The balance of microbial populations making up the gut microbiome shifts with age. The research community has developed a good list of contributing causes, ranging from lifestyle changes to aspects of degenerative aging that affect immune function and the state of the intestinal lining, but the degree to which any given contribution is important relative to the others remains a question mark. The immune system is responsible for gardening the gut microbiome, suppressing the population growth of problem microbes, but immune aging likely reduces this activity. In turn, growing populations of problem microbes can help to pr…
Valeric Acid as a Harmful Metabolite Generated by the Aged Gut Microbiome
The balance of microbial populations making up the gut microbiome shifts with age. The research community has developed a good list of contributing causes, ranging from lifestyle changes to aspects of degenerative aging that affect immune function and the state of the intestinal lining, but the degree to which any given contribution is important relative to the others remains a question mark. The immune system is responsible for gardening the gut microbiome, suppressing the population growth of problem microbes, but immune aging likely reduces this activity. In turn, growing populations of problem microbes can help to pr…