Study proposes that heart disease and cancer can be contagious

A new study, published today (17) by researchers at the University of British Columbia (Canada) in the scientific journal Science, sought to investigate whether diseases considered non-infectious could have any transmissible element, which would facilitate their dispersion. Illnesses like cancer, heart or respiratory problems and metabolic syndromes, all considered non-contagious, have been analyzed by scientists.

According to the article, more and more data indicate that these and other diseases are associated with the lack of regulation of microbes present in the human intestine. The researchers suggest, at work, that these microorganisms can be exchanged between individuals through contact, fluid exchange, etc.

In this way, the deregulation of a person's intestinal microbes could result from this exchange with someone else. Deregulation, in turn, scientists propose, could cause cancer or other serious syndromes. This would mean that evils considered non-infectious could have a transmissible component: the exchange of intestinal microorganisms.

According to the scientists, it is essential that several researches are carried out to verify if the regulation of these microbes is in fact a causative element of these diseases, and not just a result of them. Anyway, they say, the hypothesis allows one to face the transmission, prevention and treatment of these syndromes in an innovative way.