Odoribacteraceae

 

“In people over the age of 100, an enrichment

in a distinct set of gut microbes generate

unique bile acids.”

Professor Kenya Honda

 

New research on the gut microbiome of old folks in Japan was reported in the latest issue of Nature Research. The scientists analyzed the gut bacteria of more than 300 adults in Japan, including 160 over 100 years-old, 112 between 85 and 89, and 47 under 55 years-old. Principal investigator Honda and colleagues found that bacterial isolates in fecal samples from centenarians were often enriched with microbes capable of synthesizing potent bile acids that were not present in the younger groups. Odoribacteraceae strains in particular came out as star producers of isoallo-lithocholic acid (LCA). LCA is a potent antimicrobial against gram-positive, multidrug-resistant strains such as Clostridioides difficile and Enterococcus faecium.

The conclusion of this study, per Prof. Honda: “There are centenarian-specific members of the gut microbiota which, rather than representing a mere consequence of aging, might actively contribute to resistance against pathogenic infection and other environmental stressors.” 

There are a host of responses to this study.  Many readers had their own theories of aging well.  One young lady declared that skinny was the perfect answer, and her daily intake, delivered in anorectic detail, made me cringe.  Another woman, struggling with C. diff unresponsive to various medications, took matters into her own hands.  She announced to her daughter that she needed a stool sample from her. The daughter, first appalled, then complied. The sample was inserted into one end or another (we got no info over which), and mom felt increasingly normal in a gut sort of way within four days!

I’d like to get ahold of a distinct set of those Odori-bugs, but alas, no search on Amazon or Google offered hope for bottles of such supplements just yet.  

______

 

Is it advancing age or the lack of everyday conversations with multiple people?  What, I ask myself almost daily, is wrong with my word-finding ability?  I have encouraged me (in that 2^nd person sort of judgmental voice) to think a moment before I just point to the object or replace the unfound word with ‘thing’ or ‘stuff’.  Pausing then brings on other speech disfluencies wherein the use of filler words like ‘uh’ or ‘um’, or whole word repetitions such as ‘we need…we need’, or interjections like ‘like’ disrupt not only one’s flow of speech but also one’s thinking process.   

Psychologists call such lapses tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states and emphasize that these TOTs do not necessarily indicate impending dementia. That’s good news, but what does it indicate?  Chances are good that those of us who are seniors haven’t lost the concept of that which we cannot name.  The authors of a book on aging and language (1) call these aggravating TOT states ‘a glass half empty or a glass half full.’  These failed retrievals could be weakened neural connections in a tired old brain, or they might indicate such a plethora of stored words from all those years of speaking and reading that it becomes difficult to find the right word in short order. 

A search on PubMed suggests multiple hypotheses about why seniors have more TOTs than juniors.  I choose to go with the word-laden brain hypothesis, allowing us elders to deliver astounding explanations of meaning even if the word in question remains elusive. 

But here’s an inscrutable cognitive glitch—yesterday I made one entry in my journal, ‘GNL 18,19’.  I have absolutely no idea what that means.

 

Nootropes

 

Nootropes refer to drugs, supplements, herbs, etc. that are believed to improve cognitive functions.  Sometimes a lost word is not just a word-finding problem (as mentioned in a previous newsletter) but an actual aging-related loss of normal brain functioning.

 

I personally take four of them daily:  bacopa monnieri, caffeine (in coffee form), choline, and creatine.  The problem, as always with supplements, is there’s no way to know whether or not they actually made a difference.  Perhaps healthy living and no nootropes at all would have sufficed.  There are many lists available on the internet touting the benefits of various brain boosters.  Here’s a list that explains 14 possible nootrope choices(1).

 

I recommended bacopa monnieri to a good friend.  Here’s her text:

I started bacopa today.

The pills are creepy and black but I feel good!

Except I couldn’t remember the word bacopa so I guess it’s not helping that much.

 

1.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746283/