Is There Evidence to Support Probiotic Use for Healthy People?

Probiotics are typically marketed as foods and dietary supplements, categories for products intended to maintain health in generally healthy populations and which, unlike drugs, cannot claim to treat or cure disease. This review addresses the existing evidence that probiotics are beneficial to healthy people. Our approach was to perform a descriptive review of efficacy evidence that probiotics can prevent urinary, vaginal, gastrointestinal, and respiratory infections, and improve risk factors associated with cardiovascular health or reduce antibiotic use.

Antibiotics Not Associated with Shorter Duration or Reduced Severity of Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection.

Background: Antibiotic use remains common for the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of antibiotic use on the duration and severity of acute lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI).

Participants: Adult patients presenting to US primary or urgent care sites with a chief complaint of cough and symptoms consistent with LRTI.

Recommendations to Improve Quality of Probiotic Systematic Reviews With Meta-Analyses.

Importance: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses often report conflicting results when assessing evidence for probiotic efficacy, partially because of the lack of understanding of the unique features of probiotic trials. As a consequence, clinical decisions on the use of probiotics have been confusing.

Objective: To provide recommendations to improve the quality and consistency of systematic reviews with meta-analyses on probiotics, so evidence-based clinical decisions can be made with more clarity.

Kombucha tea as an anti-hyperglycemic agent in humans with diabetes - a randomized controlled pilot investigation.

Introduction: Kombucha is a popular fermented tea that has attracted considerable attention due, in part, to its suggested health benefits. Previous results from animal models led us to hypothesize kombucha may reduce blood sugar levels in humans with diabetes. The objective of this pilot clinical study was to evaluate kombucha for its anti-hyperglycemic activities in adults with diabetes mellitus type II.

Probiotics as a Tx resource in primary care.

While probiotics have not been marketed as drugs, clinicians can still recommend them in an evidence-based manner.

Author Correction: Probiotics and prebiotics in intestinal health and disease: from biology to the clinic.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Probiotics and prebiotics in intestinal health and disease: from biology to the clinic.

Probiotics and prebiotics are microbiota-management tools for improving host health. They target gastrointestinal effects via the gut, although direct application to other sites such as the oral cavity, vaginal tract and skin is being explored. Here, we describe gut-derived effects in humans.

Prevalence, Comorbidity, and Correlates of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders and Associations with HIV Risk Behaviors in a Multisite Cohort of Women Living with HIV.

We used the World Health Organization's Composite International Diagnostic Interview to determine the prevalence, comorbidity, and correlates of lifetime and 12-month behavioral health disorders in a multisite cohort of 1027 women living with HIV in the United States. Most (82.6%) had one or more lifetime disorders including 34.

Shared mechanisms among probiotic taxa: implications for general probiotic claims.

Strain-specificity of probiotic effects has been a cornerstone principle of probiotic science for decades. Certainly, some important mechanisms are present in only a few probiotic strains. But scientific advances now reveal commonalities among members of certain taxonomic groups of probiotic microbes.

Safety of Bifidobacterium animalis Subsp. Lactis (B. lactis) Strain BB-12-Supplemented Yogurt in Healthy Children.

Objectives: Probiotics are live microorganisms that may provide health benefits to the individual when consumed in sufficient quantities. For studies conducted on health or disease endpoints on probiotics in the United States, the Food and Administration has required those studies to be conducted as investigational new drugs. This phase I, double-blinded, randomized, controlled safety study represents the first requirement of this pathway.

Evaluating the lifestyles of physicians and PAs in orthopedics.

Objective: Limited current research is available comparing job satisfaction and lifestyles of physicians and physician assistants (PAs). Given the professional similarities and the upward trend in employment for both professions, this research is important in educating future professionals and employers. This study examined job contentment among orthopedic physicians and PAs.

Probiotic use in at-risk populations.

Objective: To inform health care providers about quality standards for manufacture of probiotic products being recommended for at-risk patient populations.

Summary: Probiotics are used in a variety of clinical settings, sometimes in at-risk populations for therapeutic endpoints. Although probiotics might not be approved as drugs, they are sometimes used for the prevention or treatment of disease.

Evidence-based HMO care for prostate specific antigen testing.

Background: There is pressure in the U.S. system to move away from fee-for-service models to a more pre-paid system, which may result in decreased costs, but the impact on evidence-based care is unclear.

Advancing probiotic research in humans in the United States: Challenges and strategies.

This is a summary from a workshop convened as part of the 13(th) annual meeting of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics. A group of 24 stakeholders, including clinical experts, researchers, federal government officials, funding agencies, lawyers and industry experts met to review the challenges of the current regulatory approach to human research on probiotics in the USA and to discuss ways to move research forward. There was agreement that some of the current regulatory requirements imposed on probiotic research in the United States hindered research progress and increased cost without improving study subject safety.

Lack of Agreement on Distal Radius Fracture Treatment.

Introduction: Variation in clinical practice resulting from the absence of evidence-based treatment protocols has negative implications on both the cost and the quality of medical care. The objective of this study was to assess whether a standard of care for the treatment of extra-articular nondisplaced distal radius fracture has developed despite the lack of a conclusive recommendation from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Methods: A case-vignette survey was conducted.

Patient Preferences for Receiving Reports of Test Results.

Introduction: The general public's preferences for modes of communication (other than in-person communication) for medical test results were investigated. We hypothesized that patients would prefer a variety of methods to receive common tests results (blood cholesterol and colonoscopy) compared with genetics test results.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey.

Safety of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) strain BB-12-supplemented yogurt in healthy adults on antibiotics: a phase I safety study.

Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in sufficient doses, provide health benefits on the host. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires phase I safety studies for probiotics when the intended use of the product is as a drug. The purpose of the study was to determine the safety of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis (B.

Expert consensus document. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic.

An expert panel was convened in October 2013 by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) to discuss the field of probiotics. It is now 13 years since the definition of probiotics and 12 years after guidelines were published for regulators, scientists and industry by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the WHO (FAO/WHO). The FAO/WHO definition of a probiotic--"live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host"--was reinforced as relevant and sufficiently accommodating for current and anticipated applications.

Probiotics and prebiotics: prospects for public health and nutritional recommendations.

Probiotics and prebiotics are useful interventions for improving human health through direct or indirect effects on the colonizing microbiota. However, translation of these research findings into nutritional recommendations and public health policy endorsements has not been achieved in a manner consistent with the strength of the evidence. More progress has been made with clinical recommendations.

Short-term, daily intake of yogurt containing Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis Bf-6 (LMG 24384) does not affect colonic transit time in women.

The present study investigated the effect of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis Bf-6 (LMG 24 384) (Bf-6)-supplemented yogurt on colonic transit time (CTT). A triple-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled, two-period cross-over trial was conducted with sixty-eight women with a self-reported history of straining during bowel movements or hard or lumpy stools in the past 2 years.