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At some point in your life you’re very likely to
suffer a bout of diarrhea. People of all ages suffer from diarrhea. The average adult has acute
diarrhea about four times a year.
Research suggests that you may be able to fight back by consuming probiotic bacteria in foods. In
some cases it reduces the severity and duration of diarrhea among older people and shortens the
length of their hospital stays.
What is
Diarrhea?
Diarrhea refers to loose, watery stools. It may also be accompanied by
abdominal pain, nausea, fever or bloody stools.
Diarrhea may cause you to pass stools more than three times a day, resulting in up to a quart of
stool a day. Most people suffer from acute diarrhea, which usually lasts for a couple of days and
goes away without any being treated.
Chronic diarrhea lasts for longer than two days and be a warning sign of a more serious health
problem. If diarrhea isn’t treated as soon as possible it can lead to dehydration, which may cause
serious complications such as kidney failure.
What Causes
Diarrhea?
Acute diarrhea is usually due to a viral, bacterial, or parasitic
infection. Other causes include food intolerances, reaction to medications, parasites, and
intestinal diseases. Functional disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome or irritable bowel
disease are often linked to chronic diarrhea. Certain types of antibiotics or long-term antibiotic
use may also cause diarrhea.
How Probiotics Treat Diarrhea
In a study published
in the online British Medical Journal (BMJ), researchers from Imperial College at Hammersmith
Hospital found that probiotic bacteria can help to reduce diarrhea among the elderly, which
reduce the length of hospital stay.
Between five percent and 25 percent of patients on antibiotics experience diarrhea including
Clostridium difficile (C. diff) diarrhea. This type of diarrhea is a common consequence of taking
antibiotics, which deplete good bacteria in the colon. When this happens, C. diff bacteria can take
over.
In the study, researchers wanted to determine whether probiotic drinks containing live
micro-organisms - Lactobacillus casei, L bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus - could help to
reduce diarrhea related to the antibiotic use. They found that patients who took probiotic drinks
were less likely (12 percent) to develop antibiotic-associated diarrhea sterile compared to those
who took sterile, long-life milkshakes (34 percent). Also, the group that took probiotics did not
develop C. diff diarrhea compared to 17 percent of people in the other group.
A meta-analysis found that bacterial probiotic therapy can help to reduce the duration of large
stools in children with acute diarrhea. Eighteen prior studies were taken into consideration and
results suggest that probiotics and rehydration therapy reduces the duration of acute diarrhea by
approximately one day.
For Best Results
Different probiotics treat
different health conditions. For diarrhea relief choose probiotics that are proven to be beneficial
for this condition. Try the ones used in the BMJ study, or three other strains that fit the bill -
S. cerevisiae boulardii, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, and Bacillus coagulans GBI-30.
Sources
Digestive Diseases and Sciences, Volume 47, Number 11,
Efficacy of Probiotic Use in Acute Diarrhea in Children: A Meta-Analysis, November 2002,
Jeannie S. Huang, Athos Bousvaros, John W. Lee, Angela Diaz, and Emily J. Davidson
British Medical Journal, 335: 80 July 14 2007; Use of Probiotic
Lactobacillus Preparation to Prevent Diarrhoea Associated with Antibiotics, Mary Hickson et
al.
Next: Probiotics and Colds and
Flu
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