August 20, 2004 – In a study conducted among patients at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, a probiotic not only reduced diarrhea associated with taking antibiotics, but it also demonstrated a “Strong tendency” to neutralize the bacteria Clostridium difficile (It’s hard).
These results, made public yesterday, were obtained after a study that has not been published in any scientific journal. It was financed by the company Bio-K +, of Laval, which markets various natural products, including CL1285TM which was the subject of the study. It is a concentrated formula of beneficial bacteria of the type Lactobacillus acidophilus, sold as milk or fermented soy.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved 84 hospitalized patients, 90% of whom had an upper respiratory infection. All treated with antibiotics, the participants were selected between the fall of 2003 and last May, and randomly separated into two groups: those in the first received the concentrated formula of CL1285. TM preventively, while those in the second group were given a placebo.
The results indicate a 56% reduction in cases of diarrhea (7 cases of diarrhea out of 41 patients in the treated group against 16 cases out of 43 in the placebo group). The study authors also noticed a 20% decrease in the number of days in hospital (eight days versus ten).
More importantly, the number of patients suffering from both diarrhea and the bacteria It’s hard would have been reduced by 86%, thanks to the probiotic. In fact, in the first group, only one of the seven patients indisposed by diarrhea was infected with the resistant bacteria, compared to seven out of 16 participants in the placebo group.
The Dr Serge Carrière, scientific advisor for Bio-K +, underlined that certain side effects were observed, “but they would not be more important than those observed in the placebo group”, he underlined without specifying the nature. It indicates that the bacteria It’s hard typically affects 15% to 25% of patients with diarrhea associated with taking antibiotics. The results of the study would be all the more convincing since it was conducted in part in the spring, a period during which the prevalence of It’s hard reached 40%. In the fall, it was around 15%.
The study authors estimate that in Canada, 750 people die each year from complications associated with Clostridium difficile, or 1% of the approximately 75,000 cases identified.
The effectiveness of probiotics has already been shown to prevent or reduce diarrhea associated with taking antibiotics. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria found in the intestinal and vaginal flora. Their presence makes it possible in particular to counter the proliferation of harmful microorganisms which can, for example, cause infectious diarrhea or vaginitis. Probiotics also aid in the digestion of food. It is estimated that a healthy digestive tract contains around 100,000 billion bacteria of 500 different species.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
