Alyssa Luck

Akkermansia Muciniphila: Bane or Boon for IBD?

· · Leave a Comment

Summary: Akkermansia muciniphila is a commensal bacteria found in healthy human colons that is widely regarded as a promising next-generation probiotic. Researchers have mainly focused on therapeutic potential for obesity and diabetes, but there’s also substantial interest in the field of IBD, particularly for its beneficial effects on gut barrier function. However, a minority of researchers have suggested that Akkermansia muciniphila could worsen colitis. Despite that, most of the evidence thus far suggests that A. muciniphila could potentially be leveraged as a beneficial therapy for IBD and gut health in general once more research has been done.

Table of Contents:

Akkermansia Muciniphila: Fast Facts
Akkermansia Muciniphila Degrades Colonic Mucus – But That’s a Good Thing
Akkermansia Muciniphila Strengthens the Gut Barrier
Akkermansia Muciniphila May Promote Intestinal Wound Healing
Akkermansia Muciniphila May Modulate Immune Response to Commensal Bacteria
From Mechanisms to Colitis Models in Mice
Schrödinger’s Bacteria: Akkermansia Muciniphila Both Promotes and Ameliorates Colitis
So What Does This Mean for Humans with IBD?
Akkermansia Muciniphila and IBD? It’s Complicated.
Should I Take Akkermansia Muciniphila?

Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species may still be the darlings of the probiotic world, but there’s a new kid on the block: Akkermansia muciniphila.

This bacteria was isolated for the first time in 2004 (1) so it’s still relatively new to the game, but you can see from this fun trend analysis (2) that research has exploded, especially in the last couple years.

Source: Hojat et al., Global scientific output trend for Akkermansia muciniphila research: a bibliometric and scientometric analysis, 2020

So what is Akkermansia muciniphila, and why the interest all of a sudden?

[Read more…] about Akkermansia Muciniphila: Bane or Boon for IBD?

Mouse Models of Ulcerative Colitis: What Can They Really Tell Us?

· · Leave a Comment

Summary: Animal models of colitis are invaluable to ulcerative colitis (and more broadly, IBD) research, both in helping to elucidate potential disease mechanisms and in the process of testing and approving new therapies. A huge variety of mouse models of colitis have been developed, but they can be grouped into just a few categories based on the mechanism of disease induction, and a small handful of models are the most widely used by far.

Despite the importance of these models, no animal model yet exists that is an accurate mimic of human ulcerative colitis, and therefore each particular model and its limitations must be taken into account both when deciding which model to use and when drawing conclusions based on the findings.

Table of Contents
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Most Common Mouse Models of Colitis
Development of Colitis in Mice is Highly Dependent on Gut Bacteria
Mouse Models of Colitis Have Limited Translational Relevance to Human Ulcerative Colitis

I haven’t talked much about ulcerative colitis on here (aside from the fact that that’s what got me interested in health in the first place), but I’d like to change that. And I thought I’d be remiss to not start with a brief overview of the mouse models of colitis that are commonly used in ulcerative colitis research. After all, much of what we know about the etiology of the disease comes from animal research, and we owe all of our current UC therapies to the intensive drug-approval process that begins with pre-clinical animal studies.

Models of colitis have been developed for many different lab animals from fruit flies to pigs, but since mouse models are by far the most common, we’ll focus on those.

A semantic note: If you read any UC mouse research, you’ll notice that the term “ulcerative colitis” isn’t used to describe what’s happening in the mice; the more general term “colitis” is used instead. That’s because while the mice are exhibiting inflammation of the colon, it’s not accurate to liken it to human ulcerative colitis. (So yes, the title of this article is a bit of a misnomer.) More on this below.

[Read more…] about Mouse Models of Ulcerative Colitis: What Can They Really Tell Us?

Can Chewing on One Side Cause Facial Asymmetry?

· · 2 Comments

Hi! I recorded a video (below) musing on this topic, and thought I’d give you all a text version as well, both because I’m not very concise on video and so you can see the alien face pics a bit better (ha).

I recently tried one of those “face symmetry” apps where it takes a picture of your face and shows you what it would look like if it were perfectly symmetrical, either using the right or the left side. This really highlights any facial asymmetries you might have, and I found my results super interesting (for a few reasons), so wanted to share!

[Read more…] about Can Chewing on One Side Cause Facial Asymmetry?

AGGA/Controlled Arch Braces Progress Update (9 months in braces, 22 months total)

· · 2 Comments

Just a quick progress update after my last ortho appt. Also – I really struggle with how to name these videos…please excuse the absurdly long title.

Tl;dw (too long didn’t watch…that’s a thing right?): everything is good, premolars are almost all the way forward (left one is, right one still has a tiny gap). Next they’re gonna put me in a new wire, tweak aesthetics/occlusion, then do a CBCT scan to prepare for implants, do implants, then after they settle pull the molars forward.

Controlled arch braces progress + timeline update

· · 2 Comments

Just a quick update here at the 7-month mark of my controlled arch braces! Showed progress with the premolars moving forward, and talked about next steps/timeline updates. Spoiler: I’ll probably have braces until the end of this year. Probably implants by early summer, but then several additional months for them to settle and to tweak my occlusion.

AGGA Before & After – 10mm Expansion

· · 10 Comments

Hey folks! I’m finally getting around to sharing my long-awaited before/after pics from AGGA. These are not final before/afters, because I still have to go through the CAB (braces) phase, but CAB shouldn’t give me any significant additional expansion, so I don’t expect the final photos to be much different aside from no more gaps and (hopefully) better posture.

Things to note:

  • I realize the lighting is inconsistent. When we do FINAL final pics, I’ll ask them to make sure they match it up better. (And will try to match hair/clothes, etc etc)
  • I started AGGA May 22, 2019, and finished (and moved onto CAB) on June 9, 2020, so almost exactly a full year of expansion
  • I was 25 years old when I started, now 26
  • Final measurements were 10mm expansion on both sides
  • My first AGGA broke around November/December 2019, so I was in a retainer for a month while they made me a new one, which means I averaged just under 1mm of expansion per month
  • I admittedly have not been nearly as dedicated to tongue/posture exercises during this process as I should have been, but am redoubling my efforts for the CAB phase and trying to cement better habits. Although you can see my posture has improved somewhat, there’s still lots of improvement to be had!
  • Looking better was never the reason for taking on this absurdly expensive, somewhat unpleasant, and slightly risky process, but it’s a definite side-benefit. It’s an inescapable fact that with human bodies, physical beauty is often very closely tied to proper function.

Now, onto the pictures. Scroll to the bottom for additional commentary from yours truly re: my goals for the treatment and whether I’m happy with the results so far.

  • No room for tongue = double chin
  • Less double chin, more lip support
  • It’s super obvious in this pic how recessed my upper dental arch was. Thanks childhood braces.
  • Better! Honestly could probably use more expansion, but I think that would be pushing my luck.
  • I look like I’m having an existential crisis
  • Kinda looks like my face got MORE asymmetrical, but could also be the lighting. Still in the habit of almost always chewing on the right side, but this should improve after my teeth actually touch on the left so I can chew more evenly.
  • Existential crisis = resolved
  • Even with the giant gaps, my smile definitely looks better now! Nifty.
  • 10mm gaps on either side
  • Had small gaps from prior expansion attempt, which closed naturally over the course of AGGA (nice side benefit!)
  • Gum recession on canines. Dr. Suh isn’t worried – says this happens to everyone and should resolve.
  • Again, gum recession apparent.

Are you happy with your results so far?

Provisionally, yes! It did the thing that I wanted and expected it to do, which was to create more space in the front of my mouth.

In my previous post “Why I Decided to Try AGGA (plus some lingering concerns)”, I listed out all the things I was hoping to address with AGGA. Here’s my assessment of whether these goals have been achieved yet.

  • Clenching/grinding at night: No. Of course there’s no way to know for sure what happens while I’m asleep, but I still find myself involuntarily clenching while I’m awake, so I’m fairly certain I still do at night. My guess is that my masseters are so used to being overactive, and my tongue underactive, that I’ll need to strengthen my tongue quite a bit more before those unconscious habits fully resolve.
  • Poor occlusion (front incisors hit end-to-end): Yes! Absolutely resolved. I got 10mm of forward growth, so my jaw can come as far forward as it wants now.
  • Poor occlusion (only my right molars touch): Not yet. The bite pads have given me some ability to chew on my left side, since we make them much larger on the left than the right to account for my uneven bite, but it’s still not the same as having proper tooth-on-tooth occlusion. This should be resolved in the braces phase that I’m in now.
  • TMJ concerns: Sort of. Because I don’t have a proper stable bite yet, I don’t think I’m necessarily chewing optimally yet, HOWEVER, I certainly no longer have to pull my jaw back in order for my teeth to fit together. I can feel the muscles gradually settling into a more natural bite, and I haven’t noticed jaw soreness recently, but I never had too much to begin with, so I don’t want to frame this as any kind of revolutionary thing. That said, I have full confidence that once the whole process is over, I have proper occlusion, and I’ve successfully re-trained my jaw/cheek/tongue muscles, I won’t have any remaining concerns about TMJ health.
  • Lack of tongue space: Mostly? I have 10mm more forward space than I used to, which is HUGE, but it’s still not the same as if my facial bones had developed properly in the first place. But I’d say I now have enough space to keep decent tongue posture, and am optimistic that good posture habits over a long period of time will further improve structure and increase tongue space.
  • Better profile: Heck yeah. It is now moderately less horrifying to see pictures of myself from the side. Score.

Did your lower jaw come forward as you created space? Or do you have an overbite now?

It did, in fact! More so than I expected. And no – no overbite, although I did have an overbite at a few points during my expansion.

Granted, the main reason I did this treatment to begin with was because my lower jaw wanted to be more forward than it was allowed to be, but what felt like my “natural” bite at the start of treatment was where my incisors touched end-to-end. If that was actually my natural bite, I would’ve only needed a few mm of forward expansion to accommodate that.

What actually happened is exactly what my dentist said would happen: with the new leeway to freely shift around (provided by the bite pads), my jaw gradually moved into a more forward position as my upper teeth moved forward.

Towards the end of the expansion process, there were times where I consciously had to push my jaw forward to avoid having a crazy overbite, but now my jaw seems to have very gratefully accepted all 10mm of extra space we’ve given it, and is settling nicely into its new forward position. Keeping proper neck posture helps with this as well.

Do you still have concerns about gum recession or losing teeth?

Definitely. In fact, after posting a video recently on this topic, Ronald Ead himself reached out to me privately to express concern and warn me about the dangers of AGGA. He personally has loose/unstable front teeth that he attributes to AGGA, and knows several people who have actually lost teeth (and with no chance of implants – aka my worst nightmare).

On the other hand – my dentist isn’t worried, my front teeth don’t feel loose, and no matter how many horror stories surface, there are plenty of success stories too. At the end of the day, it’s a risk I just have to accept, and hope that I’m one of the success stories.

That said, I do plan to ask my dentist at my next appointment how he monitors the health of those front teeth, and in what situations he would abort the mission. Just because a risk can’t be fully mitigated doesn’t mean I should just sweep it under the rug and not monitor it or come up with contingency plans. (Although I have to say…I’d much rather just live in denial and hope that nothing bad happens…)

Video: Is AGGA dangerous? My thoughts on tooth instability and bone loss

· · 18 Comments

Ramblings on the risks of AGGA, from my personal perspective. Also, yes, not only did I not manage to make this video five minutes, as intended, but the second take was actually LONGER than the first. Video: 1 Alyssa: 0

Below are the blog posts I mentioned in the video that touch more on this topic. And to add – since I published this video a week or so ago, Ronny Ead reached out to me privately with further warnings about the dangers of AGGA. He had a negative experience towards the end, and knows several more people who have had even worse experiences (i.e. losing their front teeth with no chance of implants).

So let this just be a reminder to anyone reading this that AGGA/CAB isn’t something that should be undertaken lightly or without just cause, and I would encourage anyone considering this treatment to check out the videos/posts Ronny has published on the topic for a different perspective. It’s always good to keep in mind that the entities who financially benefit from a treatment may not always be totally unbiased and objective when evaluating the risks.

Palate Expansion Update: Concerning CBCT Scan Results

Why I Decided to Try AGGA (plus some lingering concerns)

Everything You Need to Know about AGGA (but not really because I need to update this page…)

Video: Why I chose AGGA over mewing alone

· · Leave a Comment

I guess I make videos now, so here’s one addressing the question: why did you choose AGGA rather than just mewing? 

I already talked about this in this post, plus the rest of my AGGA-decision-making rationale and concerns, so check that out if you haven’t already. (I really am so much better at writing than talking, you guys.)