microbiota in processes relevant to etiopathology (the origins of) of central nervous system-based disorders. . . The concept of psychobiotics, which is bacterial-based interventions with mental health benefit, is emerging in the field.”(6)
Probiotics and the anti-inflammatory impact – Probiotics may be the key for certain patients
Dr. Brittany L. Mason, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center wrote this in the journal Psychosomatics about the gut and patients with anorexia nervosa and depression.
- “Physical and mental health is dependent on the environment, and feeding (eating disorders) is a prime example of this environmental exchange. . . (Growing understanding shows) that gut bacteria regulate basic physiologic processes and are implicated in various disease states and contribute to regulation of mood. Responses to stress have effects on feeding behavior and mood and the regulation of the stress response by the gut microbiota could contribute to the dysfunction seen in patients with psychiatric illnesses.”
When the gut is stressed, the gut may communicate bad thoughts to the brain that lead to psychiatric illnesses. This is a common and developing theme.
Dr. Mason concludes: “Gut microbiota may contribute to dysfunction in psychiatric illnesses. New opportunities to modulate existing gut microbiota using probiotics could be novel targets for clinical interventions.” Probiotics may be the key for certain patients.(7)
“Big poops, small mental hospitals, Small poops, big mental hospitals.”
Research from The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University continues expressing the importance of understanding the gut as an “intersection between neuroscience, microbiology, and psychiatry.” The research suggests that the gut has the potential to be the focal point of treatment and for “studying the psychobiological underpinnings of mental illness.” (8)
The complexity of mental illness and child developmental challenges is not something that is typical of “single bullet cures.” But the “underpinnings” of treatment may be found in increasing probiotic consumption, reducing exposure to toxic household cleaners, reducing intake of bad foods, especially processed sugars, and increasing Vitamin B consumption along with other antioxidants, may help. All these changes in lifestyle may help. As some doctors also suggest the bigger the poop, the better.
REFERENCES
1 Kim N, Yun M, Oh YJ, Choi HJ. Mind-altering with the gut: Modulation of the gut-brain axis with probiotics. Journal of Microbiology. 2018 Mar 1;56(3):172-82.
2 Dinan TG, Cryan JF. Brain-gut-microbiota axis and mental health. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2017 Aug 11.
3 Sarkar A, Lehto SM, Harty S, Dinan TG, Cryan JF, Burnet PWJ. Psychobiotics and the Manipulation of Bacteria–Gut–Brain Signals. Trends in Neurosciences. 2016;39(11):763-781. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2016.09.002.
4 Coello K, Hansen TH, Sørensen N, Munkholm K, Kessing LV, Pedersen O, Vinberg M. Gut microbiota composition in patients with newly diagnosed bipolar disorder and their unaffected first-degree relatives. Brain, behavior, and immunity. 2018 Sep 24.
5 Wang M, Zhou J, He F, Cai C, Wang H, Wang Y, Lin Y, Rong H, Cheng G, Xu R, Zhou W. Alteration of gut microbiota-associated epitopes in children with autism spectrum disorders. Brain, behavior, and immunity. 2018 Oct 27.
6 Rios AC, Maurya PK, Pedrini M, Zeni-Graiff M, Asevedo E, Mansur RB, Wieck A, Grassi-Oliveira R, McIntyre RS, Hayashi MA, Brietzke E. Microbiota abnormalities and the therapeutic potential of probiotics in the treatment of mood disorders. Reviews in the Neurosciences. 2017 May 8.
7 Mason BL. Feeding Systems and the Gut Microbiome: Gut-Brain Interactions with Relevance to Psychiatric Conditions. Psychosomatics. 2017 Jun 8.