[Gasps] -Thank you! I made it myself.
-Did you? -And it has microbes on it!
-Oh look at them, they're so cute.
-I know! I like to think about which one's my favorite.
I think it might be this one.
At this very moment, there are trillions of microbes in and on your body. These bacteria, fungi,
viruses and more are a part of our bodies from the moment we’re born, and we need
them. The bacteria in our gut help us digest our
food. The bacteria in our mouth and nose help us fight off infections.
Almost every part of your body has its own unique microbiome, or community of microorganisms,
and that includes...the vagina. And that’s what I’m studying as a graduate
student right now! Someone should really count the
number of times we say ‘vagina’ in this video because it’s gonna be...a lot.
-I think one of the biggest misconceptions
about the vaginal microbiome is that it's bad.
A lot of people immediately will think that microbes are not helpful to us, when in fact,
the vaginal microbiome is incredibly important for protecting us from invading microbes that
are bad. -There’s an incredibly diverse microbial
party in there, and the party goers who take up the most space are a kind of bacteria called
lactobacilli. There are a bunch of different species in
this group, but they all have a very important job—taking up space and keeping the place
acidic. These lactobacilli are producing lactic acid
as they live their little lives, making your vagina have a pretty low pH.
This acidity is a really GOOD thing because it keeps the healthy bacteria happy, and it makes it
harder for bad bacteria to take over. This is also actually why you may notice stains
or bleached areas on your underwear even after washing them—
That natural acidity of your vaginal discharge is bleaching the pigment out of the fabric, and that’s
totally normal and fine. I promise you’re not weird.
In fact, this might explode your brain, but the vagina’s healthy acidity has been shown
to decrease your risk of catching certain STIs, even lowering the likelihood of HIV
transmission. Although—using a barrier like a condom or
a dental dam is still absolutely necessary if you want to minimize your STI risk as much
as possible.
So maintaining that healthy community of microbes
and that acidic environment is really important.
-For instance, it's associated with things
like bacterial vaginosis, which affects 10% of women in the U.S. every single year recurrently.
-If you’ve ever had BV, you know the struggle. Normal vaginal discharge is a combination
of cells, fun stuff your microbes are producing, the microbes themselves, and cervical mucus,
and it will vary in texture, color, and amount throughout your cycle.
Usually, discharge is clear or white, and doesn’t have a bad smell. But if that microbiome
gets upset, like if something makes it more difficult for your lactobacilli to thrive...then
other species of bacteria will start to move in and take over. Your discharge may change color, and
start to smell different, and this...is bacterial vaginosis.
It's an imbalance of the natural bacteria that are always there in your vagina,
they’re just...
out of whack.
If you’ve experienced this, you’re not alone because it’s the most
common vaginal issue for those of us under 45.
Something similar is happening when you get a yeast infection. If your natural ecosystem
of protective bacteria has been disturbed, the yeast that naturally live in your vagina
then decide ‘hey, now’s my moment, let's multiply’.
The most frustrating thing is that if you take a medication for one of these problems,
like antibiotics to treat the BV, that same medication increases your chance of developing
another imbalance-driven issue, like a yeast infection.
It’s like, can we catch a break? We have got to find other options than just
throwing antimicrobials at the problem.
Actually, pro-tip, maybe you can ask your doctor a for probiotic
along with traditional antibiotic treatment for BV.
There’s also some research that using an antifungal WITH an antibiotic at the treatment
stage can help prevent this odious self-reinforcing cycle...but we still need to find better solutions.
It’s truly exhausting, because SO MANY things can upset your microbes: taking antibiotics,
being pregnant, having sex, getting your period, using menstrual products, being on birth control...Like
there’s so much admin that comes with a vagina!
But if there is one thing you take away from this video, please let it be this: you don’t
need to wash out your vagina. I know the world might have made you feel
like you are bad or dirty for producing discharge or for smelling how you smell but if you do
something like douche, you are literally washing away all the good microbes that keep you safe
and healthy. You never have to wash out your vagina. It
cleans itself. And I know I get really worked up about this
stuff, but that’s because this microbiome business has way bigger impacts than just
stuff like yeast infections, although they do suck.
-The vaginal microbiome is also implicated in secondary conditions. These include things
like preterm birth, STI acquisition, and even fertility.
-Yeah. That disruption of the natural vaginal microbiome, like we see with a condition like
BV, may increase your risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease, a condition that can
lead to infertility if left untreated. Microbiome imbalance can increase your risk
of getting HPV...and that’s a big deal, because some types of HPV can lead to cancer.
BV during pregnancy is associated with higher risk of premature birth, which poses all kinds
of risks to both birthing person and baby. We need a better understanding of these microbial
dynamics so we can stop this from happening… this is actually what I’m doing my master’s
thesis research on right now.
And all of that doesn’t even BEGIN to get
into stuff like urinary tract infections, which 50-60% of women will experience in their
lifetime. The vaginal and vulval microbiome definitely
affect conditions like UTIs, which also have long-term health implications, and don’t
have great solutions.
Now, at this point, like me, you may be really frustrated
by the lack of deep understanding and effective solutions we have for issues like this, but
that is changing. And this is where companies like Hana’s come in.
-We founded Juno Bio for two reasons. One is
that we believe that we needed to close the gender health gap as quickly as we could,
and that this was one of the best ways of decoding the vaginal microbiome. The second
reason is that to really decode the vaginal microbiome, we need data at scale and traditional
academic studies and the way that they're funded and run, just don't provide that scale.
Through the Juno study, we've built one of the world's richest and most representative
repositories of the vaginal microbiome.
-Because yes—we do see differences in microbiome
makeup across ethnicities and geographic areas, across different kinds of diets, and between
vaginas and neovaginas— or vaginas that have been surgically constructed. ​
So companies like Juno Bio and research teams all over the world—like the one I’m working
with—are trying to dig deeper and generate more data about the vaginal microbiome.
This will let us understand how these invisible creatures work, so that people with vaginas
don’t have to put up with conditions that the world treats as insignificant,
but that as we’ve seen—actually have an oversized effect on our overall health.
This research could lead to exciting developments like standardization of probiotics as complimentary
therapy for BV; Better, more accurate screening tools to identify those at risk for preterm
birth; and... -vaginal microbiome transplants. So in 2019,
we had the first ever paper that showed that actually, if you take a vaginal microbiome
sample from a healthy woman, and place it into a woman who's dysbiotic, you can actually
cure things like intractable bacterial vaginosis.
Because it’s not just about you. Your microbiome can affect
the health of your sexual partners, and if you have a child, passing through the vaginal
canal is that baby’s introduction to its microbial world,
setting up its microbiome maybe for life. But you can see just how many different lives
and fields are impacted by and involved in this aspect of female-bodied health.
-We need a multidisciplinary approach and it's super important to have
scientists, clinicians, and the women that experience the conditions
associated with them all involved in decoding the vaginal microbiome.
And the impact that it has on our health.
-I feel really lucky to have found my niche in this fascinating field
and I'm hoping to go on to do a PhD in exactly this.
So if you have questions, I hope to be part of finding the answers for all of us.
But for now, let me leave you with
this. The best part about your vagina is that it’s
really good at keeping you healthy, if you let it.
Say it with me: no scented products, no soap, no douching.
Just let it do its normal thing, and get in touch with what that normal is for you.
Thanks so much for watching Seeker’s new series Body Language. I hope you’ve enjoyed this
video. And if there's another women's health topic you want us to cover,
leave us a comment.
I'll see you next time!