How climate change gi health influences

From heat -related diseases to the geographical expansion of infectious diseases, the effects of climate change on human health are complex. And indeed, dimensions of this interaction, such as the impact of climate change on intestinal health, remain overlooked.

Opwing research shows that this global phenomenon can make you sick for your stomach – literally.

Author Elena Litchman, an ecologist and professor in the research foundation of Michigan State University, calls for interdisciplinary collaborations to solve this complex problem. A new assessment article published in The Lancet Planetary Health Outlines how the compound effects of climate change could weaken human intestinal microbiomas, with the most serious effects expected in countries with a medium and low income.

These regions are confronted with improved risks due to food insecurity, malnutrition and exposure to pathogenic pathogens. These challenges can have a step -by -step effect on the composition of intestinal microbial ecosystems worldwide.

Heat stress can cause complex changes in the intestine, including shifts in the composition of the microbiota, increased oxygen levels and overproduction of stress hormones – changes that can make people more susceptible to harmful organisms.

These changes can change health at the molecular level, including disturbances for important digestive and immune functions. A consequence, says Litchman, is a reduced capacity of the body to absorb vital nutrients: a problem that is made more exponentially worse when nutritious food is scarce.

In addition, the gastrointestinal lining of the body becomes more permeable under heat stress, making toxins and pathogens in the digestive tract more easily entering the bloodstream.

In countries with a medium and low income, especially those in the tropics, an increase in gastrointestinal diseases is a versatile threat. Environmental changes promote the growth and distribution of pathogens, while heat stress and food insecurity reduce the effectiveness of people’s natural immune functions. These countries are also less equipped to adapt to food shortages than countries with a high income, resulting in a disproportionate impact in countries that are already influenced by heat stress, illness and food insecurity.

Research how the availability and nutritional quality of food in risk areas influences the composition of intestinal microbioma is a crucial first step in the direction of reducing deteriorated health results, says Litchman.

Instead of trying to solve the emerging health problems one by one, Litchman advises an approach that includes more interdisciplinary collaborations to find solutions through a cross-disciplinary lens. She points to the One Health Initiative of the World Health Organization as a model for projects with the potential to overcome disciplinary barriers.

Without a joint, interdisciplinary effort to reduce the risk of vulnerable population groups, these compound effects could place hundreds of millions of people with a risk of illness and poor health results.