Bullying means bad teeth

If you’re thinking of bullying someone, consider an unexpected consequence: You might be hurting their dental health. No, not by knocking their teeth out^* — Norwegian researchers found “that bad childhood experiences, including bullying, are associated with bad teeth cleaning habits.”

Why? No clue. Heck, it’s just an association (so it could be the opposite — that kids who don’t brush get bullied), but they suggest that it’s something to be aware of. If a kid has bad teeth, it might be worth a conversation.

^* That’s assault, not bullying.

Probiotics vs IBD

After a bout of gastroenteritis, many people end up with some form of irritable bowel syndrome. Treatment is usually about managing the symptoms.

Italian microbiologists tried something different. Assuming that gut bacteria (or the lack thereof) might be part of the problem, they developed a personalized regimen for each patient in a study. They analyzed each person’s gut biota to see what bacteria they might be missing and what they had too much of. “Then, a personalized therapy was designed for each patient, based on their results, with the goal of rebalancing their gut microbiota.”

That therapy was a combination of an antibiotic to kill the unwanted gut bugs, followed by “prebiotics and/or postbiotics to enhance the numbers of protective bacteria.”

Twelve weeks after the start of treatment, 93% (12/13) of patients experienced an improvement in symptoms and 38.5% (5/13) achieved total remission.

This trial was more proof-of-concept, so next up will have to be bigger, broader studies.