Thursday, April 11, 2013

Our guts: taking a systemic perspective seriously

For many years now I have challenged medicos whenever the opportunity arose about why medicine has never taken seriously the systemic nature of our guts - our intestines.  Very few medical practitioners in my experience understand our guts in ecological, or ecosystemic terms, preferring reductive use of drugs or medical interventions.  Having reached the age I am I would claim that the ecological status of our guts is one of the most significant contributors to daily and long-term wellbeing but also one of the most neglected in terms of mainstream science. I refer to the systemic interactions between diet, infection, bacteria, fungi, parasites and our own physiology and anatomy.  But perhaps things are changing? This article in The Observer suggests that some researchers and medicos are beginning to experiment.

My friend and colleague David Waltner-Toews has taken these matters seriously for a long time.  He also knows a lot about them having just produced a new book called: The Origin of Feces

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