Over the past month millions of children will have gone back to school, as well as bringing back enriched minds they may also be starting to bring various bugs and germs into the household. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, common colds are the main reason that children miss school and adults miss work. Absenteeism has a huge financial impact on businesses as well as vital educational hours missed for children. There is also a substantial strain on our health care system to care for those with acute respiratory tract infections (#RTIs). In recent years there has been a growing interest in the role #probiotics play on health outcomes. The University of California have recently published a study showing how probiotic use can lead to large economic and health savings.

Bile acids are critical for the digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the small intestine. Recent studies suggest bile acids have further functions as pleotropic signalling metabolites able to interact with germline-encoded host receptors and microbiota to regulate an array of #metabolic and #inflammatory pathways. Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute Florida and Osaka University Japan have recently published a piece discussing the interplay between bile acids, the microbiota and the mucosal immune system. They focus on how this interplay can regulate intestinal homeostasis and inflammation. The dynamic three-dimensional interplay between #bile acids, the microbiome and the mucosal immune system represents an important new frontier in the field of Mucosal Immunology. 

Researchers from Oxford, Cardiff and Southampton Universities have been studying the dangers of overprescribing #antibiotics for common #respiratory tract illnesses in children, concluding that children given two or more courses in a year are 30% more likely to have further doses fail. The research was published by the British Journal of General Practice and analysed patient records of more than 250,000 preschool children.

Frontiers of Microbiology have published a new study examining the differences in bacterial composition and microbial diversity of organically grown versus conventionally grown apples. The #gut #microbiome plays a vital role in helping control digestion as well as aiding the immune system. An imbalance of healthy and unhealthy microbes in the intestines may contribute to high blood sugar, high cholesterol, weight gain and other disorders. This study focuses on the #plant-gut microbiome axis and the importance of #raw eaten plants as a source for microbes.

Reading Time: 6 minutes

The Heart-Health Benefits of Lactobacillus reuteri NCIMB 30242 By Dr Carrie Decker ND It seems we cannot discuss any health-related topic nowadays without considering the health of the gut and the microbiota within it. Considerable data show the bacteria in our gut impact our mood and response to stress,[1],[2] the function of our immune system,[3]

A summary of key points.

In this mini update, learn more about possible contributors to IBS, and how simple diet or supplemental interventions may improve it. There’s a lot more than just probiotics to try!

Learn about:

• The importance of the pancreas and digestive enzyme secretion,
• Support for improving constipation,
• And how mealtime habits can be a simple solution!

A paper published in the Journal of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition explores the role of probiotics in the management of functional gut problems in children. Published in July 2016, the authors conclude that appropriately selected organisms represent a plausible (read effective) intervention for such cases. However, strain specific bacteria were tested and random bacteria are not as effective.1

A review article in Gastroenterologica e Dietologica explores the evidence for the use of LGG as a therapeutic probiotic.[1] Probiotics are becoming increasingly important in basic and clinical research, but they are also a subject of considerable economic interest due to their expanding popularity. They are live micro-organisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit to the host.

From this very well-known definition, it is clear that, unlike drugs, probiotics might be useful in healthy subjects to reduce the risk of developing certain diseases or to optimise some physiological functions. They also may offer some advantages in already ill persons in relieving symptoms and signs, e.g. people with acute diarrhoea.

Background

Probiotics may improve a person’s health by regulating their immune function. Some trials have shown that probiotic strains can prevent respiratory infections. Even though the previous version of our review showed benefits of probiotics for acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), several new studies have been published.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a chronic inflammation of the small intestine and colon caused by a dysregulated immune response to host intestinal microbiota in genetically susceptible subjects. A number of fermented dairy products contain lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria, some of which have been characterised as probiotics that can modify the gut microbiota and may be beneficial for the treatment and the prevention of IBD.

The objective of this review was to carry out a systematic search of LAB and bifidobacteria probiotics and IBD, using the PubMed and Scopus databases, defined by a specific equation using MeSH terms and limited to human clinical trials. The use of probiotics and/or synbiotics has positive effects in the treatment and maintenance of UC, whereas in CD clear effectiveness has only been shown for synbiotics.