New insights into how gut bacteria affect anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and constipation, and ways to treat them

Anxiety, depressive symptoms, sleep disorders, and chronic constipation often co-occur and significantly impact health.

• These conditions may share overlapping neural, hormonal, immune, and metabolic mechanisms.
• Alterations in gut microbial composition could be linked to affective symptoms, sleep disturbances, and chronic constipation.
• Microbial metabolites, immune signaling, and neuroendocrine regulation may play roles in these associations.
• Microbiota-targeted interventions, such as probiotics and dietary changes, are being explored for their potential benefits.
• Heterogeneity in existing studies limits the ability to draw firm causal conclusions about these relationships.

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