Are we killing off the microbes that help keep us healthy? Check out this NY Times article Dr. Martin Blazer who has studied human microbes for the past 30 years is questioning the wisdom of our constant bombardment with antibiotics and the side effect of our overweight population, allergies and autoimmune problems. He was recently interviewed on Real Time with Bill Mahr (https://www.backfixer1.com/blog/antibiotics-is-this-why-we-are-fatter-are-less-healthy-and-having-more-allergies-new-research-some-healthy-tips-and-an-antibiotic-quiz/). Over millions of years, we have developed a symbiotic relationship with our bacteria, as many other species have, however now, with modern treatments such as antibiotics, this relationship is being altered with some costly consequences. The NY Times has recently investigated his new book, and some of his research which looks at us, the bugs that surround us and the importance of the human ecosystem which has been altered with the use of antibiotics and other technologies. Check out the article here By JANE E. BRODY We may think of ourselves as just human, but we're really a mass of microorganisms housed in a human shell. Every person alive is host to about 100 trillion bacterial cells. They outnumber human cells 10 to one and account for 99.9 percent of the unique genes in the body. Katrina Ray, a senior editor of Nature Reviews, recently suggested that the vast number of microbes in the gut could be considered a "human microbial ‘organ'" and asked, "Are we more microbe than man?" Our collection of microbiota, known as the microbiome, is the human equivalent of an environmental ecosystem. Although the bacteria together weigh a mere three pounds, their composition determines much about how the body functions and, alas, sometimes malfunctions. Like ecosystems the world over, the human microbiome is losing its diversity, to the potential detriment of the health of those it inhabits. Dr. Martin J. Blaser, a specialist in infectious diseases at the New York University School of Medicine and the director of the Human Microbiome Program, has studied the role of bacteria in disease for more than three decades. His research extends well beyond infectious diseases to autoimmune conditions and other ailments that have been increasing sharply worldwide. In his new book, "Missing Microbes," Dr. Blaser links the declining variety within the microbiome to our increased susceptibility to serious, often chronic conditions, from allergies and celiac disease to Type 1 diabetes and obesity. He and others primarily blame antibiotics for the connection. Read more