Why Does Leaky Gut Syndrome Cause Accelerated Aging?
What is Accelerated Aging and How Does It Happen?
Just as all the tissues and cells that make up our body need the necessary nutrients and oxygen to be nourished and perform optimal quality functions, waste and harmful substances must also be rapidly evacuated from the tissues. In addition, substances with the potential to cause harm (poisons, pathogenic microorganisms, incompletely digested macromolecules) must not reach the tissues. In all cases where these conditions are disrupted, the lifespan of the tissues is shortened and people AGED FASTER. All of these situations can be called RAPID AGING.
There are basically two factors that determine the life span of a cell, tissue and the entire organism. These can be summarized as factors that contribute to a long and high-quality life span and those that cause a short and low-quality life span.
Factors Contributing to Longevity and Quality of Life:
- Solid genetic infrastructure
- Being born spontaneously vaginally, without trauma and on time
- Breastfeeding for at least one year
- Growing up in a crowded family with quality flora
- Eating quality, balanced, natural nutrition and consuming clean water
- Minimal exposure to microbial trauma
- Minimal contact with antibiotics and corticosteroids
- Avoid long hospital stays and major surgery
- Living away from industrial pollutants (Radiation, heavy metals, polluted air, etc.)
- Doing sports and living an active life
- Not overeating and not being obese
- Avoiding agricultural chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, etc.)
- Staying away from cigarettes, alcohol and drugs
- Avoid intense stress
Factors that Cause Short and Poor Quality of Life:
- Having a bad genetic background
- Being born by Caesarean section, being born prematurely or having complications during birth
- Breastfeeding for six months or less
- Growing up in a family with poor quality flora or in a small family
- Eating inadequate, unbalanced and industrial food
- Not having access to clean and quality drinking water
- Passing on too many microbial diseases
- Using too much antibiotics or steroids for too long
- Long hospital stays and major surgery
- Experiencing periods where oral feeding stops for long periods of time
- Being exposed to industrial pollutants for a long time (Radiation, heavy metals, polluted air, etc.)
- Leading a sedentary life
- Overeating and being obese
- Long-term exposure to agricultural chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, etc.)
- Using cigarettes, alcohol and drugs
- Intense stress
Accelerated Aging is often confused with the disease we know as PREMATURE AGING . PROGERIA , also known as Hutchinson-Gilford or PREMATURE AGING disease , is a genetic disease that causes a child to age rapidly due to a mutation in the LMNA gene . However, there is no genetic disorder in RAPID AGING .
The foods necessary for humans are taken orally and digested, then mostly absorbed from the intestines and distributed to the bloodstream and the entire body through the bloodstream. The second most important need, apart from food, is OXYGEN. In cases where oxygen and necessary foods cannot reach the tissues in sufficient quantities, substances that should not reach reach the tissues or waste products cannot be effectively removed from the body, the life expectancy of the tissues and ultimately the entire organism is shortened and the quality of the shortened life also decreases.
Our topic here is to examine the effects of Leaky Gut Syndrome on ACCELERATED AGING.
To better understand the relationships between Leaky Gut Syndrome and ACCELERATED AGING, some definitions need to be made.
What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?
The feature of the absorption surface of our intestines is that it absorbs foods that are fully digested. Not everything that is eaten or drunk is absorbed from the intestines and passes into the bloodstream. Nutrients that are necessary for our body, that will not harm our body, and that are fully digested can be absorbed from the intestines, we call this the SELECTIVE PERMEABILITY feature of our intestines. There are many diseases that cause damage to the intestinal absorption surface and cause our intestines to lose their selective permeability feature, the general name of these is LEAKABLE GUT SYNDROME .
In What Situation Do Our Intestines Lose Their Selective Permeability?
The absorption surface of our intestines is covered with MUCOSA (inner skin) which has a single layer of cells. A gel-like secretion called MUCOUS secreted by the mucosa covers the entire mucosa like a film layer. In this way, direct contact with the intestinal substances (food, digestive enzymes etc.) is prevented and the mucosa is protected. When the mucus layer is absent or weakened, the mucosa is damaged after contact with the intestinal content and together with the absorption surface damage, SELECTIVE PERMEABILITY is partially or completely eliminated in the damaged areas of the intestines and unwanted substances that should not pass into the bloodstream (poisons, microbes, incompletely digested foods etc.) begin to pass and LEAKAGE GUT SYNDROME occurs.
What Happens If Selective Permeability Is Impaired in Our Intestines?
If the selective permeability of our intestines is disrupted, many things that normally should not pass from the intestines into the bloodstream begin to pass into the bloodstream. Our defense cells in the bloodstream, the “T lymphocytes”, perceive these as foreign and harmful and try to destroy them. However, when the passage becomes chronic and exceeds the level that our defense system can cope with, the perception of what is foreign and harmful in the T lymphocytes is disrupted and our body begins to perceive its own tissues as foreign and harmful and begins to attack our own tissues as well. The attack and destruction of our own tissues and organs by our defense system is called AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES . All diseases that occur in this way are called AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES . Things take on a different dimension after this stage.
What is Autoimmunity?
All of the diseases that occur when our immune system gets tired and loses its coordination after external attacks, and mistakenly perceives some tissues of the body as foreign and harmful and chronically attacks them are called AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES, and this whole process is called AUTOIMMUNE.
What are Autoimmune Diseases?
There are thousands of autoimmune diseases. The most well-known of these are Rheumatoid Arthritis (joint rheumatism), GUT, Autoimmune Dermatitis, Behcet’s Disease, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Autoimmune Ovarian Cysts, Psoriasis, Vitiligo, IBS, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Autoimmune Colitis, Diabetes, Food Allergies, Allergic Rhinitis, Allergic Asthma, Rosacea, etc.
Why Is Autoimmunity Treatment Important?
In people with any autoimmune disease, other autoimmune diseases develop much more easily. It’s like a chain reaction. Therefore, it is important to treat the autoimmune process as soon as possible.
What is Flora?
We live with single-celled organisms, mostly bacteria, viruses and yeasts, that live with us, do not harm us and also provide many benefits (defense, digestion, synthesis, humidity, acidity regulation, etc.). All of these are called FLORA. Some areas of our body (skin, digestive system, eyes, upper respiratory tract, etc.) contain FLORA. They are named according to the area they are located in (digestive system flora, genital area flora, etc.).
What is the Digestive System Flora?
The beneficial microorganisms located throughout the digestive system from mouth to anus are called DIGESTIVE SYSTEM FLORA. There are thousands of varieties. The more biodiversity we have, the more comfortable, effective and efficient the digestive system works.
We live together with single-celled organisms that are different for each region, in thousands of varieties, and in trillions in mass, in the protection and maintenance of the mucus produced by the mucosa, and that do not harm us, and that constitute our first defense mechanism against external microbial attacks, and that also have digestive, synthesis and nerve conduction functions. The general name of all of these is DIGESTIVE SYSTEM FLORA.
Our digestive system flora is renewed many times a day and the flora elements that have reached the end of their lifespan are naturally swept away and excreted as FEELS. 60-70% of our stool volume consists of dead or living flora waste.
What is the Function of the Digestive System Flora?
The function of the digestive system flora is to contribute to the humidity and acidity of the region in which it is located, to contribute to the production, protection and sustainability of mucus, to form the first line of defense against microbial attacks, to contribute to the enzymatic and chemical functions of the region, and to be an intermediary in the realization of the neural transmission functions of the digestive system.
Why is Flora Biodiversity Important?
If we compare our digestive system to a large and complicated factory, we can evaluate each flora biodiversity as an engineering-mastery field that requires special skills. The more engineers-masters a factory has with special skills, the higher the quality of the product will be. The BIODIVERSITY in our digestive system is exactly like that. The more biodiversity we have, the HEALTHY, HAPPY, QUALIFIED and LONGER we live.
How to Enrich Flora?
Our current flora can be enriched by close contact with people with rich flora, by eating a diet that protects and strengthens our flora (natural, free from pesticide residues, etc.), by not using unnecessary antibiotics, by staying away from industrial areas, and by consuming clean and healthy products (natural probiotics, etc.).
How to Get Flora?
Flora begins to be acquired in the womb. The next most important process is the method of birth. Those born by cesarean section will be born and live without the flora that they will never acquire throughout their lives. Many factors such as the size of the family the baby is born into, the flora of the people they are in close contact with, their nutritional culture and adequacy, past illnesses, treatments, etc. are effective in acquiring flora.
What Happens Without Flora?
Without flora, there would be no life.
Why Does Accelerated Aging Occur in Leaky Gut Syndrome?
The basic factor that triggers the onset of leaky gut syndrome is the weakening of the relevant region flora, the decrease in its biodiversity or its complete disappearance. The damage to the flora and the deterioration of the selective permeability of the intestine usually proceed in parallel. Due to the damage to the flora, an UNHEALTHY intestine emerges that is more open to microbial attacks, has impaired enzymatic functions, reduced synthetic ability, is inadequate in providing humidity, and has impaired acidity stability. As a result, digestive problems and consequently absorption problems of all nutrients will be observed together with more pathogenic microbial attacks. Due to the deprivation of the necessary nutrients by the tissues, they will not be able to perform their necessary functions and the tissue life will also decrease and the ACCELERATED AGING process will occur accordingly.
Is it possible to slow down or stop rapid ageing?
It may be possible to slow down or completely stop the RAPID AGING process that develops due to Leaky Gut Syndrome. Since all cases of Leaky Gut Syndrome are triggered by digestive system flora damage, it is first necessary to re-establish the digestive flora. Of course, if there are other additional factors that cause Leaky Gut Syndrome, they will also need to be eliminated or treated. If digestive system flora damage has been ongoing for more than 6 months, the only effective treatment at this stage is to re-establish healthy flora by performing FLORA TRANSPLANTATION.
What is Flora Transplantation?
After the examination and laboratory analyses, flora samples taken from at least one flora donor with high quality and biodiverse flora, under general anesthesia, endoscopically and colonoscopically, approximately 30-45 different anatomical areas, each with different solutions, are studied separately with the endoscopic lavage method and prepared through a series of processes, and then the flora is planted on the patient again under general anesthesia, endoscopically and colonoscopically, is called FLORA TRANSPLANTATION. Flora Transplantation is performed in a single session and is permanent for a lifetime.
We have compiled our clinical experiences on Flora Transplantation and published them in CUREUS, an academic, peer-reviewed, prestigious American medical journal, in 2022. Our article is the first and most comprehensive article in this field and is a reference. You can click the link below to access the article.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Kanlıöz
General Surgery Specialist