Nearly 200 Canadian physicians, both urban and rural, were surveyed regarding natural health products (NHPs), a category in which probiotics are deemed “fashionable”. Most thought that NHPs were probably of little benefit but not likely to be harmful. Most of the NHPs used were vitamins and minerals.
The authors try to explain the results with “overall, the responses to the survey questions relating to physician attitudes are compatible with ambivalence about, even uncertainty toward, NHPs. One way physicians deal with uncertain knowledge is to play it “safe,”…”
Read more about this eye-opening survey of physician practice in Canadian Family Physician.