Microbiome Driven Approach to Combating Depression
This time on Fresh Perspectives with Amara Davis we discuss new and emerging science of the gut microbiome and its effect on depression. Amara interviews Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, Professor and Director of the Microbiome Core in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and also founder and scientific director of the company, Biohm. We discuss his 2021 paper entitled “A Microbiome-Driven Approach to Combating Depression During the COVID-19 Pandemic” published in Frontiers in Nutrition. The interview starts by talking about the evolving field of the microbiome, transitioning from looking simply at the effects of bacteria to also including fungi, as Dr. Ghannoum stresses “we really need to be looking at the total biome, not just the bacteria.” Dr. Ghannoum explains that initially the connection between the gut and the brain was unknown, but as the field has exploded an understanding has emerged on a bidirectional communication between signals in the brain and signals in the gut, called “The Gut-Brain Axis”. Dr. Ghannoum provides the example of serotonin, a major neurotransmitter responsible for mood, 90% of which is produced in the gut. Moving into his paper and looking at depression during the Covid-19 pandemic, he explains the driving force of the paper was just how rapidly and pronounced mental health changed on a population level citing the increase in prescriptions of antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication, and anti-insomnia drugs, as early as one month into the pandemic. He also cites the studies that emerged connecting the covid-19 virus changes in the microbiome. He emphasizes a critical need for education in the healthcare field on the linkages between the microbiome and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, in order to offer a more holistic approach towards improving mental health. The interview covers three approaches from the paper that can increase your microbiome health: diet, probiotics and lifestyle changes, such as sleep, stress reduction and exercise.
To see Amara Davis’s full interview with Mahmoud Ghannoum, Ph.D., see video below or view the interview on the LMI YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/fwggGLF2adM
Ghannoum MA, Ford M, Bonomo RA, Gamal A and McCormick TS (2021) A Microbiome-Driven Approach to Combating Depression During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Front. Nutr. 8:672390. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.672390