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<\/p>\nFungi aren\u2019t just food. New research has found that we have millions of them in and on our bodies and these fungus colonies are now thought to influence a range of seemingly unrelated diseases, even our chances of becoming obese.<\/p>\n
In fact, scientists think our fungi may be working in tandem with our bacteria, and that some diseases are caused by disruption to their natural balance.<\/p>\n
Researchers have found, for instance, that compared with healthy people, there is less diversity in the gut fungus of people who are obese, or who have inflammatory bowel disease; and less diversity in lung fungus in those who have cystic fibrosis.<\/p>\n
As a result, scientists are investigating whether adding \u2018good\u2019 bacteria and \u2018good\u2019 fungi could rebalance the body and one day help treat conditions such as Crohn\u2019s disease, dermatitis and asthma.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fungi aren\u2019t just food. New research has found that we have millions of them in and on our bodies and they \u00a0are now thought to influence a range of seemingly unrelated diseases<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s not just about bacteria any more \u2014there is a shift in research which is putting greater importance on the role of fungus and bacteria together,\u2019 explains Christopher Thornton, an associate professor of fungal immunology at the University of Exeter.<\/p>\n
\u2018Fungus is a hugely under-recognised area and once we know more about them when we are healthy, we\u2019ll know how to treat conditions when they are out of control.\u2019<\/p>\n
Bacteria and fungi are different types of germ with distinct structures; fungi are often large and made up of many cells, while bacteria are tiny and exist as single cells.<\/p>\n
Chances are you\u2019ve happily consumed a type of fungus at some point, whether it\u2019s a mushroom, truffle or Quorn sausage, bread made with yeast, as well as beer, wine and soy sauce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fungus is also used to make statins and antibiotics such as penicillin.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear just how many there are in and on our bodies but some studies estimate that bacterial cells outnumber fungal cells by about 1,000 to one, while about 2 per cent of our gut bugs are fungi.<\/p>\n For years fungi weren\u2019t considered significant until they caused harm, such as athlete\u2019s foot or thrush, or more serious lung infections caused by the fungus Aspergillus, they were then eradicated with antifungal drugs.<\/p>\n But just as there is increasing concern over bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics, there is concern about fungus becoming resistant to antifungal drugs.<\/p>\n Some strains of Candida auris which causes wound or ear infections and in extreme cases even organ failure are actually resistant to most antifungal drugs available, putting people at serious risk of deadly infections.<\/p>\n Researchers have found, for instance, that compared with healthy people, there is less diversity in the gut fungus of people who have inflammatory bowel disease<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 53 people in New York had been taken ill with Candida auris infections, causing concern of an outbreak in hospitals due to a lack of effective treatments.<\/p>\n Fungus that can make us ill can often live on our bodies without harming us. For instance, thrush is usually caused by the yeast Candida albicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018This yeast normally lives harmlessly on the skin and in the mouth, gut and vagina; around 50 per cent of people will have colonies of Candida on or in their body without any symptoms,\u2019 says Neil Gow, a professor of microbiology at the University of Aberdeen.<\/p>\n \u2018When conditions change, such as if someone has a weakened immune system, the fungus can gain an upper hand and start to build, causing an imbalance and characteristic symptoms of thrush such as skin irritation and itching.\u2019<\/p>\n The fungus can cause yeast infections in the vaginal tract and life-threatening infections if it gets into the bloodstream.<\/p>\n But now fungi are thought to have another role, working in tandem with gut bacteria.<\/p>\n For many years when people have studied the gut microbiome \u2014 the world of tiny bugs that live in our stomach \u2014 they only looked at bacteria, says Professor Mahmoud Ghannoum, director of medical mycology (the study of fungus) at Case Western Reserve University in the U.S.<\/p>\n While some fungi are useful in certain areas of the body, they are also harmful in others, so topping up the \u2018good\u2019 fungi or inhibiting the \u2018bad\u2019 in other ways, could help treat diseases<\/p>\n \u2018But we know, for example, that patients who are treated with antibiotics tend to develop fungal infections \u2014 for instance women develop thrush \u2014 so there is an interaction between the two communities. We need to look at both together.\u2019<\/p>\n Professor Ghannoum has developed a probiotic to boost both \u2018good\u2019 bacteria and \u2018good\u2019 fungi to rebalance the microbiome and keep things healthy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also emerging that while some fungi are useful in certain areas of the body, they are potentially harmful in other areas, so topping up the \u2018good\u2019 fungi or inhibiting the \u2018bad\u2019 in other ways, could help treat diseases.<\/p>\n For instance, earlier this month, a study in mice found that those that were fed a particular type of yeast had more gut inflammation.<\/p>\n The researchers, writing in the journal Science Translational Medicine, said that the yeast \u2014 Saccharomyces cerevisiae \u2014 led to more uric acid (a waste product) and, in turn, more inflammation, which could exacerbate Crohn\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n Therefore, blocking its growth could alleviate Crohn\u2019s symptoms in some patients. Indeed, when the researchers then injected the mice carrying this yeast with a drug to reduce uric acid, their intestinal disease was reversed.<\/p>\n Other research has shown that Saccharomyces can maintain a healthy gut and there have been suggestions that a probiotic made from this fungi might help treat certain gastrointestinal disorders, such as the gut infection C.diff, which affects thousands in the UK each year.<\/p>\n But while this is cutting edge research, what we do every day can affect our fungus colonies.<\/p>\n Chances are you\u2019ve happily consumed a type of fungus at some point, whether it\u2019s a pint of beer, bread made with yeast, mushrooms or Quorn sausages<\/p>\n \u2018The fact is that most of us are colonised by fungus that could cause a problem if we get sick,\u2019 says Professor Gow.<\/p>\n \u2018There is a 30 to 50 per cent chance that we have a fungus in our gut that is doing no harm, but would become a health threat if we became immuno-compromised or if it was spread to somewhere it isn\u2019t normally found.\u2019<\/p>\n Professor Ghannoum adds: \u2018Our natural fungus levels are easily damaged by factors such as stress and a high sugar diet.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018If the critical balance of bacteria and fungi in and on our body is impaired, \u2018bad\u2019 fungi can take over.\u2019<\/p>\n For example, patients on long-term antibiotics, such as those recovering after surgery, are particularly prone to fungal infections, in particular those caused by Candida, says Professor Gow.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018That\u2019s because when antibiotics kill off bacteria, the fungi can flourish in their place.\u2019<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Spanish researchers, reporting in the journal Scientific Reports, have found that a fungus called Mucor was higher in healthy people compared with obese people; and the amount rose after obese patients lost weight. So there may be a potential use for Mucor to combat obesity.<\/p>\n Should we start taking probiotic supplements that contain fungi? UK experts are so far sceptical, as the role of probiotics is still unclear<\/p>\n All this research is interesting but it\u2019s at an early stage, says Professor Gow.<\/p>\n So what are we to make of the probiotics being developed containing good bacteria and fungi to boost health?<\/p>\n Along with Professor Ghannoum, a U.S. company has developed a probiotic capsule, BIOHM, which apparently contains probiotic strains that target bad bacteria and fungi.<\/p>\n It\u2019s available to buy on Amazon and the company is working on making it available in the UK in the next few months.<\/p>\n But UK experts are sceptical. \u2018The role of probiotics in general is still unclear and very little quantitative research exists which can stand up these claims,\u2019 says Professor Thornton.<\/p>\n \u2018I do know that people who have gut problems have abnormal bacteria and fungal behaviour and a probiotic acting on both may be a good idea, but exactly how this product would work is unclear,\u2019 adds Professor David Denning, a consultant in infectious diseases and medical mycology at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.<\/p>\n \u2018Some treatments we use at our clinic are pretty minor and not hugely effective, so whether there\u2019s a benefit and how big that benefit is may not be crucial \u2014 as long as the product is safe it could well be used.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fungi aren\u2019t just food. New research has found that we have millions of them in and on our bodies and these fungus colonies are now thought to influence a range of seemingly unrelated diseases, even our chances of becoming obese. In fact, scientists think our fungi may be working in tandem with our bacteria, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/03\/27\/14\/3EAB61B800000578-0-image-m-52_1490621290658.jpg\")
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