Loading...
On June 24, 2022, the "Intestinal Science and Art" popular science illustration tour exhibition planned by us landed at Mr. Cui Yutao. I went to witness the opening with Mr. Cui and recorded a video. During the chat, Mr. Cui told me that they found that there were significantly more children with almost no detectable microorganisms in their poop than before the "pandemic"; In addition, they intuitively feel that even children with microorganisms detected in their poop generally have fewer microorganisms than before.
I think this finding is very important, can you use data analysis to illustrate the situation? Mr. Cui told me that they had thousands of samples and data, and I said that it was too valuable, and then immediately called my good friend Professor Wang Jun at the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Wang Jun said that he was very interested in this and hoped to get the data for analysis as soon as possible.
After a while, Wang Jun told me that the results of the preliminary analysis supported Mr. Cui's intuition, and that the seven types of microorganisms that were tested daily were significantly less. After N discussions, analysis, summarization, paper writing, submission, and revision, this article was finally accepted by the English edition of Science & Life Sciences in China on November 16, 2023, and was officially published online in February this year and the day before yesterday (May 9).
The main result of the study was to compare the intestinal flora of 1126 children before and after the "pandemic", and found that the composition of the flora after the "pandemic" changed significantly, and 7 types of bacteria such as bifidobacteria, rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus reuteri were of daily concern.
and 15 of the 20 major genera, all of which had significantly reduced loads.
Using the data of the children before the "pandemic", make a random forest age predictor, and then use the data after the "pandemic" to measure, and the results will be smaller than the actual age of the children, with an average of 1.86 years younger.
What does this mean? It is that the child's intestinal flora is underdeveloped, and the actual age is longer, but the flora is still relatively immature.
Then we also analyzed the average weight and height of children born the same age before and after the pandemic, and found that there was a significant decrease after the epidemic compared with the pre-epidemic period, which may be related to changes in the gut microbiota.
In 2022, I immediately asked Mr. Cui Yutao what the reason behind it would be. Teacher Cui said that most of the children with poor microorganisms had the problem of over-cleaning in their homes. When the pandemic comes, over-cleaning is more serious, especially inadvertent cleaning, which cannot be prevented, such as cleaning harnesses, toys, clothes, etc., children may gnaw on these items and eat the residual cleaning substances on them into their mouths by the way. For example, there is more hand cleaning, and children will eat more cleaning substances when they bite their fingers.
In addition, because it is a special period, children do not go out much, and there are fewer opportunities to contact other people, nature, soil, etc., which is not conducive to microorganisms entering the child's intestines to settle down. We discuss all of these potential possibilities in the article.
Of course, this study is only a cross-sectional study, and it is only carried out in one place in Beijing, and whether there is a problem with or without a pandemic, there may be complex results and reasons behind a problem, and we cannot go through them all. However, the results of this study are consistent with those mentioned in the book "Disappearing Microbes" by Professor Martin Blaser, as well as many studies focusing on the development of children's gut microbiota.
We should avoid over-cleaning and over-use of antibiotic products in children, but should have more contact with nature, socialize more with different people and even pets, try to ensure that babies are born naturally, try to ensure that they are breastfed for a long time, and ensure that older children have a variety of foods and balanced nutrition. These factors may be very important for the healthy growth of a child's intestinal flora and whole body.
By the way, Professor Martin Blaser recently emailed me saying that he would like to see me next month for a conference in China. I made an appointment with Professor Wang Jun to go to Shanghai to accompany him and tell him about our new discoveries. Listen to what he has to say when the time comes!
Conflict of Interest Statement
Conflict of Interest Statement
He is the co-founder and executive editor of iMeta journal, holds positions in professional institutions such as national societies, and serves as a university chair professor.
However, readers should be reminded that the company he founded and mainly works in, Beijing Warm Heart Biotechnology Research Institute Co., Ltd., is a for-profit commercial organization, and he also serves as chairman and director of this company and a number of affiliated companies.
In addition, he is also a consultant or consultant officially employed by Shanghai Pharmaceutical, H&H Group, Mengniu Group and other enterprises, and provides strategy, product and other consulting services for many other enterprises.
Mr. Warmheart benefits from the above-mentioned for-profit organizations through shareholdings, salaries, dividends and consulting fees, and although he always wants to uphold a scientific, objective and impartial attitude at the time of writing, the following conflicts of interest may inevitably exist due to the above reasons:
- Loss of rigor, objectivity, and professionalism in science communication due to commercial motives.
- Emphasis is placed on the products and services of interested companies and other potential options are neglected.
- Emphasize the strengths of the stakeholder companies and downplay their weaknesses.
In order to avoid and reduce the non-objectivity caused by conflicts of interest, Mr. Warmheart will take the following measures:
- This statement is made public, clearly indicating the relationship between the interested companies.
- Evaluate all organizations, including stakeholder companies, objectively and fairly.
- Readers are encouraged to make criticisms and suggestions and to improve them.
When reading Mr. Warmheart's articles, readers should pay attention to understanding his business background, and maintain rational judgment and critical thinking.