Scott C Anderson

Trials of the Firstborn It's not easy being the first kid in a family, but at least you get to inoculate your sibs.

Firstborns don’t have the luxury of a tested microbiota, typically passed down via sibling snot, to tutor their naïve immune system. That lack of education leads firstborns to overreact when exposed to new microbes.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/trials-of-...

The Intriguing Connection Between ADHD and Your Gut New research finds that certain gut microbes are associated with ADHD. That's good news, because it means that changing your diet could help you manage your symptoms. Here's what we know.

Gut microbes likely play a role in ADHD, and that’s good news.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mood...

Life Can Start Out Crappy Birth is full of microbes. That’s how nature planned it.

Your amniotic bubble having popped, you become exposed to the world. It’s your big day and everything is cold, dry and infectious. You, of course, are naked. You have no real consciousness yet, and you won't remember this day, but you know enough to cry.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/birth-is-p...

Embryos Are Living In a Microbial World Embryos are full of potential, but very vulnerable. And microbes play a surprising role.

The idea that beneficial bacteria could be passed down by mothers is shocking to many doctors and scientists, who think that microbes associated with embryos are universally pathogenic. Yet researchers keep finding microbes wherever they look.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/embryos-ar...

A Bed Fit for an Egg As an embryo develops, microbes play a mysterious role.

There is a connection between maternal depression and preterm birth. Surprisingly, even paternal depression can contribute to the preterm risk. However, there are hints that psychobiotic treatment can help minimize this effect.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/a-bed-fit-...

Boy Meets Girl From an awkward and inauspicious meeting of two cells, a miracle happens.

Reproductive biology is pretty perfunctory when it comes to the male contribution. In many animals, the male is actually optional. If one isn't around, the mother can execute the whole business on her own in a process called parthenogenesis.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/boy-meets-...

Epigenetics and Development If your genes represent the blueprint, epigenetics represent the construction crew.

Studies by John Cryan and Ted Dinan have demonstrated that beneficial microbe can cause epigenetic effects in the brain, favoring the growth of new nerve cells and enhancing cognition. Amazing science!
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/epigenetic...

Could Mozart Change Your Microbes? We know music has an impact on our mood, but strangely enough, it also appears to change our gut microbes. Here's what we've learned.

The “Mozart Effect” probably doesn’t make you smarter, but it may improve gut microbes, which is arguably stranger.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mood...

Pregnant Moms Need Pampering Pregnant mothers, like all of us, are stressed by modern life. This can have a long-term impact on their kids. Here are some tips for mitigating the stress.

Pregnant women who are stressed can suffer from an impaired microbiome. That can be passed down to their babies, affecting their weight, mood, and attitude, often into their teens or later.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mood...

Can Gut Microbes Improve Postpartum Depression? Emerging research suggests that a bacteria found in yogurt could improve maternal mood.

Can a microbe help with postpartum depression? Learn more about a bacterium that improves gut health, soothes the immune system, reduces cortisol and boosts oxytocin.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/can-gut-mi...

OCD and the Gut-Brain Axis Could Your Gut Flora Be Fueling OCD?

The gut-brain axis explains the astonishing connections between the microbes that live in your gut and your brain issues, including OCD. When your gut microbes are out of balance, your mood may suffer, and your OCD may worsen.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/ocd-and-th...

Can Gut Microbes Improve Postpartum Depression? A common microbe, found in yogurt, could improve mothers' moods after birth, research suggests—potentially helping ward off postpartum depression.

Stressed moms have higher levels of cortisol, but also lower levels of oxytocin, the “cuddle hormone.” This one-two punch affects rat moms so deeply that they stop licking their pups. In that way, moms transfer stress to their pups.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mood...

Autism, Inflammation, and the Gut-Brain Axis Inflammation may play a surprising role in autistic behavior.

Is there is a microbial fingerprint of autism? By analyzing oral microbes, researchers can predict whether or not a child will develop autism with 80 percent accuracy.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/autism-inf...

Even Kidneys Have a Microbiome Good microbes in your kidneys can prevent kidney stones. Bad diet and antibiotics may encourage them.

Got kidney stones? Your gut microbes may have something to do with that.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/even-kidne...

A Surprising Fix for a Personality-Changing Liver Disease “Our bodies have a finely tuned, built-in detoxifying system: It's called our liver, and it can detoxify our bodies better than any cleanse or fast.” —Harley Pasternak

What a fecal transplant lacks in dignity, it makes up for in efficacy.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/a-surprisi...

Is Your Gut Sabotaging Your Meds? Part 1 The state of your gut has a surprising impact on your meds—and vice versa.

Variations in gut microbiome composition may influence drug metabolism, potentially explaining why some patients respond better to treatment than others. It may not be sufficient to test drugs without considering the microbiome.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/is-your-gu...

Stress Eating and the Microbiome Can you treat eating disorders with a microbiome-friendly diet?

I’ve been stress eating since the election. It turns out that gut microbes play a major role in stress eating. That’s actually great, because we have some control over our microbiome. Ready for some cool science?
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/stress-eat...

Stress Eating and the Microbiome Can you treat eating disorders with a microbiome-friendly diet?

Gut microbes play a major role in stress eating. That’s great because we have some control over our microbiome. Want to learn more?
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/stress-eat...

We Are Jailing Scientists Now Scientist Kseniya Petrova has spent 3 months in a detention center in Louisiana. It’s about to get worse.

It’s June 6, and Harvard scientist Kseniya Petrova is still in detention in Louisiana. This is a gift from Trump to Putin and a blow to Harvard and Alzheimer’s research. How can you help?
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/we-are-jai...

What Juicing Does to Your Brain Is it time to retire your juicer?

Juicing is a health-food staple, but what is it doing to the gut-brain axis?
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/what-juici...

4 Scary Food Additives Why you don't keep carboxymethylcellulose in your kitchen.

Food additives may not have a big effect on human biology, but some of them kill beneficial bacteria in the gut. Here’s what to look out for:
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/4-scary-fo...

What Trump is Doing to Your Colon Presidential chaos creates anxiety that can affect your gut microbiome.

Trump affects your gut-brain axis by stressing you with his flip-flopping. Here are some hacks to help.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/what-trump...

We Are Jailing Scientists Now Scientist Kseniya Petrova has spent 3 months in a detention center in Louisiana. It’s about to get worse.

It’s May 31, and Harvard scientist Kseniya Petrova is still in detention in Louisiana. This is a gift from Trump to Putin and a blow to Harvard and Alzheimer’s research. A total outrage. Here are some tips to help.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/we-are-jai...

What Trump is Doing to Your Colon Presidential chaos creates anxiety that can affect your gut microbiome.

As Trump changes his mind on an hourly basis, flinging America around like a dog with a chew toy, we are subject to uncertainty and loss of control. This is a sure path to anxiety and gut issues.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/what-trump...

We Are Jailing Scientists Now Scientist Kseniya Petrova has spent 3 months in a detention center in Louisiana. It’s about to get worse.

Her Harvard supervisor says Petrova is "spectacular, the best I've ever seen in 20 years at Harvard." Without her, the research has been put on hold. What a victory for the Trump administration.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/we-are-jai...

What Trump is Doing to Your Colon Presidential chaos creates anxiety that can affect your gut microbiome.

As Trump changes his mind on an hourly basis, flinging America around like a dog with a chew toy, we are subject to uncertainty and loss of control. This is a sure path to anxiety and gut issues.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/what-trump...

Addiction and the Gut-Brain Axis Addiction can be fostered and exacerbated by a poor gut microbiota.

Addiction has a connection to your gut microbes. This weird association is both intriguing and liberating.

scottcanderson.substack.com/p/addiction-...

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Early life stress can leave deep scars, but a good microbiome can improve resilience.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mood...

A Microbial Signature of Dementia Gut microbes are significantly different in people with cognitive impairments.

People with fewer and less-diverse gut microbes are more likely to have cognitive impairment, including dementia and Alzheimer’s.
scottcanderson.substack.com/p/a-microbia...