Critical But Overlooked: ICU Patients' Gut Bacteria

Paul Wischmeyer Our bodies are full of bacteria, and when we get sick, those microbial populations change. Hospitals monitor patients' bloodwork and vitals, so why not track the makeup of their microbiomes too? Paul Wischmeyer and his collaborators are conducting research that could allow them to do just that, opening the door for microbiome diagnostic indicators and probiotic measures to restore patients' normal bacterial signatures. We asked him about the research, and what he's learned so far. This text was edited for length. Read the full interview on ResearchGate News. ResearchGate: How did you first get involved in this field? Paul Wischmeyer: My passion for the research I do started when I was a teenager. At 15, I was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. I had been a very healthy kid until I took antibiotics for strep throat and began to bleed and had other gastrointestinal symptoms. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis shortly thereafter, and it progressed rapidly. I spent six months in the hospital and was given steroids and other medicines that never really made me better. I ultimately ended up losing my colon, getting quite sick, and being put in the ICU. Many surgeries later, it's still a part of my life. But it was at that age that I realized I wanted to study treatments that worked with the body, not against it, and to find ways to restore normalcy to the body after illness. RG: And what was the impetus for this particular study of microbiomes o...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news