Women who have a greater diversity of “healthy” gut bacteria may have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease. According to research published in the European Hearth Journal, arterial stiffness was discovered in women with a lower diversity of gut bacteria. Women who had greater microbiome diversity, including bacteria from the Ruminococcaceae family which lowers stiffness in the arteries and also the risk of obesity, were at a lower risk of developing symptoms of cardiovascular disease.    

“So, our results reveal the first observation in humans linking the gut microbes and their products to lower arterial stiffness. It is possible that the gut bacteria can be used to detect risk of heart disease and may be altered by diet or drugs to reduce the risk”  said Ana M. Valdes, PhD, of the University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine and NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Center.

Research concluded that studying the gut microbiome could be beneficial in recognizing risk factors outside of the traditional sect. More importantly that by changing the gut microbiome, there is a possibility to influence arterial health by dietary intervention.  

“There is considerable interest in finding ways to increase the diversity of gut microbes for other conditions such as obesity and diabetes,” study author Cristina Menni, PhD, of the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, said in the press release.

Research continues to support the importance of a healthy diet and how these trillions of bacterial hitchhikers profoundly influence our health. Learn more: “Gut microbiome linked to artery health” – Healio Gatroenterology 

Join us to learn about the exciting advances in our understanding of the pathology of diabetes and novel approaches to prevention with our New Horizons – Gut Bacteria webinar. We will discuss trends in diabetes diagnosis and classification.  The role and importance of gut bacteria in the pathology of type 1 and type 2 will explored. A detailed discussion on emerging research and clinical trial on interventions to delay or prevent diabetes is also included.

Level 4 – New Horizons – Getting to the Gut 1.0 CE – $29