Possible treatment for inflammatory bowel disease with probiotic

Gut feeling: bacteria may inspire bowel treatment - Yahoo! News
2008.05.28
"...a complex sugar molecule made naturally by a species of intestinal bacteria called Bacteroides fragilis prevented the development of an animal version of inflammatory bowel disease in laboratory mice..."We are colonized in our intestine normally with many bacteria -- 100 trillion or so," Dennis Kasper, a professor of medicine, microbiology and molecular genetics at Harvard Medical School...When the scientists exposed the mice to the "good" bacterium, Bacteroides fragilis, they were protected from an inflammatory bowel condition due to the action of a sugar molecule, called polysaccharide A, made by the bacterium...Mice that were given oral doses of just the sugar molecule also were protected...The sugar molecule worked by stimulating the mouse immune system to make a substance called interleukin-10, which changes the body's response to the disease-causing bacteria, dampening inflammation..."

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The Benefits of Yogurt

What's tasty, easy, and has lots of health benefits? Yogurt! WebMD 3/5/07 "Benefit No. 1: Yogurt May Help Prevent Osteoporosis...''The combination of calcium and vitamin D has a clear skeletal benefit, provided the dose of vitamin D is sufficiently high,'' ...Benefit No. 2: Yogurt May Reduce the Risk of High Blood Pressure...''We observed a 50% reduction in the risk of developing high blood pressure among people eating 2-3 servings of low-fat dairy a day (or more), compared with those without any intake,'' ...Benefit No. 3: Yogurt With Active Cultures Helps the Gut...Yogurt with active cultures may help certain gastrointestinal conditions, including:Lactose intolerance - Constipation - Diarrhea -Colon cancer - Inflammatory bowel disease - H. pylori infection
That's what researchers from the Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University concluded in a recent review article.The benefits are thought to be due to: Changes in the microflora of the gut -The time food takes to go through the bowel -Enhancement of the body's immune system... Benefit No. 4: Yogurt With Active Cultures May Discourage Vaginal Infections...the vaginal pH (measure of acidity or basicity) of the group eating yogurt with active cultures dropped from 6.0 to 4.0 (normal pH is 4.0-4.5)...Benefit No. 5: Yogurt May Help You Feel Fuller..."

The article on yogurt continues at WebMD.

What about probiotics for dogs? Here's one of the studies showing they benefit as well: Effects of probiotic bacteria in dogs with food responsive diarrhoea treated with an elimination diet. Of course what strains that are best for us, might not be best for them.

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