Probiotics Prevent Diarrhoea Caused by Antibiotics

A new study states that probiotic supplements have the ability to prevent diarrhoea which is caused by antibiotics. A study according to the new Cochrane systematic review studied the Clostridium difficile infection in those patients taking antibiotics, and noticed that the symptoms of diarrhea lowered after patients were treated with probiotics.

The good bacteria (Yeast) present in probiotic food and other supplements offers a safe and low-cost method to fight C. difficile-linked diarrhea (CDAD). This study offers a low cost treatment option, as generally CDAD is expensive to treat.

CDAD cases were reported in 23 trails that consisted of 4,213 adults and children. On combining probiotics with antibiotics, the number of people suffering with diarrhea reduced by 64 percent. Just 2 percent of participants who took probiotics had CDAD, when compared to the 6 percent who had placebo.

"In the short-term, taking probiotics in conjunction with antibiotics appears to be a safe and effective way of preventing diarrhoea associated with Clostridium difficile infection," said lead researcher Bradley Johnston of The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute in Toronto, Canada. "The introduction of some probiotic regimens as adjuncts to antibiotics could have an immediate impact on patient outcomes, especially in outbreak settings. However, we still need to establish the probiotic strains and doses that provide the best results, and determine the safety of probiotics in immunocompromised patients."

Though probiotics in conjunction with antibiotics prevented CDAD, it failed to reduce the number of people infected with C.difficile. Researchers think that they can prevent the symptoms of C.dificile with probiotics, but they cannot prevent the infection itself.