Bacteria Treat & Prevent Gastrointestinal and Allergic Diseases
Probiotics are healthy bacteria that have been used to treat and prevent gastrointestinal diseases, as well as illnesses that affect the immune system. A new book entitled Bacteria for Breakfast: Probiotics for Good Health describes clinical trials in which these supplements have been used to prevent and treat Crohn's disease, colitis, diarrhea, vaginal infections, food allergies, eczema, and more!
Hershey, PA (PRWEB) January 7, 2004 -- Kelly Dowhower Karpa, PhD, RPh, an
assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, has
written a book entitled Bacteria for Breakfast: Probiotics for Good Health.
Probiotics are "healthy" bacteria for the digestive tract, similar to the "live
and active cultures" found in yogurt. Karpa's interest in this area began two
years ago when her then-two-year-old son was diagnosed with a life-threatening
bacterial infection in his gastrointestinal tract. His illness persisted despite
nine months of antibiotic therapy. Karpa refused to accept defeat when doctors
told her there was nothing more that they could do for her son. Instead she
began searching the medical literature for a cure. Her literature searches kept
bringing her back to probiotics. After numerous phone calls and scores of
emails, Karpa located a pediatric gastroenterologist with knowledge and
experience in prescribing probiotic therapies at Johns Hopkins University.
Amazingly, her son's infection resolved within 10 days of initiating an
appropriate probiotic therapy!
It doesn't surprise Karpa that
replacement of the healthy bacteria that were missing in her son's digestive
system was all that was required to cure him of the severe Clostridium difficile
infectious diarrhea that plagued him for almost a year. "Essentially," says
Karpa, "with probiotic therapy the 'good' bacteria fought the ''bad' bacteria,
even though antibiotics had failed to eliminate the 'bad guys'." What did
surprise Karpa, however, was the realization that probiotics have also been used
to successfully treat Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, recurrent
vaginal and urinary tract infections and even prevent and treat food allergies
and eczema.
It seems that everyone knows someone who has Crohn's
disease. More and more evidence now points to an "infectious" cause underlying
inflammatory bowel disease rather than an "autoimmune" process as previously
believed. Several pivotal studies were recently published that lend credence to
this. Many patients with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and
ulcerative colitis have found symptomatic relief while utilizing probiotic
therapies.
Over the past 50 years, the western world has become
germ-o-phobic. We use antibacterial soaps and detergents. We vaccinate against
common, non-lethal pathogens. We use antibiotics indiscriminately. We avoid
bacteria at all cost, and this has become detrimental to our digestive system.
Our digestive tracts were actually designed to house trillions of
microorganisms. A healthy repertoire of bacteria inside our intestinal tracts is
essential for food digestion, protection from disease, and appropriate immune
activity.
During the first days of life, bacteria within an infant's
intestines begin sending signals to the immune system. Healthy bacteria in the
digestive tract allow the immune system to mature properly. On the other hand,
unhealthy, aggressive bacteria can program the immune system such that it
responds in a hyper-allergic or hyper-inflammatory manner. Studies published
during the past few years, including a key study released earlier this year,
demonstrate that supplementing infants with probiotics perinatally leads to a
nearly 50% reduction in allergic illnesses like eczema -- a reduction that
persists throughout at least the first 4 years of life.
In "Bacteria for
Breakfast" Dr. Karpa explores the reasons we need healthy bacteria in our
digestive tracts, how unhealthy bacteria cause disease, and how probiotics can
be used to establish a healthy balance once again. This new book is the only one
of its kind. It is a comprehensive summary of medical literature and clinical
trials which describe the merits of probiotics, written with both patients and
physicians in mind. "Bacteria for Breakfast" is written in easy-to-understand
language for those with no medical background, but also contains all
bibliographic information desired by clinicians who wish to learn more.
Published by Trafford, the book is 11 chapters (~330 pages) in length and
retails for $27.50. Excerpts of the book, found at http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-1294.html are available from
the publisher. Additional information about Dr. Karpa and "Bacteria for
Breakfast", including the book's table of contents can be found at http://www.geocities.com/probioticbook. Karpa may be reached
for comment at (717) 877-5537.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/1/prweb96624.htm