Can We Catch “Noncommunicable” Diseases From Other People?

Back then, many of our ancestors died from malaria, tuberculosis, bacteria-laced wounds that never healed, and many other communicable diseases — diseases caused by infectious agents that can be transmitted between people, or from animals to human beings. Now, thanks to vaccines and antibiotics, only a few people die from communicable diseases. Most of us either avoid them or get treated for them.

In the present, most of us die from noncommunicable diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. According to the World Health Organization, these noncommunicable diseases account for over 70% of deaths globally.

By definition, noncommunicable diseases are thought to arise from a combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors rather than being transmitted by bacteria, fungi or viruses. In recent years, however, scientists have realized that the collection of microbes crawling in and on the human body — known as the microbiome — has a large influence on our health. Could it be that noncommunicable diseases can actually pass between people via the mighty microbiome? 
Some scientists think the answer is yes.

Check out Live Science for more details about this study.

(Image Credit: qimono/ Pixabay)


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