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    Mood-boosting Bacteria Found in Dirt

    By Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine | Healthy Living – Tue, Jan 31, 2012 4:53 PM EST

    A bacteria found in dirt may act like a natural antidepressant.A bacteria found in dirt may act like a natural antidepressant.Even if you don't love gardening, digging in the dirt may be good for your health -- and it has nothing to do with a love of nature or the wonder of watching things grow. The secret may be in the dirt itself: A bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae that acts like an antidepressant once it gets into your system.

    That's right. A living organism that acts like a mood-booster on the human brain, increasing serotonin and norepinephrine levels and making people feel happier. It was accidentally discovered about 10 years ago, when Dr. Mary O'Brien, an oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, tried an experimental treatment for lung cancer. She inoculated patients with killed M. vaccae, expecting the bacteria -- which is related to ones that cause tuberculosis and leprosy -- to boost their immune system. It did that, The Economist reported in 2007, but it also improved her patients' "emotional health, vitality, and general cognitive function." Later experiments with mice confirmed the bacteria's effects; the study was published in a 2007 edition of the journal "Neuroscience."

    "These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health," the mouse study's lead author, neuroscientist Dr. Christopher Lowry, said. "They also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all be spending more time playing in the dirt."

    "We believe that prolonged exposure to [M.vaccae] from childhood could have a beneficial effect," he added.

    It raises the intriguing idea of a future where doctors could treat clinical depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder with a simple vaccine (and possibly a future in which kids don't need quite so may baths). In the meantime, people seeking a bit of a boost may be able to find it in their own backyards.

    In an article in The Atlantic this week, author Pagan Kennedy tests out the ultimate in eco-friendly antidepressants herself. "As I huff the soil, I have no way of knowing exactly how much M. vaccae is floating into my lungs -- or whether it's enough to change my mind," she writes. "But I sure can smell this compost."

    We wouldn't recommend inhaling dirt, of course. But, come spring, we're looking forward to spending more time getting dirty.

    Copyright © 2012 Yahoo Inc.




    Also on Shine:

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    Research says antidepressants could make you more depressed
    Container gardening ideas for spring

     
    • MP
      MP  •  2 months ago
      Bike in the wind the dirt blows in, squish toes in a wonderful creek mighty microbes!
    • BIG TIM
      BIG TIM  •  3 months ago
      "WOW FROM MOTHER EARTH" AND NOT FROM GRUG COMPANIES
    • Gorilla
      Gorilla  •  Washington, District of Columbia  •  3 months ago
      Great. Now the FDA will want to regulate your garden dirt as a mind altering drug.
    • LovesAmerica
      LovesAmerica  •  Crown Point, Indiana  •  3 months ago
      Why did the medical industry wait 10 years to come forward with this information? This summer I plan on doing alot of gardening.
      • eagle_451
        eagle_451 3 months ago
        I am hoping to put in a raised bed garden this Spring. When I was growing up back in Iowa we had two small fields at the old farm my Mom grew up in IL for gardening. My late Wife and I had a garden out back here.
    • Marilynn
      Marilynn  •  Kansas City, Missouri  •  3 months ago
      And Parents wonder why kids can not stay clean more than 5 minutes on Sunday morning, they know how to make themselves HAPPY!
      • joe
        joe 3 months ago
        ya can't get mad at your kids.....cause......we remember them days
      • Marilynn
        Marilynn 3 months ago
        I still play in the dirt every spring and summer its called gardening..lol good cover story too.
      • Hugh
        Hugh 3 months ago
        Maybe it's just that you are outside doing something productive instead of sitting in front of a TV.
    • labbiegal
      labbiegal  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 months ago
      Wonderful. But please don't ruin the article but suggesting another VACCINE instead of nature. We need less big pharma please and a lot more down home common sense.
      • Hugh
        Hugh 3 months ago
        You had better be thankful for vaccines. Without them a lot of us would be dead before we reached 20!!!!!
      • AmyS
        AmyS 3 months ago
        Hugh, evidently you have NOT studied vaccines, other wise you would NOT inject them in your body or anyone else you love.
    • Robin J. Sky
      Robin J. Sky  •  3 months ago
      Dos anyone else thinks this might explain why the occasional kiddo gets caught eating dirt...?
      • Angela
        Angela 3 months ago
        Hmmm. That's a really good point to make!
      • Junbug
        Junbug 3 months ago
        The kid eating dirt may be lacking iron. Have it checked by a doctor.
      • Elaine
        Elaine 3 months ago
        When I was a young child growing up in Tucson, I would eat a little dirt. It tasted so good. Couldn't let those mud pies go to waste.
    • Just me!
      Just me!  •  3 months ago
      Now I have a way to logically explain to my left-brained husband why I want to spend so much time out in the garden! Love it!!
    • Pam
      Pam  •  3 months ago
      And you haven't lived until after all that work, your garden comes in you look out one morning and here is a moose eating all your crops. The only thing I've learned that keeps them out is throwing a bear hide over the side of the fence.
    • TerryD1960
      TerryD1960  •  Shelton, Connecticut  •  3 months ago
      So that's why I always feel better after digging around in my garden! (That, and all those wonderful exercise-induced endorphins, plus sunlight, which is known to stave of depression, especially pre-9am sunlight for some reason.)
    • mark p
      mark p  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  3 months ago
      OK you slackers . . . get out there and WEED!
    • hot in philly
      hot in philly  •  3 months ago
      Horseshit!!
    • Brother Mark
      Brother Mark  •  Tampa, Florida  •  3 months ago
      OK, y'know probably that I get a LOT of news and info (maybe). This is something that hit totally home. Please take note.
    • Tinn
      Tinn  •  3 months ago
      Take two shovels and call me in the morning
    • ♥♫♪♥MadeInAmerica♥♫♪♥
      ♥♫♪♥MadeInAmerica♥♫♪♥  •  3 months ago
      I have 237 more seeds to sow today in my seedling flats when the sun comes up so I'll be playing in the dirt again today. :^) This soil is sterile seed starter soil though so I doubt there will be much benefit to it. Spring transplanting is when the real fun starts.
      If you've got seeds to start indoors, now is the time to do it. :^)
    • TJ
      TJ  •  3 months ago
      Those "mud pies" we made as kids did us good. I grew up in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest and spent hours digging in dirt and swimming in cold creeks. I believe this is why I have such a "turbo" immune system. It's already known that children raised in a sterile environment develop autoimmune disorders. Let those kids out to play!!!
    • Nova
      Nova  •  El Paso, Texas  •  3 months ago
      Wow, I believe that, my father loves to garden because it relaxes him... now I know why.
    • Shamus
      Shamus  •  Buffalo, New York  •  3 months ago
      Get ready to have your soil taxed more than is is now.
    • hen
      hen  •  Cleveland, Georgia  •  3 months ago
      prohibition of the garden next on the washington hit list.
    • jane
      jane  •  Sydney, Australia  •  3 months ago
      Brilliant! We all need to dig and plant, especially kids. So much yummy stuff to grow and eat and so many critters to observe. Feel the biodiversity!
     Post a comment

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