Pregnant women are often encouraged to take probiotics to benefit baby as well as themselves. Many do, but most don’t. Researchers in the Netherlands mined data from a large ongoing prospective birth cohort study called Wheezing Illnesses Study Leidsche Rijn (WHISTLER) study. Nicole Rutten and colleagues published their results entitled Maternal use of probiotics during […]
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Probiotics May Stabilize Microbes during H.pylori Treatment
A slew of gastric problems are caused by the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) organism: chronic gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcers, and gastric cancer. Traditional treatment includes two antibiotics, amoxicillin and clarithromycin) and proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs). Because antibiotics kill even beneficial bacteria, side effects ensue. Researchers Bumjo Oh and colleagues asked what effect antibiotics in combination with probiotics […]
Probiotics Battle Insulin Resistance
Who can resist insulin, the sweetheart of a hormone tasked with keeping blood sugars steady? Actually, hundreds of millions of us. Insulin resistance tracks Type 2 diabetes, a disease now soaring to pandemic numbers. Resistance rises in many metabolic camps. Here are a few identified in insulin resistance: Cell membrane changes Reduced skeletal muscle glucose uptake […]
Cloudy with a Chance of Microbes
Going through life under a cloud? Cheer up—we all are. A cloud of microbes apparently hover about each of us, forming a unique puff of bacteria and other organisms. Scientists have long known that pathogens can be passed from person to doorknob to person for example as in the cold virus. Bacteria can pass from […]