This is very exciting news for parents across the country. Many parents deal with the frustration of sick children during the winter months and the many associated problems including missed school, missed work and restless nights.

A recent study evaluated 326 children ages 3 to 5 years. Two groups of these children in a childcare center in China were given “twice-daily doses of L. acidophilus or L. acidophilus in combination with Bifidobacterium animalis for six months from November 2005 to May 2006.” The third group was given a placebo.

Both the single strain and the multi-strain probiotic doses were effective at reducing fever, cough, and rhinorrhea; the combination strain, however, had a more profound, positive impact. This seems to imply multi-strain, multi-species probiotics continue to prove more efficacy for prevention rather than their single-strain counterparts.

With profound research studies, such as this study in China, physicians may be able to begin moving away from antibiotics toward other forms of prevention like probiotics. While more studies are necessary, probiotic research continues to move forward in a very exciting direction.

For the article in its entirety, visit:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/15251

Source reference:
Leyer GJ, et al “Probiotic effects on cold and influenza-like symptom incidence and duration in children” Pediatrics 2009; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-2666.

Both a control and a probiotic group were on the same counseling and diet regimen, with the probiotic group receiving 2.4 billion colonies of Lactobacillus daily.

At both 6-weeks and 3-months, the probiotic group had a statistically significant increase in weight loss over their counterparts in the control group. However, at 6-months, the significance had decreased.

With more research studies in the future, researchers may be able to determine if probiotics do have an impact on post-gastric bypass weight loss.

View the article at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/706023