The resident microorganisms living throughout our bodies support overall health or cause varying degrees of ill health. The alternative health movement has asserted this information for years. Many people have been able to benefit from this assertion by changing their diet to control their Candida albicans overgrowth, by taking a daily probiotic, by drinking kefir, and by partaking of colon cleansing to remove parasites and parasitic toxins.

As of December, 2007, The National Institute of Health (NIH) began to explore the microbial ecosystems that constitute the collective realm called the human "microbiome." One of the four stated goals of the Human Microbiome Project is "understanding whether changes in the human microbiome can be correlated with changes in human health."

There has been a tremendous amount of clinical success with dietary changes, probiotic usage, and the colon cleanse. However, there is still a lot of "guessing" going on in both modern and alternative medicine. The mission of the Human Microbiome Project, to generate resources to enable comprehensive characterization of the human microbiota and analysis of its role in human health and disease, is a huge leap forward.

Previous research has suggested that variations in the composition of microbial communities are thought to contribute to chronic health conditions, including diabetes, asthma, obesity, and the many more well-known digestive disorders such as colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and Crohn's disease. However, due to too many factors to state here, not the least of which is the fact that there are more microbial cells than human cells in the human body, many people are still not getting the precise health care protocol they need in order to optimize their health.

(Scientists are studying how probiotic microbes such as Lactobacillus salivarius, pictured at right, might have beneficial effects for gastrointestinal health.)

I expect that the resources that come from the Human Microbiome Project will heighten the clinical awareness and practice of all health practitioners. As one person who has persistently struggled with chronic illness and as a dedicated health practitioner, I am particularly enthusiastic about such goals as the study of the clinical and health implications of using probiotics. In the meantime, here are links to several facts that we already know that might assist you to optimize your overall health:

1. Use of Gastric Acid-Suppressive Agents and the Risk of Community-Acquired Clostridium difficile-Associated Disease

2. Overuse and inappropriate prescribing of proton pump inhibitors in patients with Clostridium difficile-associated disease

3. A Bit of Culture for Children: Probiotics May Improve Health and Fight Disease

4. Saccharomyces boulardii

5. Saccharomyces boulardii in maintenance treatment of Crohn's disease

6. Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth