Probiotics In Medicine

Superior Essays
Probiotics are live organisms that confer a health benefit on the host when administered. The live organism to function in the gut needs to surpass the gastric juices and bile exposure the gastrointestinal (GI). It must thrive and multiply in the digestive tract, be safe, effective and maintain its potency for is shelf life to function. Many probiotic products come in yogurt, fermented milk, powder/capsule, or beverages. Different strains of micro-organisms are used for various functions such as, for the relief or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), lowering of serum cholesterol, immunity, constipation, and treating antibiotic associated diarrhea (AAD). The purpose of this paper is to learn whether probiotics are in fact effective in treating …show more content…
It is a multi-centered, double blind, controlled trial study on 179 randomized 18-65-year-old individuals with Rome III for IBS with a constipation element to it. Of the 179 participants 88 where placebo and 91 were given yogurt twice a day. The yogurt contained the Bifidobacterium strain with lactic acid bacteria. At the end of the 12-week trial only 76 completed the study, 43 of them were taking the yogurt and 33 given a placebo. Both groups showed “improvements in bloating, flatulence, ease of bowel movement and quality of life” within week 4 but no significant change when compared.3 Week 8 and week 12 results indicated a greater improvement in symptom relief in the placebo group when compared to the active group. A difference of 22.1 on week 8 and 29.9 on week 12. After careful review researchers, gather results illustrated “that data from the presumed more persistent and extreme IBS phenotypes” that are seen at hospitals could not be extrapolated to the general population.3 Furthermore, researchers suggested more research is needed to learn whether the improvement of symptoms could have been attributed to the dietary habits and fluid intake within the trial

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