Probiotics to Prevent Allergies

This recent Finnish study presents some fascinating evidence indicating the benefits of helpful bacteria in the intestinal tracts of newborn babies and their mothers shortly before giving birth. However, the researchers fall short of the obvious conclusion that if probiotics can prevent allergies in the early years of life, they can certainly be useful later in life as well. Could it be that the rise in C-sections in this country correlate with the prevalence of childhood allergies?

It is estimated that about 70% of the immune system is found in the gut. The use of probiotics to increase the efficiency of the digestive tract is a great boon to the immune system and provides an excellent deterrent to allergies and other types of disease as well. I highly recommend Latero-Flora, which is a spore-bearing probiotic. Latero-Flora contains the Brevi Bacillus Laterosporus BOD strain which is a very potent probiotic encased in a spore. This encasement allows this probiotic to survive the stomach acids and form colonies. According to research, Brevi Bacillus Laterosporus BOD kills certain pathogenic bacteria and it may actually help to up the immune system. When Brevi Bacillus Laterosporus BOD is present, the body produces and stores antibodies which are then used to fight off pathogenic organisms. New research indicates that Brevi Bacillus Laterosporus BOD may also increase natural interferon which is an important immune booster that helps fight infections and inflammation.


Probiotics Prevent IgE Associated Allergy Until Age 5 In Cesarean Delivered Children But Not In Total Cohort
15 Jan 2009

According to a recent study from the University and the University Central Hospital of Helsinki, Finland, no allergy-preventive effect is extended to age 5 years by perinatal supplementation with probiotics in babies at risk for developing allergies; protection is conferred only to Cesarean section babies.

Childhood allergies have increased significantly in industrialized countries during the past few decades. Researchers theorize that this rising incidence is the result of a lowered exposure to bacteria in early childhood. This exposure to microbes appears to be essential in jump-starting the immune system to develop healthy pathways that do not result in allergic conditions.

Additionally, it's been observed that infants who develop allergies have intestinal bacteria that are distinctly different from those of non-allergic infants, suggesting that the type of intestinal microflora is an important factor in forming allergic conditions.

In a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (online January 2009) researchers from the University and University Central Hospital of Helsinki conducted a clinical trial of more than 1200 mothers whose infants would be at high risk to develop allergies. During the last month of their pregnancies, the mothers took daily doses of a probiotic mixture or a placebo, and their infants were given the same probiotic mixture plus a prebiotic or a placebo for the first 6 months of their lives. The children were followed for 5 years and evaluated for incidence of allergic diseases.

The authors found that the frequencies of allergic and IgE-associated allergic disease and sensitization were similar in the children who had received probiotic and those who'd gotten placebo. Although there appeared to be a preventive effect at age 2, there was none noted at age 5. Interestingly, in babies born by cesarean section, the researchers found less IgE-associated allergic disease in those who had received the probiotic.

"No allergy-preventive effect is extended to age 5 years by perinatal supplementation with probiotics in babies at risk for developing allergies; protection is conferred only to C-section babies", says Dr. Mikael Kuitunen from the University Central Hospital of Helsinki. "However, it is possible that stronger and longer stimulation of the infant immune system possibly by varying the strains of bacteria, may result in better allergy-preventive effects."

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