gut bacteria

(Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) Research published in the FASEB Journal suggests the types and levels of intestinal bacteria may be used to predict a person's likelihood of having a heart attack, and manipulating these organisms may help reduce risk.

This discovery may lead to new tests and therapies that physicians use to prevent and treat heart attacks.

In addition, this research suggests probiotics may be able to protect the heart in patients undergoing heart surgery and angioplasty.

(University of Rochester Medical Center) Within the human digestive tract is a teeming mass of hundreds of types of bacteria, a potpourri of microbes numbering in the trillions that help us digest food and keep bad bacteria in check.

Scientists have found that the vitamin D receptor is a key player amid the gut bacteria -- what scientists refer to as the "gut flora."

LITTLE FALLS, N.J. (MedPage Today) -- Overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine and intestinal permeability may contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, researchers say.