What Is Lactobacillus Acidophilus?
There are an estimated several trillion friendly bacteria
comprising over 400 species in the average human gastrointestinal
tract. By body weight, each of us carries around nearly four pounds of
intestinal microflora.
While Lactobacillus Acidophilus is probably the most well known of
these, others you should know about include Bifidobacterium bifidum and
B. longum. When the intestines are healthy, there are more friendly
bacteria than nfriendly, or pathogenic ones; you might think of this
arrangement as a kind of microbial ecology in which species have their
allotted role and population density in the intestinal environment.
Lactobacillus Acidophilus is the predominant friendly bacteria in
the upper intestinal tract. Lactobacillus is the general (genus) name
of the bacteria, Acidophilus is the particular strain. It helps reduce
the levels of harmful bacteria and yeasts in the small intestine and
also produces lactase, an enzyme which is important in the digestion of
milk. L. Acidophilus is also involved in the production of B vitamins
(niacin, folic acid, and pyridoxine) during the digestive process.
Not only can Acidophilus and other probiotics tune up your
intestinal function, counteract antibiotic damage, and stimulate the
immune system to function better when you?re relatively well, but when
you?re ill, they can also contribute significantly to relief of health
problems ranging from indigestion and diarrhea to colon and liver
cancer.
Acidophilus, used in milk in grocery stores and also sold in
concentrated form as a health-food product, consists of billions of
live, beneficial bacteria, taken to change the flora of the digestive
system and help crowd out harmful organisms. Most physicians do not
take acidophilus very seriously, but regard it as a health food and do
not mention it to their patients; you will probably not hear about it
from your doctor. But some physicians do recommend it for their AIDS
patients, and recently we have been hearing of a number of persons who
are convinced that it has helped them in controlling diarrhea and/or
candida (thrush) in the digestive tract.
"We (AIDS.ORG)
don't know of any scientific studies which would prove or disprove
these uses; but acidophilus is readily available, inexpensive, easy to
use, and evidently helpful to some. It appears to be entirely harmless,
but patients should check with their physicians to make sure there are
no reasons to avoid trying it."
The characteristics required of lactobacilli as probioties are the following:
Several studies have assessed the potential of lactobacilli in the
prevention or treatment of certain genitourinary tract infections such
as bacterial vaginosis, vaginitis, or urinary tract infections. The
main goal of therapy with biotherapeutic agents should be to prevent
overgrowth of a pathogen until such a time that the normal microbiota
can be reestablished. The possibility of using lactobacilli is
promising, especially in pregnant women and in the case of patients
with recurrent genitourinary tract infections produced by strains with
resistance to several antibiotics. In addition, probiotic therapy is
considered as "natural" and without side effects in contrast with
conventional pharmaceutical treatments, but there is a limited array of
tested biotherapeutic agents and a lack of pharmacokinetic data.
The authors have tested the therapeutic efficacy of a multibacterial
combination consisting of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium
bifidum in elderly patients with bowel disorders. Bacteriological and
histopathologic investigation showed this combination to yield
excellent biologic results with restoration of duodenal bacterial flora
and subsidence of clinical symptoms. The function of the muciparous
glands was restored and the duodenal mucosa was normalized.
- AIDS.ORG Article: Acidophilus: for Diarrhea or Thrush -
Barbes C, Boris S. Aids Patient Care STDS 1999 Dec;13(12):747-51.
Potential role of lactobacilli as prophylactic agents against genital
pathogens.
- Pecorella G, Vasquez E, Et al. The effect of Lactobacillus
acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum on the intestinal ecosystem of
the elderly patient.
There are an estimated several trillion friendly bacteria
comprising over 400 species in the average human gastrointestinal
tract. By body weight, each of us carries around nearly four pounds of
intestinal microflora.
While Lactobacillus Acidophilus is probably the most well known of
these, others you should know about include Bifidobacterium bifidum and
B. longum. When the intestines are healthy, there are more friendly
bacteria than nfriendly, or pathogenic ones; you might think of this
arrangement as a kind of microbial ecology in which species have their
allotted role and population density in the intestinal environment.
Lactobacillus Acidophilus is the predominant friendly bacteria in
the upper intestinal tract. Lactobacillus is the general (genus) name
of the bacteria, Acidophilus is the particular strain. It helps reduce
the levels of harmful bacteria and yeasts in the small intestine and
also produces lactase, an enzyme which is important in the digestion of
milk. L. Acidophilus is also involved in the production of B vitamins
(niacin, folic acid, and pyridoxine) during the digestive process.
Not only can Acidophilus and other probiotics tune up your
intestinal function, counteract antibiotic damage, and stimulate the
immune system to function better when you?re relatively well, but when
you?re ill, they can also contribute significantly to relief of health
problems ranging from indigestion and diarrhea to colon and liver
cancer.
Acidophilus, used in milk in grocery stores and also sold in
concentrated form as a health-food product, consists of billions of
live, beneficial bacteria, taken to change the flora of the digestive
system and help crowd out harmful organisms. Most physicians do not
take acidophilus very seriously, but regard it as a health food and do
not mention it to their patients; you will probably not hear about it
from your doctor. But some physicians do recommend it for their AIDS
patients, and recently we have been hearing of a number of persons who
are convinced that it has helped them in controlling diarrhea and/or
candida (thrush) in the digestive tract.
"We (AIDS.ORG)
don't know of any scientific studies which would prove or disprove
these uses; but acidophilus is readily available, inexpensive, easy to
use, and evidently helpful to some. It appears to be entirely harmless,
but patients should check with their physicians to make sure there are
no reasons to avoid trying it."
The characteristics required of lactobacilli as probioties are the following:
- Beneficial function
- Easy cultivation
- Nonpathogenicity
- Adhesion and
- Population stability.
Several studies have assessed the potential of lactobacilli in the
prevention or treatment of certain genitourinary tract infections such
as bacterial vaginosis, vaginitis, or urinary tract infections. The
main goal of therapy with biotherapeutic agents should be to prevent
overgrowth of a pathogen until such a time that the normal microbiota
can be reestablished. The possibility of using lactobacilli is
promising, especially in pregnant women and in the case of patients
with recurrent genitourinary tract infections produced by strains with
resistance to several antibiotics. In addition, probiotic therapy is
considered as "natural" and without side effects in contrast with
conventional pharmaceutical treatments, but there is a limited array of
tested biotherapeutic agents and a lack of pharmacokinetic data.
The authors have tested the therapeutic efficacy of a multibacterial
combination consisting of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium
bifidum in elderly patients with bowel disorders. Bacteriological and
histopathologic investigation showed this combination to yield
excellent biologic results with restoration of duodenal bacterial flora
and subsidence of clinical symptoms. The function of the muciparous
glands was restored and the duodenal mucosa was normalized.
- AIDS.ORG Article: Acidophilus: for Diarrhea or Thrush -
Barbes C, Boris S. Aids Patient Care STDS 1999 Dec;13(12):747-51.
Potential role of lactobacilli as prophylactic agents against genital
pathogens.
- Pecorella G, Vasquez E, Et al. The effect of Lactobacillus
acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum on the intestinal ecosystem of
the elderly patient.
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