The gut microbiota, health and exercise

Non-communicable disease and mental health disorders pose a substantial threat to global health. It is estimated that 450 million people worldwide are affected by a mental health disorder thus substantially contributing to the global health burden (WHO, 2017). In the UK, just under 20% of the population over 16 years have shown symptoms of anxiety or depression (female = 22.5%; male = 16.8%) (Mental Health Foundation, 2016). Globally, 63% of all deaths in 2008 were due to non-communicable disease, primarily cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory disease (Alwan et al., 2010). In the UK, nearly 3.6 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes (with another 1 million estimated to have undiagnosed type II diabetes) (Diabetes UK, 2016). Over the last decade the prevalence of cardiovascular disease has declined, however, in 2014 it was still the second biggest cause of death, after cancer, accounting for 27% of all deaths (British Heart Foundation, 2015).