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Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
Audiobook8 hours

Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues

Written by Martin J. Blaser

Narrated by Patrick Lawlor

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Tracing one scientist's journey toward understanding the crucial importance of the microbiome, this revolutionary book will take listeners to the forefront of trail-blazing research while revealing the damage that overuse of antibiotics is doing to our health: contributing to the rise of obesity, asthma, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer.

In Missing Microbes, Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the health and equilibrium of our body. Now this invisible eden is being irrevocably damaged by some of our most revered medical advances-antibiotics-threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes with terrible health consequences.

Taking us into both the lab and deep into the fields where these troubling effects can be witnessed firsthand, Blaser not only provides cutting-edge evidence for the adverse effects of antibiotics, he tells us what we can do to avoid even more catastrophic health problems in the future.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 30, 2014
ISBN9781494575564
Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues

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Reviews for Missing Microbes

Rating: 4.160714279761904 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Really enjoyed this book on a fascinating topic. Great food for thought on the neverending battle against infectious disease and the potential for misusing and overusing antibiotics. The author believes that all actions have consequences, and although antibiotics are a necessary and useful weapon in our arsenal, using them when not 100% necessary can lead to all kinds of other problems, including the imbalance of the patient's existing microbiome, which consists of millions of helpful and/or harmless bacteria. It can also contribute to the growing concern over antibiotic-resistant infections.. We should consider the full ramifications of our actions before using antibiotics - and also work on developing more targeted antibiotics, which can attack harmful bacteria while leaving most of the rest of the patient's microbiome intact.The author delves into other related issues, such as the prophylactic use of antibiotics in farm animals, and how being born by C-section could put babies at a disadvantage in terms of their microbiome, or even how the overuse of antibiotics could be contributing to the rise of obesity in modern societies. As others have noted, some of this is proven and cited, while some of this is speculation, but the author is pretty good about identifying which is which, which I appreciated. All in all, a great read if you have any interest in human biology and/or public health.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I detected a note of slight envy as Blaser describes the award of a Nobel prize to the WA pair of Marshall and Warren for; isolation of Heliobacter Pylori in pure culture, for establishing its association with gastritis and with peptic ulcer disease....he is very precise about this description and points out that it was not for "drinking bacteria and causing an ulcer thus proving the theory"...and there are still a lot of questions surrounding the role of Heliobacter pylori. As his story unfolds (and he mentions the need for a new paradigm about bacteria in our bodies) I get the impression that he is angling for a Nobel prize himself. Well maybe he is onto something.Some of the chapters here are a bit tedious as they describe his experiments in turgid detail ...almost like a pop version of a scientific paper ....but he does make some very powerful points in my view:1. That the importance and role of bacteria in our lives is hugely underestimated2. That when we take antibiotics we knock out a lot of good bacteria as well as some troublesome ones.3. That we have an incredibly diverse flora in and on our bodies that has evolved over 200,000 years (and, in reality, probably right back to early animals).4. The role of Heliobacter pylori in our gut is probably more complex than just causing ulcers...it may have protective effects as well. Worth reading Jonothan Eisen's blog for some critical comment on the claims here. (Basically that causality hasn't been shown yet).5. (Not too sure about how convinced I am on this point) .....There appears to be some linkages between taking antibiotics in childhood and the rash of "modern" diseases like obesity, asthma, celiac/gluten intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, autism, height of people. But Blaser doesn't seem to be carrying the bulk of the medical establishment along with his thinking. Though, this may not be surprising given the unholy alliance between medical research funding and big pharma. 6. We are running out of antibiotics and need to cut back on their usage and develop more targeted (rather than broad spectrum) antibiotics.When I started reading the book, I was quite impressed thinking that I was going to learn a lot about the flora in our gut ...and we certainly get a good couple of chapters on the importance of bacteria in our lives: Humanity is just a spec in this massively bacterial world". The (genetic) distance between E. Coli and Clostridium - two common bacteria - is much greater than the distance between corn and us".Our (body) microbes have millions of unique genes ...whilst our human genome has just 23,000 genes. So 99 percent of the ones in our bodies are bacterial and only about 1 percent are human. And maybe this diversity gives us protection....one of the bugs there might just swing into action when faced with some potentially toxic problem for our bodies.Some other useful facts: our body is composed of an estimated 30 trillion human cells but is host to more than 100 trillion bacterial and fungal cells. Collectively these bacteria weigh about three pounds.....or about the same as our brains......I assume that this is "wet" weight in both casesSo where do I come out after reading his evidence? I guess that I'm convinced about the importance of our gut flora....though I was convinced about this before anyway. And there is clearly a huge amount to learn about the role of this microbiome. (Though also the role of our junk DNA in conjunction with this microbiome......and he doesn't mention junk DNA).And his suggestion that dosing our kids with antibiotics may have a big role in triggering the "modern" diseases described above......sounds plausible though clearly needs a lot more work.Also interesting is that I am reading this book in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic in 2020 and he was writing in 2014 about the dangers of something like this.....(though also something more "bacterial" in nature). Overall I rate it as about 4.5 stars.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book is essentially three parts: The opening, where the author lays out his case; the middle, where he offers the best evidence he can present to support his hypothesis; the closing, where solutions are offered. The quality of each part is very different. When laying out the case, he does a very good job of explaining his thinking. When offering evidence, he lost me a bit - actually, a lot - because the associations and causations don't seem that clear. With the closing, he shines, because the solutions are very practical, implementable, and include a discussion of FMT, which has blown my mind since hearing about it. That actually might ultimately be the best solution. So if he's right about the loss of the key parts of our microbiome, then the solution is very present. Unfortunately, even if he is 100% correct about his findings, it might take a long time to achieve consensus, and lives will be lost or compromised in the interim. He has lots of hard, outreach, PSA, clinical trial work to do, on top of what he's already done. The day is short, and the work is long.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fascinating book that links the overuse of antibiotics to the astronomical rise of such chronic health problems as obesity, asthma, diabetes, celiac and Crohn’s diseases, food allergies, and possibly even autism. Blaser will even make you think twice about regularly using hand sanitizer. Accessible, engrossing, and convincing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A book with critical and far-reaching implications for health and wellnes.We have an extreme environmental crisis happening right under our noses - literally. Author Martin J Blaser is sounding the clarion call that something drastic and detrimental is happening to the microbal population of the human gut. Dr. Blaser has made his life's work the study of the microbes and their effect on human health particularily in regards to the human digestive system. He began to notice a trend of microbal die-off, in some cases so drastic that whole species were in danger of becoming extinct. Along with this trend he also noticed the increase of modern illnesses such as diabetes, asthma and obesity. Could the two be related? Dr. Blaser's research gives a strong argument that the answer is Yes. Having extensively studied the H. plyori microbe (implicated in the causation of ulcers) Dr. Blaser discovered that this microbe can switch from causing illness to becoming immune enhancing depending on it's environment; an environment that has been undergoing fundemental changes from a combination of assaults including extensive antibiotic use, modern medical practices and sweeping changes in the food system. These changes have either destroyed beneficial microbes along with harmful ones or have had the effect of not 'seeding' the gut with the beneficial microbes that are necessary to proper function. Dr. Blaser alerts us to what is happening and how to either minimize or reverse this damage.I will go out on a limb and say that is is possibly the most important health related topic of our times and this book explains and clarifies this issue perfectly. Calling this book the SILENT SPRING of the microbal world would not be an exaggeration. While the information is complicated, Dr. Blaser makes it completely accessable and clear. The methodical stating of his case of how severe this problem truly is leads to the final chapter of solution suggestions. Implementing these solutions would require a sea-change of attitude as it would challenge many firmly intrenched ideas and protocols plus, in some cases, there is a strong disgust factor (I will leaveit to you to discover the details of that yourself - just remember it is gut bacteria that is being discussed). Important book, critical topic - recommmended for anyone who cares about health and human survival.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A relaxed easy read, with a well crafted development supporting you all the way into unknown territory. This is a seminal book that you really must read, your view of life, of your body and how you care for it will change. There will be no going back. Once you get your mind around the ancestry, diversity and sheer mass of bacteria then the next step of understanding that it we that are parasites living in a bacterial world becomes easier. Parasites that some bacteria have evolved to encourage and support, defending their host from all the pathogens out there. All the time Martin Blaser draws on his life experiences to illustrate, illuminate and lead us forward. Experiences founded in leading edge bacteria researches. This could so easily be a heavy academic book but it is not. Running against the accepted medical doctrine never wins friends or converts. Yet we get to see and understand the inevitability of his line of reasoning. Why then is this new insight not widely accepted? If I have a criticism it would be just that, the absence of the counter argument, any exploration of alternatives. A one sided argument is begging the question, what are the other explanations? But then this is a book aimed at the casual reader so must not confuse.With such an important new view of human biology, some tub thumping is forgivable. As is muted railings against fellow academia who fail to see the significance of the insight his research has proven. The offered final conclusions seem weak and limp, particularly as they were all so many times pre-trailed. Martin Blaser's research into the biology of the stomach may have narrowed his focus. I have no doubt at all that with his insight into the significance of bacteria in the regulation of the health and well-being of our bodies, whole new areas of primary significance are going to emerge. Make no mistakes, this is an important book. Read it and change your view on life and health.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The argument that antibiotics are overused in today's America should be widely accepted. Sadly, it is not. Dr. Blaser presents multiple chapters outlining the various ways we are tampering with our microbes that are harmful. He also provides a basic outline on the good antibiotics have done and how they can be used judiciously. Every American should be interested in this topic, but I cannot see there being a wide audience for this book. Most who need to be educated on this subject will not take the time to dive intro such a detailed tome. At times I found it difficult to follow. This was especially true in the chapters on H. Pylori - pro and con. The author was starting to confuse me.Easier to understand for the lay audience were the chapters on the widespread and damaging use of antibiotics in animals at sub-clinical doses. He also provides good thinking material in the chapter on C-Sections and the differences in accepted medical practices in Europe vs. the United States.I found his concluding chapter to be the most useful for the average reader. He outlines concrete steps that can be taken by individuals, scientists, the medical community and governmental agencies. (The first I would like to see if the outright ban on the use of antibiotics in animals except to treat illness.)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book looks at the harm that is being done to the human body by modern medicine, especially by the overuse of antibiotics, one of the greatest health discoveries of the last century.First of all, if a person is suffering from some major ailment, and antibiotics have been shown to work in the past, then don't hesitate to take them. But, taking antibiotics for every sniffle and sore throat is a terrible idea. Penicillin, for instance, is a broad-spectrum antibiotic. That means that it does not just kill the "bad" bacteria, it also kills beneficial bacteria (yes, there is such a thing). Out of, say, a million cold germs, at least one will be resistant to penicillin. With the "good" bacteria, that may have neutralized all of those cold germs, out of the way, that penicillin-resistant germ is now free to multiply without restrictions. Maybe it turns into penicillin-resistant flu, or even worse, pneumonia. What does the person do now?According to the author, overuse of antibiotics starts in early childhood. A baby spends nine months in a sterile environment before being born. It's first exposure to beneficial bacteria and microbes comes from going through the mother's birth canal. Wiping babies clean, as soon as they are born, while understandable, is a bad idea. Taking a baby by caesarian section, purely for convenience, totally bypassing the birth canal, is an even worse idea (if the life of the mother or the baby is in danger, then, by all means, do a c-section).Nearly all types of farm animals are fed antibiotics to keep them healthy, or fatten them up for slaughter. Some portion of those antibiotics will end up in the milk you drink, or the meat you eat. The lack of "good", disease-fighting, bacteria in the human body may be behind the recent huge rise in allergies, digestive diseases, asthma or some types of cancer.This is a huge eye-opener, and it will give the reader plenty to consider. It is very highly recommended for everyone.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Every now and then when I finish a book I have to sit back and take a long breath and reflect. Martin J. Blaser’s Missing microbes : how the overuse of antibiotics is fueling our modern plagues is one of those books. I requested it from LibraryThing.com’s Early Reviewer program as soon as I saw it offered. For the last few years I have been studying the last 200+ years in medical history. Germ theory has existed for only a little more than half of that time. I was interested in what Dr. Blaser considered missing microbes. I had also heard a story on NPR a few months ago that stuck in my head because of its ingenuity and grossness. Some people with severe digestive disorders have been treated with a , uh, well they have the gut bacteria from a healthy donor transported into their gut. It works, their symptoms clear up. Blaser points out that all life started out microbial and slowly formed colonies that specialized into multicellular life, into more and more complex forms of life and that all that time the multicellular life co-existed with single cell life forms. Some of them are dangerous. If Vibrio cholerae takes up residence in your gut it produces a chemical that mimics one your body naturally uses to signal the intestinal walls to move water out of the body. Cholera caused such severe diarrhea, moving water out of the body into the gut, that it could kill a health person in less than a day. Luckily most of the microbes in and on our bodies are harmless or even helpful. At least one digests food we are unable to use into forms that we can use. How many microbes are there that provide us with benefits that we don’t know about?The star of the book is Helicobacter pylori, a spiral shaped bacteria first discovered in the early days of germ theory and quickly forgotten about. It was found in everyone's stomach and it was impossible to grow in the lab with the existing technology. Many years later it was rediscovered in the stomachs of some people and it was blamed for very bad things ranging from ulcers to stomach cancer. How did it go from being in everyone's stomach in the late 19th century to only some stomachs in the mid to late 20th century? Wide spectrum antibiotics.The book makes a very good case for the theory that our overuse of antibiotics, over prescribing and using in animal feed, is not only creating Multi Drug Resistant, MRD, bugs but it is killing off potentially helpful bacteria that has co-existed with human beings for ages. After demonstrating a correlation between acid reflux disease, which can progress into nasty throat cancer, and the lack of H. pylori Blaser asks if the modern rise in allergies, asthma, autism, obesity,* and type 1 diabetes are the result of a missing beneficial bacteria. In my opinion in a hundred years this book will be considered a major turning point in medical science. I don’t know how the medical establishment will look at it today. There is so much money wrapped up in the status quo that any change, even for the better, will be resisted. I have never been a fan of hand sanitizer and after reading this I will question my doctor about the necessity of any antibiotics he offers me. You need to read this book.* low dose antibiotics have been given to farm animals for over 50 years to speed their growth, antibiotics are undoubtedly one factor in the obesity problem.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A rather short book of just 200 pages on an important issue on the overuseof antibiotics.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    “Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plagues,” by Martin J. Blaser, is a fascinating—and honestly quite alarming—story of the author’s lifelong quest to study the significance and purpose of the microbes that live in and on our human body. The author’s main focus is on bacteria and what happens when we kill them indiscriminately with broad-spectrum antibiotics, driving many to brink of extinction. The book supports his thesis that our overuse of these antibiotics may be fueling (note: not causing) many of our modern plagues. These plagues include not only common gut diseases such gastroesophageal reflux disease, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, but also seemingly unrelated ailments such as autism, obesity, type-1 diabetes, hay fever, asthma, food allergies, and eczema. The author demonstrates that the enormous diversity of our microbiome is absolutely essential to our overall health. In particular, the book focuses on the importance of maintaining a diverse microbiome in the early, first few years of life. If the microbiome at that time is assaulted with too many broad-spectrum antibiotics, and significant diversity is lost, it can “fuel” (again, not cause) the possibility that the child may grow up to develop one or more of these modern plagues. He stresses that we must all recognize that our human microbiome forms an important “third arm of our immune system.” We should no longer mess with it indiscriminately. Without diversity in our microbiome, we lay ourselves wide open to a host of modern plagues. Naturally, we must still use antibiotics, but we must learn to use them wisely, with far greater discrimination.The book is designed to be read by interested readers without significant scientific background. The author provides technical background information along the way, as necessary. Overall, the book is scholarly in tone and organization (e.g., there are considerable annotated footnotes), but it is also nicely balanced by many human-interest stories that add a lively social context to the scientific research being discussed and presented. The book always held my interest. I was eager to finish it. I read it slowly, and with much pleasure, over four days. My copy is full of marginal annotations. This is generally a clear sign that I found the book fascinating and enjoyable. And, indeed, I did. For me, this is a very important book and I plan to recommend it to most of my friends. An incredible 99.9 percent of all the unique genes in our body are bacterial, and only about 0.1 percent are human. The author emphasizes that our microbes are not mere passengers in and on our body, they are also metabolically active and essential for our very life. Without them, we would die. If we destroy a large proportion of our diverse ancestral microbes through broad-spectrum antibiotics, we significantly destroy the balance of microbes in our body and the important biological niche that each microbe evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to fill. Currently, he estimates, most people in the United States have already lost about 40% of the diversity in their microbiome. I find that extremely alarming. I am confident that Blaser has focused on one of the major health issues of our time: the importance of our human microbiome. This is a very significant book. All libraries, public and academic should buy it. Doctors should read it. This should be essential reading for anyone interested in what it may take to stay healthy in the modern world.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The title 'Missing Microbes' and the subtitle implied that the book was going to look at antibiotic resistant in general terms. However, the bulk of the book was about Dr. Blaser's research into H. pylori and its apparent connection to acid re flux, obesity, and asthma. In this case the book provided an interesting and thorough explanation of these relationships. It was not until the end of the book antibiotic resistance discussed in more broad situations. A good book, just not what I expected.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Full disclosure - in my youth I found Paul de Kruif's book, Microbe Hunters, one of the most captivity books and for awhile considered becoming a pathologist. I eventually was captured by the electronic technology bug but never lost an interest in our invisible biology. This is important for Martin Blaser's new book, Missing Microbes. If you are a germophobe or squeamish about the fact that we are colonized by billions of bacteria in every crevice of our body, inside and out, then this book isn't really for you.However, if you are concerned about what may be happening to our bacterial ecosystem through the extensive and inappropriate use (Blaser position) of antibiotics in our food and as medical treatments; then you will find Missing Microbes compelling book.Blaser starts off modestly with some personnel history and evolutionary history of homo sapiens along with our bacterial brethren. The human microbiome that consists of 10 times more cells than our entire body and weighs a staggering 3 lbs! Blaser describes the rise of pathogens and our response with the creation of "wonder drugs", antibiotics.Much of the book addresses our gut bacteria, H. pylori. H. pylori is the cause of ulcers and contributes to stomach cancer but also has therapeutic benefits!The book's main theme is our use/over use of antibiotics in modern life and the implications for human health. For example, in our food, livestock are given large doses of subtherapeutic antibiotics for rapid weight gain. If this treatment works for livestock does it have a similar effect in us? Does ingesting these antibiotics in our food supply (use in the EU is band) affect our microbiome?I found Blaser's description of the relationship between a mother's microbiome and the birth process one of the most interesting discussions. Blaser roundly condemns elective C-section births and post natal antibiotic treatments as endangering babies for life of health complications.Much of the book addresses our gut bacteria, H. pylori. H. pylori is the cause of ulcers and contributes to stomach cancer but also has therapeutic benefits!Blasser even addresses heartburn and acid reflux (GERD). Isn't it fundamentally plausible that if we are impacting our microbiome with antibiotic use then there would be a price to pay in our digestive processes?In summary, Martin Blaser has laid out sound arguments based on his own studies (and others) that our indiscriminate use of antibiotics is contributing to many of modern maladies. The reader is cautioned however that Blaser does freely speculate and frequently extrapolates to more general conclusions than is supported by current data. In his defense, however, Blaser does indicate his opinion or the need for further investigations in these cases. It is left to the reader to carefully note these author speculations.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Missing Microbes explains that bacteria is not always a pathogen (disease causing). Beneficial bacteria are not only helpful but an essential component of the biosphere. While antibiotics are the key to treating infections, overuse in medicine and farming is producing drug resistance in microbes and could be responsible for other chronic health problems in humans.Dr. Blaser's medical background in research and credentials carry a lot of weight in making this a rational and acceptable book. Any of his statements are backed up with studies and not merely his opinion. And he offers solutions to this problem. Have the federal government ban animal feed laced with antibiotics and educate patents on the dangers of prescribing antibiotics for minor infections such as colds/flu symptoms.I like that the author takes a holistic approach to medicine. He offers compelling reasons why Caesarian sections are bad for a newborns immune system. And why a normal and balanced gut flora is needed for proper digestive health. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about infectious diseases and the field of medicine.