Daily Probiotic Consumption Can Decrease Kids Need for Antibiotics

Infants and children who receive probiotics as a daily supplement are less likely to be prescribed for antibiotic treatment.

Use of probiotics is associated with a decreased need for antibiotic therapies in children, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the European Journal of Public Health.

Their study, supported in part by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics and found that when the results from twelve studies were pooled together, infants and children were 29% percent less likely to have been prescribed antibiotics if they received probiotics as a daily health supplement. When the analysis was repeated with only the highest quality studies, this percentage increased to 53%.

Probiotics - Support System for the Gut
Probiotics are live microorganisms that resemble the “good bacteria” in our gut. Science is yet to fully explore the healing potential of probiotics; meanwhile some studies have ruled in their favor.

‘Regular consumption of probiotics may reduce children's need for antibiotics.’

The findings are very intriguing, the researchers say. "Given this finding, potentially one way to reduce the use of antibiotics is to use probiotics on a regular basis," says the study's senior investigator, Daniel Merenstein, MD, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He is also director of research programs in the department.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are about two million cases of antibiotic-resistant infections yearly in the U.S., resulting in 23,000 deaths. Reducing the use of antibiotics is one strategy in combatting resistance.

"We already have evidence that consuming probiotics reduces the incidence, duration, and severity of certain types of common acute respiratory and gastrointestinal infections," Merenstein says. "The question is whether that reduction is solidly linked to declining use of antibiotics, and we see that there is an association."

Health Benefits of Probiotic Yogurt Diet
Probiotic yogurt adds bountiful of beneficial bacteria to the intestinal tract which prove to be effective in aiding digestive problems.

"More studies are needed in all ages, and particularly in the elderly, to see if sustained probiotic use is connected to an overall reduction in antibiotic prescriptions. If so, this could potentially have a huge impact on the use of probiotics in general medicine and consumers in general," says the study's lead author Sarah King, Ph.D., from Cambridge, UK.

How probiotics help fight infections, especially those in the respiratory tract and lower digestive tract, is not clear. However, Merenstein says, "There are many potential mechanisms, such as the probiotic production of pathogen inhibitors, immune regulation, among others.

Surprising Benefits of Dairy
Past studies have linked dairy foods to good bone health. Nevertheless newer studies are being published and a plethora of other benefits are being associated with dairy food consumption.

"We don't know all the mechanisms probiotic strains may leverage. But since most of the human immune system is found in the gastrointestinal tract, ingesting healthy bacteria may competitively exclude bacterial pathogens linked to gut infections and may prime the immune system to fight others," he says.

The probiotics used in the reviewed studies were strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

Your Guide to a Good Gut
Bothered by digestive problems? Try adding prebiotics and probiotics in your diet for a good gut and better digestive health.

Source-Eurekalert