# Probiotics, dead or alive, can relieve gut disease



## Talissa (Apr 10, 2004)

"Probiotics, dead or alive, can relieve gut disease"	02/02/2004 - *Probiotics, the bacteria thought to help gut health disorders, allergies and even some forms of cancer, contain immune system-stimulating DNA, which makes them just as effective when inactivated as when consumed as live microorganisms in dairy products, say US researchers. * The findings, reported in this month's Gastroenterology (DOI:10.1053/j.gastro.2003.11.019), offer considerable potential for food makers previously restricted to adding bacteria to fermented foods like yoghurt. The study, by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, also reveals a mechanism that can be used to determine and to select which probiotic bacteria are best for patients with IBD. The addition of probiotic bacteria has until now been limited to dairy products such as yoghurt because it was thought that they needed to be live to have any effect. Adding live bacteria to other foods would result in fermentation, changing the taste, texture and freshness on an hourly basis. But the new research suggests that the metabolic activity of probiotics is not in fact key to their protective effect. The researchers used gamma radiation to reduce the metabolic activity of probiotic bacteria to a minimum. Previous studies, using heat to inactivate the bacteria, destroyed the cellular structure and beneficial aspects. The irradiated probiotics were given to mice with experimentally induced colitis, which is similar to human IBD. The irradiated probiotics effectively improved the colitis symptoms, as did the administration of viable, â€˜live' bacteria to another group of mice with colitis. This indicated that inactivated probiotics were as effective as live probiotics. The scientists say that the beneficial, anti-inflammatory activities seen with the inactivated probiotics could be the product of the innate immune system, the body's instant response to invasion by pathogens. The European probiotics market is forecast to more than triple in value from â‚¬34.6 million currently to â‚¬118.5 million in 2010, according to recent statistics from Frost & Sullivan. But the market research firm also estimated that its gut health cousin, prebiotics, would be helped by much wider scope in applications, as prebiotic ingredients are easily formulated into a number of different foods, including baked goods and even drinks. The new research could however open a vast range of new application areas to probiotics too. Gut health is currently driving sales of functional foods in Europe, according to a Datamonitor report, outpacing those foods targeting consumers at risk of heart or bone diseases. In addition to studying the normal and irradiated probiotics on mice, the researchers also tested a synthetic form of bacterial DNA called immunostimulatory (ISS) oligonucleotide (ODN), a short segment of synthetic DNA with immunostimulatory properties, which mimics bacterial DNA. In a previously published paper in Gastroenterology, ISS-ODN had been found to reduce the harmful effects of experimental colitis in mice, indicating that it worked in a manner similar to probiotics. Evaluation of the immunostimulatory activities of probiotics may also provide an easy screening system for the selection of probiotic bacteria prior to their clinical use, noted the study's first author, Daniel Rachmilewitz, from the Shaare Zedek Medical Center. http://www.dairyreporter.com/news/news-ng....biotics-dead-or


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## Talissa (Apr 10, 2004)

Here's a study published in _Gut_ this year that found Lactobacteria Reuteri helps with pain from bloating/distension, whether its "dead or alive"~http://gut.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/55/2/191


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## 23392 (Jan 31, 2006)

What is reuteri in? As I recall Stonyfield Farms yogurt in specific? Or am I wrong?Anyplace else?Thanks Talissa!


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## Talissa (Apr 10, 2004)

Hey AO,As far as I know Stonyfield's the only US yogurt brand w/ l reuteri. There's a UK company that packages the yogurt with a straw that has l reuteri in it...I get mine from caps--Primadophilus Reuteri by Nature's Way. It also includes a few other strains. They also have a powdered form of P Reuteri that incl's a greater # of strains like b infantis. I found good feedback from those taking both on the web, diff forums......You don't seem angry to me AT ALL, btw.







Tal


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## mdonbru (Oct 15, 2003)

Wow. That kinda blows my mind. All this time, assuming that the bugs had to be ALIVE in order to work... if this is true, that's huge. I'll be interested to see if there are more studies like this!Marty


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## Talissa (Apr 10, 2004)

I agree Marty--huge! And like you, I'd like to see more studies done...This is a nice overview of probiotic use in GI conditions from the World Journal of Gastroenterology~ 2006 February Probiotics and the gastrointestinal tract: Where are we in 2005? I thought this was esp interesting~"Paton et al [15] have produced toxin binding probiotics in a breakthrough study using a toxin-binding recombinant probiotic for the treatment and prevention of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhea. If these probiotics can be proved effective, it might open a whole new era in the treatment of different kinds of diarrhea."...from their lips...


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## 23392 (Jan 31, 2006)

Hey, Talissa, thanks for the article!As for 'angry'...don't get me started on the medical mistakes that led to me getting this! 'Grrr' indeed!--AO


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## Talissa (Apr 10, 2004)

Aaah, medical mistakes.







I guess I'm a -bit- angry too. So glad the optimism keeps you sunny!! (Angry) Talissa


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## 14135 (Sep 22, 2005)

Talissa:A good friend recommended Stoneyfield Yogurt about 4 months ago and I can't say enough about it.As far as medical mistakes, how many weeks do you have? Boy do I have stories!


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## 15918 (Mar 7, 2006)

Hi folks - new poster, but longtime lurker here!Just a little confused in that I'm sure the Optimistic but Angry one said elsewhere she was a doctor - certainly remember refs to med school - and wonder how this relates to "medical mistakes" ?Just curious really - well, I admit, nosy, actually!


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## 17176 (Mar 31, 2005)

hi and welcome markus


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## 15918 (Mar 7, 2006)

I should perhaps explain that I have a professional interest in the depiction of illness in literature, both as an academic, and as a minor novelist. I have in mind that my next novel should have as a leading character someone with IBS; I plan to make this character far more sympathetic than the only other recent depiction of which I am aware, that of the eponymous antihero of DBC Pierre's (in my view, terrible) novel, "Vernon God Little".I've always assumed that doctors themselves would get better and more careful treatment from their colleagues, 1) simply because they _are_ colleagues, and 2) because they would spot any potential mistakes early.That's why I asked the question of AO above, as I was curious as to how a doctor could suffer from mistakes made by colleagues on her own case.


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## Talissa (Apr 10, 2004)

Gary, Thx for the feedback on Stonyfield! At least there's one more anecdotal in vivo case where the specialty yogurts help. They don't sell them down here, so I can't try them out...Activia sounds like another good one, w/ the bifidobacteria in it.Tal


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## 23392 (Jan 31, 2006)

> quote:I've always assumed that doctors themselves would get better and more careful treatment from their colleagues, 1) simply because they are colleagues, and 2) because they would spot any potential mistakes early.That's why I asked the question of AO above, as I was curious as to how a doctor could suffer from mistakes made by colleagues on her own case.


Doctors can make mistakes like anyone else, even when they're trying not to; and, do you know what the person who graduates at the bottom of their class is called? "Doctor." I sure went to school with some of 'em...I am not a doctor, in Ohio at least [I'm told I would be considered one in Indiana], becasue I didn't take Boards. I went thru 4 years of medical school, and went into medical Artificial Intelligence. So I know some docs, and I know some things, but my info on current medications, for instance, is lacking...and there's a LOT they didn't teach us...[which ticks me off frequently]In my case, I went to an Urgent Care with crackling when I breathed, and was given a strong antibiotic *and* nexium at the same time...well-meaning but probalby unnecessary. Here's another one for you: Docs are taught memorization, not *thinking.* [They actually said to us once, "don't bother trying to understand congestive heart failure, you can't. just memorize these 10 signs." !!! :-0 >:-| If you go into cardio you might understand it...]So, I was suspicious as to needing both but trusting. I thought, 'if you alter the acidity couldnt' that cause problems' and sure enough...it does. So that gave me c-diff.The *real* problem was treatment for the c-diff. The doctor treating me claimed that I *had* to take the flagyl, because the only other alternative was to be *inpatient* and receive vancomycin IV. It seemed extreme to me but I figured she was a lot more up on current meds than I was. So I took the dang stuff, and forced the last dose down with phenergan--it tore up my stomach and intestines so much that I was throwing it up--believing that was my best way to get rid of the bug.*that* is what gave me IBS. I literally had new symptoms the next day.It didn't even get rid of the c-diff. I called up a GI guy I knew [and here's the only place where being a colleague gets you anything: you have the 'back room' phone number and more responsiveness] and found out that vancomycin *is* given orally; in fact, that's the only way it's effective in the colon! His words: "She's crazy." Referring to the ohter doc.I actually have her an article on C-diff and her response? "Too busy to read it." So you get those types.I tried to tell my GI guy that it made sense to me that, if you stopped action on the gut, or radically slowed it, organisms could 'back up' and travel south to north...he pooh-poohed this...and then out comes Dr. Pimentel's book! I like to THINK. I used my training to try to *understand*--I figured if I understood I could always figure things out, wouldn't *have* to memorize.I am in the minority...there are good docs out there, but there are masses who are still called 'doctor' that would never have made it through my high school classes, much less my college! [one even said he came to OSU because, at the other school he was considering, he would have been bottom of his class, maybe 'out', and he preferred to be middle of his class...]I can tell you a lot about the medical school experience in the US, at a big institution. But I think I've ranted long enough.Yes, there are good people out there--like in any other profession, ya gotta find 'em, because they are made up from the same mix as *any* profession!


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## 23677 (Apr 29, 2005)

Antibiotic & Nexium. I suggest that the reason for this is that acid reflux can also cause mucus to form high up in the respitory area. I am saying this from experience as I have a damaged valve in the esophagus.As I am now able to drink red wine & eat dark chocolate without IBS symptoms this is a minor price to pay by comparison.As for the MIX you speak of, well it sounds more & more like Russian Roulette every time you get a new doctor. One will save you & the next will kill you!!!


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## 23677 (Apr 29, 2005)

By the way, Probiotic means that it is attractive & sustainable to friendly bacteria. It doesnt mean that it already has the bacteria in there. I order Organic Probiotic Acacia powder from Heather Van Vorous. It is cheap, pleasant to take, & there are no problems sending it to Australia.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Usually Probiotic is the word used for the bacteria. Prebiotic is the word used for things that sustain the growth of the Probiotic bacteria.From Heather's website on this product. "Increases good gut flora - it's considered a prebiotic, and significantly bifidogenic"It is PREbiotic, not PRObiotic.K.


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