BIOHM Health Spearheads Largest Autism Microbiome Study Ever Conducted

Microbiome company looks to unlock the mysteries of digestive microbiome as it relates to Autism.

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Jan 10, 2018, 06:00 ET

CLEVELAND, Jan. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning on January 11, 2018, BIOHM Health, a microbiome company guided by the cutting edge research of Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, will leverage their DNA sequencing platform to begin the largest Autism microbiome sequencing study that has ever been undertaken. BIOHM Health's goal is to sequence 25,000 children diagnosed with Autism.

Among non-neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal issues are among the most common medical conditions associated with autism. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that children with autism are more than 3.5 times more likely to suffer chronic diarrhea or constipation than are their normally developing peers. Studies also indicate the microbiome may play a role in Autism pathophysiology, since the gut's microbiome makes critical contributions to metabolism and maintenance of the immune system along with playing a key role in the central nervous system.

Since launching their consumer sequencing kit, the BIOHM Gut Report, BIOHM Health has generated more data than the entire NIH Human Microbiome Project. As a result, microbiome sequencing has become simple and affordable for people across the United States, allowing access to personal microbiome data for many people for the very first time. BIOHM Health will sponsor 100 children to enroll in the BIOHM Autism Microbiome Project for free. Additionally, they will offer parents of a child with Autism the ability to secure one of the remaining spots for $80, $100 off the BIOHM Gut Report cost. All profits from the BIOHM Autism Microbiome Project will be donated to to Autism research foundations as chosen by participants in the study.

"BIOHM's social mission is to further our collective understanding of how the microbiome is tied to our health and wellness," stated Afif Ghannoum, CEO of BIOHM Health. "We are so humbled at the opportunity to work with the Autism community in bringing this to life." Not only will the study allow parents to understand their children's microbiome data and how it relates to levels normally found in the gut, BIOHM Health will also make the entire study's anonymized data (without any personal data) available for free to the Autism research community.

BIOHM Health's goal is to leverage the power of Big Data, giving the Autism research community at large, access to an unparalleled Autism microbiome data set.The BIOHM Autism Microbiome Project is an open source research project to help parents and researchers understand the makeup of the microbiome in children diagnosed with Autism. It is for informational purposes only and is not intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of Autism.

"The microbiome studies that have been performed to date, while excellent, have been limited by the number of participants," said Dr. Ghannoum. "In our study, the sheer magnitude of data should allow my colleagues in the Autism research community an amazing research opportunity. I'm absolutely fascinated to see what they uncover, with the ultimately goal being that we make a dramatic jump forward in our understanding of how the microbiome relates to Autism. As a scientist, this is a tremendously exciting endeavor."

ABOUT BIOHM HEALTH
BIOHM Health was founded by Afif Ghannoum and Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum after his breakthrough discovery that bad bacteria and bad fungus work together to create digestive imbalance. Dr. Ghannoum realized that today's probiotics and microbiome tests had not been engineered to address the gut's total microbiome of bacteria and fungi, entirely ignoring the role fungi plays in digestive health. As a result, he created BIOHM Health: The first company that addresses the gut's total microbiome of both bacteria and fungi.

BIOHM Health was founded to be the first total microbiome company. BIOHM's mission is simple: to engineer elegant products and tests that address the total microbiome of both bacteria and fungi, allowing consumers to maintain total digestive health. For more information visit: www.BIOHMhealth.com.

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SOURCE BIOHM Health