After discussing the probiotics lay article in class I decided to get a little more background information on the topic for everyone and hopefully this will help those individuals that are considering using them as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Probiotics are live microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, yeast) that can have beneficial effects on one’s health. Probiotics can be found in certain foods like yogurt, unfermented milk, juices, soy drinks, etc. They can also be found as dietary supplements. The two main groups of “friendly” bacteria are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.
Probiotics are used to help treat health conditions like: diarrhea, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, skin and vaginal infections, tooth decay and more. Since Probiotics are already a part of our normal digestive system they are considered safe, but they are not regulated the same way as medicine is by the FDA. Side effects, if they occur, are mild like bloating.
Some popular probiotic supplements on the market are:
Align Digestive Care Probiotic Supplement 28 count
Iflora Multi Probiotic 60 Capsules
Enzymatic Therapy- Acidophilus Pearls
Fem-Dophilus (Women)
More research in the area of probiotics is being done at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and at Tufts-New England Medical Center.
I also found this video that I thought did a good job at explaining probiotics and wanted to share with everyone for some fun.
Citations
Chrisjc2010. "YouTube - Probiotics." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 25 Oct. 2007. Web. 8 Mar. 2011.
"An Introduction to Probiotics [NCCAM Health Information]." National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine [NCCAM] - Nccam.nih.gov Home Page. Jan. 2007. Web. 8 Mar. 2011.
"Probiotics & Probiotic Supplements: Uses and Safety." WebMD - Better Information. Better Health. Web. 8 Mar. 2011.
I am not going to lie that when we were talking about probiotics in discussion I had a moment where I had no idea what they were. But talking about them more sparked my memory. While I feel that using probiotics can be a very good thing for the body, as people say things must be used in moderation. I just makes me think because I know someone who went to the doctors recently and they recomened getting more probiotics via yogurt not supplements. I just makes me wonder if someone were to injest a lot of probiotics over the years if it could have some affect later on in life or if I am thinking about it wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think probiotics are a really interesting way to increase the productivity of our internal flora. But i was curious to see if there was any research going on that looked into the negative effects of probiotics.
ReplyDeleteOne study suggested that administering dead bacteria may be a safer alternative to ingesting live bacteria. They determined that it reduces the chances of the host to initiate an immune response.
A dutch researcher studied the effects of probiotics on people who had acute pancreatitis. He found that the group who ingested six probiotics in their diet exhibited a three times greater death rate to those who did not receive the probiotics.
The article i read did not cite the titles of these studies. So the methods used can not be questioned and looked into further. Also the researchers credibility is still unknown. I just thought it was interesting to see the other side to this story.
I definitely think that the use of probiotics for IBS is one of the more interesting treatments. But like most things, too much of a good thing could be a bad thing. I also did some research on the negative side effects of probiotics and I found that the safety mainly depends on what strains of organism is used.
ReplyDeleteThe organisms that are administered in food and supplements are usually lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, which have established thus far as safe—even though one of the side effects reported is rare systemic infections.
On the other hands organisms like enterococcus have been linked as an important cause of noscomial infections and Saccharomyces boulardii, which is also used widely as a probiotic is associated with fungemia. Moreover, E. coli is also considered as a probiotic. Although many stands of E. coli are pathogenic, E. coli 83972 has been used quite effectively in preventing bladder infection of spinal cord-injured patients.
http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/full/16/4/658