Dr Ghayur Ayub
IN old days, only hakims used to give importance to the state of gut. They used to say that
all diseases sprang from Qabz. I remember, our teachers in medical college used to make fun of Hakims who gave importance to Qabz. Not anymore. The researchers in recent years have found a strange link between gut and chronic diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, eye and kidney diseases, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases etc. In short, you name a chronic disease, it will have a link with the gut. The question is what is in the gut which makes it so important?
To answer that, we must go back to 4 billion years in past. It was the time when earth was populated by unicellular organism called Archie. Each cell lived independently in colonies in mucinous fluid. There was no physical connection between them, but they would communicate with each other through a system called quorum sensing. Now and again, a cell would grab a nearby floating cell, gulp it, and use it for food. During the evolutionary process, a strange thing happened which changed the future history of living kingdom. A cell grabbed another cell and gulped it to make a meal out of it. Somehow, the engulfed cell, instead of getting digested started providing energy to the host cell. That was the beginning of a new symbiotic understanding between the two cells. The engulfed cell became an organelle called mitochondria giving energy to the host cell. The process continues till today. The life of the cell depends on this power source. A cell cannot survive without mitochondria. No mitochondria, no cell.
The quorum sensing and the reciprocal dependence became important tool in evolution and viruses, bacteria, and fungi started to live in soil and around plants, animals and humans. Their aggregation in and around the tissue is called microbiome. Collectively the microbes or germs are called microbiota. It is interesting to know that a human body is composed of 37. 2 trillion cells. As compared to this number, 39 trillion microbiotas live in and around us. Out of 39 trillion microbes, 38 trillion live leisurely in our gut and the remaining one trillion live around the skin. So, each human keeps about 50:50 ratio between body cells and the microbiotas living in the gut. Vast majority of these microbes are friendly taking part in digestion. To keep the microbes live happily, we have provided them with a big field equivalent to a tennis court by extending the surface area of the gut wall with tiny protrusions called villi. Not just that, the cells of the gut wall and the microbes secrete slimy fluid to keep the millennial years old habit of living in mucinous environment. The layer of mucinous fluid and the thin cellular layer of lining of the gut make a mucino-cellular barrier between the inhabitants of the gut and the interstitial tissue of the body.
The microbes have maintained the millennial old skill of interaction through quorum sensing with each other and with the cells of the gut and the tissue beyond. In addition to this communicating channel, they also developed new techniques of communications. For example: 1) through Vagus nerve they maintain links with the brain to keep neurons healthy. 2) through lymphatic channels they communicate with rest of body playing essential role in immunity. 3) through enzymes they play essential role in metabolism at cellular level needed for healthy life. The microbes live on fibres provided by the food and in return, they help in producing important raw material extracted from carbohydrate, protein, and fat as the source of energy.
Thus, a balanced bio ecosystem is created essential for healthy digestion, healthy metabolism, and healthy life. Dr William Li, an authority on the subject, says there are five major food related defense mechanisms which protect our body at cellular level. First, through angiogenesis new blood vessels are created that take active part in healing processes. According to him, up to 60 thousand miles of blood vessels take part in activities of angiogenesis. Any disbalance in the process can multiply the activity by 16 thousand times resulting in mutation and cancer formation. Second, through stem cells activities, fresh tissue is generated whenever and wherever damage occurs to the body. Third, through a unique relationship between 38 trillion microbes and trillions of body cells, healthy metabolism is kept in check in atmosphere of microbiome. Fourth, through genetic setup of DNA, the body is protected from going out of control at developmental stages. Fifth, through an immune system pertaining to lymphatics, body is protected from the attacking viruses, bacteria, spores, fungi, and toxins.
The defence mechanism is a blessing of nature primarily managed by active participation of the microbiota living in the gut. In simple words without the help of trillions of those microbes, we would not live healthy or happy. This system is disturbed by disruption of the mucino-cellular barrier causing a condition called the leaking gut. Such a leak disturbs the harmoniously balanced bio ecosystem paving the way for a disorder termed metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is the mother of all chronic diseases mentioned above. The recent scientific revelations have brought up four important points to surface. First, human body is equally shared by body cells and trillions of microbes. Second, the microbes living in gut play essential role in keeping us healthy. Third, proper food can work as medicine for many known diseases. Fourth, the old Hakims were right giving importance to Qabz because it can disturb the bio ecosystem of our body.
— The writer is a freelance columnist, based in United Kindgom.
