Diarrhea / Constipation / Irritable Bowel
DO YOU KNOW THAT USE OF PROBIOTICS PREVENTS DIARRHEA? – (01-26-08)
Use of probiotic Lactobacillus preparation to prevent diarrhea associated with antibiotics
Geez, sometimes I feel like all I do is rant and rave about how disconnected mainstream medicine is from the research, but it’s hard to see it otherwise. We still view antibiotic overuse as an issue because it can lead to antibiotic resistance. But this concern is greatly overshadowed by what happens to use when we destroy the bacteria that is supposed to be there (our normal flora). Along these same lines, using probiotics therapeutically for certain conditions is well supported in the literature.
In this particular study, even using relatively low levels of probiotics (in the 100 million range, where most good quality supplements have 16 BILLION or more..) had a striking effect on the side effects associated with antibiotic use in the hospital and an even greater effect on eliminating C. diff infections with antibiotic use. And compare these outcomes to the safety and cost of using probiotics. It’s a no brainer.
