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One Viewpoint – Be Cautious

An opinion piece from Dr. David Johnson, Prof. of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology at Eastern Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia but an interesting one that points out the limitations of current probiotic knowledge and that we shouldn't blindly take probiotics (with only a few bacteria strains) after antibiotic use thinking that they're all good, all the time. I'm including this article to show what many medical professionals think about probiotic use and why.

He discusses 2 large studies, but unfortunately both studies only looked at hospitalized patients - and the large PLACIDE study looked at over-65 year old patients. And in the second large study he discusses the benefits of the antibiotic metronidazole.

I agree with his need for caution and the need for more large studies, but I wish he had discussed children, people NOT hospitalized, people who just had a round of antibiotics without life threatening complications, and not dismissed small studies. Hospitalized vs non-hospitalized people are very, very different groups. Small studies are finding benefits of various bacteria, but yes, the research is in its infancy, especially what are "normal microbial communities" in the gut and in other parts of the body. He does not discuss fecal transplants of entire microbial communities for C. difficile and their over 90% success rate. Dr. S. Lynch has theorized that some bacteria act as "keystone species" that could help repopulate a biome after an insult (such as antibiotics). From Medscape:

Probiotics: Help or Harm in Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea?

Today I want to discuss the issue of probiotics, and whether probiotics are doing an element of benefit or an element of harm. With access to over-the-counter products, use of probiotics has dramatically increased. Physicians recommend probiotics routinely to patients when they are taking antibiotics to prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea. I would like to take a time-out and reevaluate what we are doing for these patients.

Not infrequently, antibiotics are associated with Clostridium difficile infections, which occur in up to one third of patients with antibiotic-associated diarrhea.

In 2012, highly publicized meta-analyses were published in JAMA [1] and Annals of Internal Medicine. [2]These studies, and a Cochrane review,[3] suggest that not only can probiotics prevent or diminish antibiotic-associated diarrhea, but probiotics may also be helpful in avoiding C difficile infection.

Enter the most recent study, which is called the PLACIDE study, from the United Kingdom[4] It involved 5 hospitals, 68 different medical and surgical units, and more than 17,000 patients aged 65 years or older. All patients were hospitalized and taking an antibiotic.

These patients were randomly assigned, if they met eligibility criteria, to receive either a microbial preparation (which is the term they used for "probiotic") or an identical placebo. The microbial preparation had 2 strains of Lactobacillus and 2 strains of bifidobacteria, which patients received for 21 days.... Even with evaluation for intention to treat, there was no difference in the outcomes for C difficile infection or antibiotic-associated diarrhea between the microbial preparation (probiotic) and placebo group. Of interest, there was an increase in flatus in the microbial preparation group, and patients with C difficile diarrhea who received the microbial preparation reported a 3-fold increase in bloating

Although intended to restore good health, we are seeing a dysbiosis. We have disrupted the microflora in the gut, and are trying to jam it back with strains of bacteria that we think are good bacteria, and it may not be the correct answer. We don't know the right answer. When you alter the microflora, you change some of the metabolism of carbohydrates, bile salts, and complex sugars. We are not clear whether jamming the gut with another strain of bacteria is going to be of benefit.

I want to posit an element of potential harm, and not rush in to recommend probiotics routinely in patients to whom you prescribe antibiotics. I would also caution you not to use probiotics in patients in the intensive care unit, or in any patient with an indwelling prosthesis, particularly an intravascular prosthesis.