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Proven Probiotic Strains

Posted on17 Sep 2019
Antibiotics are among the most widely prescribed medications. Along with their clearly established benefits in the treatment of infectious disease, antibiotics have many toxicities. These include disruption of the normal gastrointestinal microflora. A common consequence of antibiotic therapy is antibiotic-associated diarrhea, which appears to be related to the suppression or elimination of healthy gut microorganisms.

Clinical studies have shown that the most effective probiotics for antibiotic-associated diarrhea is Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains, and combinations of probiotics that usually contain Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species. Research suggests that probiotics may be useful in combating antibiotic resistance among pathogens and may even be safe alternatives to antibiotics for select conditions.

Among the normal microflora reduced or eliminated by antibiotics are the essential Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species so crucial for gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and immune system health. The clinical consequences of disrupting the normal microflora include increased colonization and infection by pathogenic microbes, augmented risk of the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and enhanced transmission of resistance factors among microorganisms.

Probiotics have been found to reduce the risk of AAD and CDAD. L. rhamnosus is a transient Lactobacillus that colonizes the small intestines when regularly consumed. Possibly the most extensively clinically studied of all probiotics, L. rhamnosus was once classified as L. casei and then as a subspecies of L. acidophilus; important information to consider when reviewing the medical literature. Lactobacillus species antagonize of an array of microbial pathogens,enhance innate and acquired immunity, and inhibit production of inflammatory mediators.

Clinical studies have found that L. rhamnosus strains reduce the risk of AAD and improve outcomes in C. difficile diarrhea. Probiotic microorganisms may interact synergistically with each other to provide benefits that a single strain or species alone may not. Probiotic combinations that have been shown to reduce the incidence of AAD include Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis, L. acidophilus and B. infantis, L. acidophilus and B. longum, and B. lactis and Streptococcus thermophilus. A meta-analysis of trials using probiotic combinations in children and adults found a significant reduction in the risk of AAD of 49%!

Almost all of these strains are found in Lactomin and Lactokids + Probiotics. This is also one reason why Lactomin and Lactokids is so effective in helping to relieve diarrohea.

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