from NaturalNews Website
The American College of Gastroenterology recently held their 76th Annual meeting in Washington D.C.
At this
meeting, two different studies were presented that looked at the
effectiveness of
probiotic use in the treatment of
antibiotic - associated diarrhea and
Clostridium difficile - associated
diarrhea, which is a complication of long-term antibiotic use.
Researchers from Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School also found
similar results when they conducted a meta-analysis that used 28
randomized controlled trials involving 3338 patients.
Between 5%-39% of all patients put on antibiotics experience diarrhea as a complication, and those over the age of 65 are at most risk. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are a greater risk than narrow spectrum antibiotics.
However, all antibiotics impart risk, and
antibiotic-associated diarrhea can occur up to several weeks after
stopping antibiotics.
Various strains of bacteria and even one strain of
yeast have been shown to be beneficial to humans. The use of
antibiotics, especially broad-spectrum antibiotics, kills both good
and bad bacteria alike. Loss of beneficial bacteria makes one more
susceptible to diarrhea and other gastrointestinal upsets.
Dr. Steven Shamah, MD presented the finding of his researcher's meta-analysis. Of the 22 different studies his team looked at, 63% of the patients included in the studies were adults, and all were treated with a variety of probiotics.
Thirty-five percent of the studies used
S. boulardii, and probiotic
treatment length ranged from 5 days to 3 weeks. The meta-analysis
found that preventative probiotics reduced the odds of developing
antibiotic-associated diarrhea by 60%.
They also found that probiotics were
preventative against diarrhea when antibiotics were taken in
treatment for H. pylori.
In fact Candida overgrowth is at the bottom of many common health problems, including,
Therefore, it is highly recommended that
any individual who chooses to take antibiotics, also takes
probiotics to prevent both short and long-term health problems from
antibiotic use.
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