Depletion of certain gut bacteria and an elevated level of other bacteria are associated with an increased risk for dementia... Doctors should urge patients to "take care of their gut". The gut microbiome refers to microorganisms that live in the digestive tract; there are about a thousand different species of bacteria, comprising trillions of cells.
Recent research has correlated certain changes in gut bacteria with inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, and studies have shown that changes in diet can alter gut bacteria. Levels of Bacteroides (enterotype I), which are organisms that normally live in the intestines and can be beneficial, were decreased in demented compared with nondemented patients. Other bacteria (enterotype III) were increased in the group with dementia.
