Bellvitge University Hospital
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Specialist physician in the Digestive System Service and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at Bellvitge University Hospital
A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, which analysed the prevalence of anorexia and bulimia in 204 countries from 1990 to 2023 by age and sex, has found that the number of cases has risen by 71 per cent. In 2023, an estimated 18.1 million people worldwide were suffering from one of these two eating disorders, of whom 41.2 per cent were young people aged between 10 and 24, and 70 per cent were women. This figure is estimated to rise to 21.8 million by 2050.
An international study has warned of the potential risks of widespread use of faecal microbiota transplantation without taking into account the region of the intestine where the transferred microbes arrive. The experiment, conducted on mice and human tissue samples, showed that the microbes from the transplant—mostly anaerobic microbes from the colon—colonised the small intestine, persisted there for months and modified that new environment, causing changes in the host's metabolism. According to the authors, whose study is published in the journal Cell, this may have long-lasting and unforeseen consequences, as well as imbalances in the intestinal ecosystem of patients.