Blissful
Ultimate Expression of LOVE
Member since 6/08 4985 total posts
Name:
Maria
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Probiotics for Infants and Children
THe following studies come from The National Insititute of Health and American Academy of pediatrics.
The concept is simple... babies and humans need good bacteria in their GI system to help things work properly......Jsut like when you take antibiotics and you eat yogurt or take acidopholus its the same concept.
You can find infant probiotics in most health food stores. I've read that teh refridgerated kind are most effective. I bought a jar at a local healthfood store but my midwife recomended that you can buy them also here:
http://www.nourishyourkids.com/shop/genestra.html
Baby Colic/Esophageal Reflux
There is solid and mounting evidence that the causes are related to gut flora, from multiple studies which have shown that colicky babies have different gut flora patterns, which includes a lack of Lactobacillus acidophilus.[2][3][4] Some of these studies suggest the administering of a probiotic, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus or Lactobacillus reuteri, will improve the condition.[5] Probiotics have been shown to improve other conditions associated with colic, such as lactose intolerance,[6] necrotizing enterocolitis[7] and gastric inflammation.[8] In addition to that probiotics have been shown to generally improve the health of children who take them.[7
New studies at the Colic Clinic at Brown University demonstrate that nearly half of babies with colic have mild gastroesophageal reflux. Some cases may be the result of lactose intolerance or lactose overload (the latter when accompanied by green stools).[10]
Many parents have also discovered a link between food and colic - and if the child is breastfed, it could include the food ingested by the mother. Dairy products seem to top the list as possibly problematic.
Some breastfed babies have problems digesting milk proteins, or have a milk protein sensitivity (milk allergy) due to the mother's diet. The proteins from cow's milk are able to pass through the mother's milk to the baby. Because baby's intestines are still developing this sensitivity causes gas that is extremely painful. It can also cause the excessive spitting up and reflux. It can be helped with reflux medication, but not cured. The only cure is to have the mother completely avoid all milk products, even foods with traces of milk.
Studies have found success with probiotics such as Lactobacillus reuteri,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15244234?dopt=Citation
Intestinal microflora in breastfed colicky and non-colicky infants.
Savino F, Cresi F, Pautasso S, Palumeri E, Tullio V, Roana J, Silvestro L, Oggero R.
Department of Paediatrics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy. [email protected]
BACKGROUND: Infantile colics are a common problem in the first months of life. During this period, a process of intestinal colonization rapidly occurs. A difference in the gut microflora could play an important role in the pathogenesis of colics, changing the metabolism of carbohydrates and fatty acids. Actually, in the literature, only few data have been collected about this topic. In this study, we evaluated intestinal microflora in breastfed colicky and non-colicky infants. METHODS: Seventy-one breastfed infants, aged 3.2 +/- 0.6 wk, free from episodes of gastroenteritis and without previous consumption of antibiotic and probiotic drugs, were enrolled in the study. They were divided into two groups: colicky (42 cases) and non-colicky (29 cases), according to Wessel's criteria. Stool samples were collected, diluted and cultured on several selective media to detect lactobacilli, clostridia, gram-negative anaerobes and Enterobacteriaceae. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test, chi2 test and a non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney U-test). RESULTS: Differences in gut microflora were found among colicky and non-colicky infants: colicky infants were less frequently colonized by Lactobacillus spp., and more frequently by anaerobic gram-negative bacteria. CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that colicky infants have different patterns of gut microflora.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/119/1/e124
PEDIATRICS - Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Published online January 2, 2007
PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 No. 1 January 2007, pp. e124-e130 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-1222)
ARTICLE
Lactobacillus reuteri (American Type Culture Collection Strain 55730) Versus Simethicone in the Treatment of Infantile Colic: A Prospective Randomized Study
Francesco Savino, MD, Emanuela Pelle, MD, Elisabetta Palumeri, MD, Roberto Oggero, MD and Roberto Miniero, MD
Department of Pediatrics, Regina Margherita Children's Hospital, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE. The goal was to test the hypothesis that oral administration of Lactobacillus reuteri in a prospective randomized study would improve symptoms of infantile colic.
METHODS. Ninety breastfed colicky infants were assigned randomly to receive either the probiotic L reuteri (108 live bacteria per day) or simethicone (60 mg/day) each day for 28 days. The mothers avoided cow's milk in their diet. Parents monitored daily crying times and adverse effects by using a questionnaire.
RESULTS. Eighty-three infants completed the trial: 41 in the probiotic group and 42 in the simethicone group. The infants were similar regarding gestational age, birth weight, gender, and crying time at baseline. Daily median crying times in the probiotic and simethicone groups were 159 minutes/day and 177 minutes/day, respectively, on the seventh day and 51 minutes/day and 145 minutes/day on the 28th day. On day 28, 39 patients (95%) were responders in the probiotic group and 3 patients (7%) were responders in the simethicone group. No adverse effects were reported.
CONCLUSIONS. In our cohort, L reuteri improved colicky symptoms in breastfed infants within 1 week of treatment, compared with simethicone, which suggests that probiotics may have a role in the treatment of infantile colic.
DISCUSSION
The present study demonstrated that supplementation with L reuteri improved colicky symptoms significantly in breastfed infants, compared with the standard therapy with simethicone, within 7 days of treatment. The response rate for the treatment with L reuteri was 95%, whereas only 7% of infants responded to simethicone.
The beneficial effects of probiotic supplementation in this study may be related to action on the altered balance of intestinal lactobacilli in infants with colic.19,20 Recent studies showed that modulation of microflora with probiotics, including L reuteri, might shift the intestinal ecological balance from potentially harmful flora to flora that would be predominantly beneficial to the host, reducing the risk of gastrointestinal infections and allergic diseases.26,29–31 In particular, probiotic supplementation at an early age aims to provide safe yet sufficient microbial stimulus for the immature immune system,32,33 and L reuteri has been administered to newborn infants in attempts to strengthen positive effects associated with colonization by lactobacilli.22
There is a complex relationship between the intestinal immune system and the commensal flora. Recently, it was demonstrated that the luminal endogenous flora can initiate the key processes of bacteria-induced innate and adaptive host responses through the activation of toll-like receptors and nucleotide oligomerization domain receptors, located on intestinal epithelial cells.34,35 In animal models, cytokines can initiate a hyper-reflex response of the enteric neuromusculature through neuroimmune and myoimmune interactions.36 Furthermore, inappropriate interaction between the microflora and the toll-like receptors might affect gut motor function, leading to abdominal dysmotility and colicky behavior.37 In particular, L reuteri and other commensal bacteria influence dendritic cell activity, type 1/type 2 T helper cell balance, and cytokine production in the intestinal epithelium.38–40 An interesting recent study showed that L reuteri has inhibitory effects on visceral pain, modulating the inflammation-associated visceral hypersensitivity response through a more-direct action on enteric nerves.41
It is possible that L reuteri contributes to the antiinflammatory tone of the intestinal environment, modulating immune responses and thereby motility of the infant gut.
The infants in our study were exclusively breastfed, because it is thought that human milk works in synergy with probiotic bacteria in the development of immune responses.42 The low-allergen maternal diet used in the study might have contributed to the reduction in distressed behavior observed during the trial, which suggests a role of maternal diet in the pathogenesis of infantile colic, as reported recently by Hill et al.14
CONCLUSION
Our results suggest a potential role of L reuteri as a new therapeutic approach to infantile colic. The safety profile of probiotics makes them a favorable alternative to all other therapeutic options for breastfed infants with colic. Because specific probiotic strains have specific properties and targets in the human intestinal microbiota, exerting different health effects, additional studies might be performed to examine the role of other probiotic species and to identify the ideal strain for the treatment of infantile colic.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=14749232&dopt=Citation
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