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Fast Fact
The opposite of antibiotics are probiotics - a term coined in 1965 to describe substances that favor the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the body.
Two species of probiotics, Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, have been studied the most.
Bacteria that produce the enzyme lactase help reduce lactose intolerance. Probiotics can treat other enzyme deficiencies (e.g. sucrase maltase deficiency) as well.
In a placebo-controlled study, Lactobacillus was given to children along with antibiotics, resulting in fewer cases of diarrhea and milder diarrhea for those who did get it.
Active-culture foods are somewhat effective at preventing and treating bacterial diarrhea, including Clostridium Shigella, Salmonella, and the dreaded E. Coli 0157:H7.
Lactobacillus is most effective at preventing and treating rotavirus and other viral infections.This suggests that probiotics are not just friendly placeholders in the gut, but active immune enhancers.
By reducing inflammation, probiotics appear to be useful in treating a variety of gastrointestinal problems including inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis), ulcers, and irritable bowel syndrome. Flatulence and non-specific tummy aches can also be decreased.
Food allergies are caused by the production of antibodies (IgE) against something in the diet. Normally, a substance in our bodies called interleukin (IL-12) prevents this. A recent study showed that consuming Lactobacillus can increase IL-12, decrease IgE antibodies, and thus help prevent and treat food allergies.
Many children with eczema have flare-ups triggered by what they eat or drink. In one fascinating study, a group of children who received Lactobacillus had significant improvement of their eczema within one month!
One of the most startling recent studies of Lactobacillus indicated a "marked, long-term" protective effect on the heart, preventing and decreasing damage from lack of oxygen to the heart muscle. The effect was attributed to the demonstrated changes in inflammation and the immune system.
One double-blind, placebo controlled trial found that some strains of active-culture yogurt, eaten over 8 weeks, help lower LDL cholesterol and normalize blood pressure.Serum triglycerides were also lowered in a controlled animal study.
Because probiotics can decrease the presence of carcinogens in the intestines in several ways, they may prove helpful for preventing cancer. One important study suggests that in the soy-rich Japanese diet that seems to prevent breast cancer, it is the abundance of the probiotic Bifidobacterium in some soy products that is at least partly responsible for the powerful preventive effect.
While active-culture yogurt has proven helpful in many areas, and seems to be helpful in many others, it appears to do nothing to combat vaginal yeast infections. It has been recommended both orally and topically, but when evaluated no benefit is found. Perhaps this is because the normal population of Lactobacillus continues to thrive in the vagina even during a yeast infection.
Lactobacillus can help prevent yeast in the GI tract, diaper area and in the mouth. Probiotics can also help to prevent urinary tract infections.
The Agricultural Health Study is a huge, ongoing, forward-looking analysis of the health of farmers and their families that began in 1993-4. Over 89,000 people are participating in the study. The study is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency. The researchers are investigating the effects of environmental, occupational, dietary, and genetic factors on the health of the farmers and their families. (And I can only imagine that the health risks of farm laborers and their families are as high or higher than farmers and their families.)
In January 2005, they published their analysis of pesticide use and breast cancer risk in the families of the farmers. This part of the Agricultural Health Study looked at farmers' wives without a history of breast cancer who were recruited into the study between 1993 and 1997. The researchers carefully analyzed the hundreds who developed breast cancer by the year 2000. (This is short-term data, so far. It will be many years before we have the story of what happens when the children in this study grow up. But children are even more vulnerable to most toxic exposures.)
Breast cancer rates increased with the use of several specific pesticides in the study. The strongest evidence of an increased breast cancer risk was seen with the husbands' use of 2,4,5-TP. The rates of breast cancer increased steadily as the amount of exposure increased. This was consistent for wives living in different parts of the country. Increased breast cancer rates were also found for the husbands' use of dieldrin, captan, and 2,4,5-T.
Strikingly, even with apparently less toxic pesticides, the closer the farmers' houses were to where the pesticides were sprayed, the higher the rates of breast cancer in their wives. The women with homes closest to areas of pesticide application had the very highest rates8.
Cheryl's childhood bedroom window was just a few feet from the grapevines.
Against all odds, Cheryl survived her cancer, and is an ever more vibrant, giving woman. She is still the heart and soul of DrGreene.com. We're grateful every day for the opportunities we've had since 1996. Her cancer has changed us forever.
Did her early toxic pesticide exposure cause Cheryl's cancer when she grew up? I didn't know then, and I probably never will. But I did know that I didn't want other children put at this risk. Our personal medical crisis was broadening my heart as a father to include children growing up on today's farms. And to those outside of farm communities. Pesticides drift in our wind and in our groundwater. I was also starting to see children in cities and suburbs in a new light.
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