Probiotics Archives

Probiotics Prevent Colds in Children?

Children’s Health, Mental Health, Probiotics / By Staff Writer

“When given preventively over the winter months, probiotics reduce fever, cough, and runny noses in children, researchers said.”

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.

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Probiotics and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Drug interactions, Healthy Aging, Probiotics / By Staff Writer

Studies of how and which types of probiotics improve IBS symptoms have yielded contradictory results. Some studies have shown that probiotics improve IBS, while others have resulted in less promising findings. This variance reflects, in part, differences in the studies, such as trial design, the limited number of participants, and the type, dose and formulation of the probiotics used in a particular study.

The term “probiotics” refers to the beneficial bacteria that are ingested to improve intestinal health. Some probiotic supplements contain just one bacterial strain whereas others have up to 8 different strains. It is reasonable that different studies will reach different conclusions, directly dependant upon the type of strains used. Similarly, the quantity of bacteria in each probiotic supplement can vary from a low of about one million to more than 400 billon organisms per dosage – and this too will also influence results.

In order to determine whether there is a statistical benefit of probiotics in easing the symptoms of IBS, researchers will review hundreds of studies and select those that have been done following specific guidelines for creditability.

The selected studies are then evaluated using a statistical method called meta-analysis. This involves combining all the studies and measuring the outcome for a specific issue. For example, there may be 20 studies evaluating the effects of probiotics on IBS. Some studies may have positive results and others negative. Combining all the results can give an overall statistical evaluation of whether probiotics are beneficial.

Meta-Analysis Reports

Over the last 18 months there have been four major meta-analysis reports published in respected medical journals ^(1,2,3,4).

All four meta-analysis studies concluded that probiotics benefit individuals suffering with IBS. They all found that probiotics could ease the symptoms of:

Abdominal pain
Bloating
Flatulence
Improve the passage of stools

Only a few minor adverse side effects were reported, the most common being a temporary increase in abdominal bloating and flatulence. No serious health or safety issues were identified.

The Conclusion: Probiotics are Promising

The general conclusion from these reports is that probiotics offer promise in the treatment of IBS. Further studies of longer duration and use of specific strains and dosages of probiotics are needed to determine which probiotics are statistically better in treating IBS.

Because the drug therapies currently available to IBS sufferers have shown limited success, a trial of probiotics certainly seems worthwhile.

Take Home Message

Probiotics are helpful in treating the symptoms of IBS. Look for one that has at least 5 billon bacteria in a serving size and contains multiple strains of lactobacillus and bifidobacteria…like EndoMune.

Eat healthy, exercise and stay well!
Dr. Hoberman

(1) A systematic review and meta-analysis: probiotics in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.Hoveyda N, Heneghan C, Mahtani KR, Perera R, Roberts N, Glasziou P. BMC Gastroenterol. 2009 Feb 16;9:15.

(2) Meta-analysis of probiotics for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. McFarland LV, Dublin S. World J Gastroenterol. 2008 May 7;14(17):2650-61.

(3) The efficacy of probiotics in the therapy of irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review.Moayyedi P, Ford AC, Talley NJ, Cremonini F, Foxx-Orenstein A, Brandt L, Quigley E. Gut. 2008 Dec 17

(4) Effectiveness of probiotics in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Wilhelm SM, Brubaker CM, Varcak EA, Kale-Pradhan PB. Pharmacotherapy. 2008 Apr;28(4):496-505.

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Probiotics and Post-Gastric Bypass Surgery Weight Loss

Disease, Healthy Aging, Probiotics / By Staff Writer

The July issue of the Journal of Gastroenterology discusses the recent findings of a post-gastric bypass surgery weightloss study. The physicians and researchers administering the study were interested in whether gastrointestinal bacteria and gut health plays an impact in the weight loss of individuals.

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

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Pediatric Studies and IBS Research

Children’s Health, Probiotics / By Staff Writer

Interest in probiotics and their healthful links to gastrointestinal ailments has spurred the recent launch of the National Institute of Health’s Human Microbe Project. Baylor College of Medicine in Dallas, Texas is heavily involved in many of these studies; they received $3.7 million to map human bacteria genome.

Most recently, Dr. James Versalovic, a genetecist with the college, received a $750,000 grant to research the impact of bacteria on IBS in pediatrics. His studies are expected to explore methods of treating children without the use of invasive surgery. Dr. Robert Shulman, a pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine and a practicing gastroenterologist, believes bacteria composition plays a major role in adult and child abdominal pain.

This is all very exciting and interesting news in the intestinal bacteria and probiotic front!

Read the entire article from the Houston Chronicle:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6526164.html

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Study on Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea

Disease, Probiotics / By Staff Writer

A study recently published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology further explores the potential benefits of probiotics at maintaining intestinal health while ingesting antibiotics such as Augmentin.

The study concluded probiotics, particularly Bifidobacteria, may be helpful in returning to a pre-antibiotic baseline:

This study does identify a benefit of probiotics, in part through increasing Bifidobacterium that may limit the disruption of gut microbiota by antibiotics, stabilizing concentrations of Enterobactereaceae and Bacteroides in particular. While this does not represent a clinical end point in itself this study provides important insight into the nature of the disruption of gut microbiota by antibiotics and a possible mechanism whereby probiotics limit gastrointestinal adverse events associated with antibiotics.

Further studies are necessary to assess the clinical relevance of these observations.

Engelbrektson, Anna, et al. “Probiotics to minimize the disruption of feacal microbiotia in healthy subjects undergoing antibiotic therapy.” Journal of Medical Microbiology (2009), 58, 663-670.

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