Pro Biotics

[Guest guest]

From:

http://www.medscape.com/Medscape/WomensHealth/journal/2001/v06.n05/wh0921.reid/m\

ig-pnt-wh0921.reid.html

Probiotics can be viewed as " the use of microorganisms to confer health

benefits to the host. " The concept of probiotics came from the belief

that a disrupted

microflora in the host could be restored by exogenous application of

bacteria commonly found in that niche. Probiotic therapy was likely

practiced many hundreds of

years ago via fermented milk products such as those used by Nobel

Laureate Elie Metchnikoff in the early part of the 20th century. Because

of the association with

milk fermentation, most probiotic organisms have been ingested as dairy

products to confer benefits to the gut. However, the therapy is far from

restricted to this

milieu, and applications to urogenital infections date back at least to

1915. Unfortunately, scientific advances in chemotherapy and a failure

to fund investigations into

what retains health rather than what causes disease led to a period of

about 50-70 years in which few studies were done on probiotics. Indeed,

the field was

maligned by many scientists and clinicians, who categorized them as

either alternative therapy or " an old wife's tale. " (The latter term is

especially inappropriate.) For

example, to our knowledge, no federal government medical research

funding in Canada has been awarded for probiotic therapeutics for at

least the past 15 years.

It seems timely and rational to consider the potential place that

probiotics may have in preventing and treating infections. The most

common bacteria used in probiotic

therapy (ie, for application to the gut, oral cavity, nasopharnyx, skin,

and urogenital tract) are lactic acid bacteria, especially lactobacilli,

but other organisms such as

bifidobacteria and Saccharomyces have also been selected. Unfortunately,

a cautionary note is warranted: Many of the preparations readily

available through health

food stores and over-the-counter at pharmacies are ineffective or at

least not clinically proven to be effective. They may contain

contaminants, dead bacteria,[44,45]

and strains that possess no anti-uropathogenic activity. In addition,

many of the claims about the preparations may be inappropriate, and

ingredients may be

incorrectly stated on the package label. Also, statements made on Web

sites that promote certain probiotics do not relate to the specific

product being sold.[46]

However, a number of probiotic products have been thoroughly researched,

and good clinical evidence of their efficacy is currently available or

will be in the near

future. These include organisms that promote intestinal health, such as

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ConAgra, USA, and Valio, Finland),[47]

Lactobacillus

johnsonii LJ1 (Nestle, Switzerland),[48] Lactobacillus casei strain

Shirota (Yakult, Japan),[49] and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM (Rhodia,

Minnesota).[50] It

has been established that L acidophilus NCFM and L rhamnosus GG are not

ideal for urogenital applications.[51,52] Efforts have been made to

identify suitable

Lactobacillus strains for urogenital use.[29,40,41,53-56] Two strains

specifically selected for urogenital applications[57-62] (see below),

namely L rhamnosus GR-1 and L fermentum RC-14, have now been found to

have additional attributes for intestinal health (Reid G, Charbonneau D,

Erb J, et al. Oral use of Lactobacillus

rhamnosus GR-1 and L. fermentum RC-14 significantly alters vaginal

flora: randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Manuscript in preparation).

--

Bob Cruder - Denver, Colorado, USA

---------------------

" Any technology forecast 30 years hence which does not seem like magic

is probably flawed. "

from the executive summary of the USAF planning study " 2025 "

http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/usaf/2025/es/e-s.htm