Can You Catch Chronic Disease? The Truth About Contagious Microbiomes | Quick + Dirty

Apr 17, 2025

Dive into the controversial idea that chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes might be contagious through shared microbiomes. Explore how your close social circles can influence your health and wellness more than you think. Discover the connection between microbial diversity and chronic illness, especially in light of the COVID pandemic. A fresh look at public health strategies is called for as we rethink the hygiene hypothesis and recognize the importance of maintaining microbial balance for better overall health.

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INSIGHT

Contagious Chronic Diseases

Chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes may be contagious via microbiome transmission.
Sharing a living environment influences metabolic health beyond genetics and behavior.

ANECDOTE

Intestinal Worms and Spouses

Tyna treated a man with intestinal worms; his spouse was treated too due to shared microbiomes.
This example highlights how close contacts transmit microbes and affect health.

INSIGHT

Social Contagion of Illness

Chronic illness spreads through social contagion, including microbiome, food, sleep, stress, and lifestyle.
Genetics and shared behavior alone do not explain chronic disease clustering in close contacts.

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EP 206: In this quick and dirty, I’m diving straight into one of the most controversial things I’ve said recently - and trust me, it stirred up some serious heat on a recent social media post. After appearing on Codie Sanchez’s podcast and dropping a bomb about how certain chronic diseases might actually be contagious (yeah, you read that right), the internet went wild. I’m breaking down why I stand by it, what the data shows, and how our microbiomes, social circles, and even online interactions might be influencing our health way more than we thought.

On This Episode We Cover:

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:03:43 – Can Microbiomes Be Contagious?
00:04:44 – What Drives Chronic Disease Risk
00:06:40 – How Proximity Impacts Your Health
00:08:29 – Root Causes of Chronic Illness
00:09:57 – Why This Matters for Public Policy
00:13:49 – Rethinking the Hygiene Hypothesis
00:16:21 – The Danger of Microbiome Loss
00:17:17 – Your Inner Circle Affects Your Health

Show Links:

Further Listening:

EP. 172: GLP-1 Agonists and the Gut Microbiome: Unveiling Their Role in Metabolic Health | Solo

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Disclaimer: Information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. This information is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional, or any information contained on or in any product. Do not use the information provided in this podcast for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing medication or other treatment. Always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medication or nutritional, herbal or other supplement, or using any treatment for a health problem. Information provided in this blog/podcast and the use of any products or services related to this podcast by you does not create a doctor-patient relationship between you and Dr. Tyna Moore. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent ANY disease.