Travellers ‘risk losing unique gut bacteria due to enforced lifestyle changes’

Irish Travellers have retained an ancient, pre-industrialised form of microbiome — bacteria or fungi — in their bodies that may protect them from many chronic inflammatory disorders, new research shows.

The study, published in the Nature Medicine scientific journal, found Irish Travellers have a gut microbiome that differs strikingly from the microbiome found in the bodies of the non-Traveller settled community.

The microbiome is a collective term for the bacteria, fungi and viruses that live in and on the body of every human. The gut microbiome helps control digestion and benefits the immune system and other aspects of health.

However, scientists behind the study expressed concern that Irish Travellers may be losing this unique microbiome because of enforced lifestyle changes.

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Chronic diseases connected to modern lifestyles have been linked with the loss of ancient microbes, according to the research, led by APC Microbiome Ireland at University College Cork, and Teagasc, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority.

A short animated video entitled ‘Why the microbiome of Irish Travellers is important for everyone’ and which was unveiled today at Cork City Hall as part of Traveller Pride Week 2022, explains how these tiny microbiomes “are important for health and digestion but they also tell us a lot about our history and way of life”.

Narrator Breda O’Donoghue, from the Traveller Visibility Group, explains in the video how people living in modern societies have a “strikingly different microbiome to that of people living in non-industrialised societies”.

“Modern microbiomes are less well adapted to high-fibre diets and are associated with increased risks of chronic diseases and antibiotic resistance,” she said.

“The lives of Irish Travellers show a bygone world with large families living in close quarters with horses and pet animals. These are the factors most closely linked with the distinct microbiome of Irish Travellers.”

Speaking ahead of the video presentation, Ms O’Donoghue said the findings only confirmed “what we always knew, we need to preserve the traditional Traveller lifestyle as it is essential for the health and wellness of our community”. The study reinforced the State’s decision in 2017 to formally recognise Travellers as a distinct ethnic group within the Irish nation, she added.

John O’Sullivan from Travellers of North Cork, which also collaborated with the research, said the “sequence of legislative changes since 1963 has eroded Traveller culture making it almost impossible for a Traveller to continue the traditional lifestyle they were brought up with, including possession of horses”.

“We hope this research will help us get support to restore some of our heritage and preserve our unique way of life.”

Prof Fergus Shanahan, a principal investigator on the paper, said in his “long career as a gastroenterologist I have never encountered a member of the Traveller Community presenting with inflammatory bowel disease”.

The research makes it clear the microbiome plays a “definite role in a person’s predisposition to chronic inflammatory disorders”, said Prof Shanahan, adding further investigation could help find a solution for inflammatory bowel disease, which affects 40,000 people in Ireland and 10 million globally every year.

Social scientist Mary Cronin works in community development with the Traveller community and partnered on the microbiome research. She said the ongoing collaboration between APC and Traveller advocacy groups would continue studying the wider determinants of general Traveller health, including mental health.

The collaboration follows a 2020 review from the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine that found although Irish Travellers constitute less than 1 per cent of the Irish population, they account for 10 per cent of national young adult male suicide statistics. “We are at a critical time to address the health crises in the Traveller community,” said Ms Cronin.