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Health

The brain has its own microbiome. Here's what it means for your health

Neuroscientists have been surprised to discover that the human brain is teeming with microbes, and we are beginning to suspect they could play a role in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's

By David Robson

25 September 2024

·ï»Ë²ÊƱ. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Graham Carter

In 2015, Nikki Schultek was in her prime: a young mother of two little boys, she had just run a half marathon. Then, a mysterious illness hit. Her asthma, previously well-managed, became increasingly severe. Over the following months, she experienced chronic pain, digestive problems and a cardiac arrhythmia. Then came the “last insult”: signs of neurodegeneration, including brain fog and lapses of memory. “It was the lowest point,” she recalls. “I began making plans for my kids, writing down notes of things that I would want to tell them if I continued to get worse.”

Schultek received various diagnoses…

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