From a UCSF press release:
In the first effort of its kind in the United States, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have launched a study to determine whether giving active probiotic supplements to infants can delay or prevent asthma in children.
The intervention is a novel method for the primary prevention of asthma with enormous potential to have a public health impact, said Michael Cabana, MD, chief of the Department of General Pediatrics at UCSF Children’s Hospital and principal investigator for the study. There currently are no known ways to prevent asthma, he said.
“It would be a great thing to be able to prevent asthma,” Cabana said. “We believe that using probiotics is a safe and effective way to do that.”
The press release is from May 2006; the three-year study should be almost finished.
Thanks to Steve Hansen.
I’ve been interested to read your series of posts on probiotics, especially in light of my own recent experience and reading.
Recently, my doctor diagnosed me with leaky gut syndrome, caused by an overgrowth of yeast in my digestive system. While I’m a seemingly healthy 35-year old, this seems to explain a whole constellation of small issues–everything from persistent breakouts to strong reactions to certain medications (mold-based antibiotics, steroids, and birth control pills.) I’m now on an anti-yeast diet and an anti-fungal medication.
Anyway, in reading about yeast overgrowth, I was shocked to realize how common the causes are. In healthy people, there’s an equilibrium between the good bacteria in your body and harmless amounts of candida yeast. However, things like antibiotics, stress, excess consumption of white flour/white sugar; excess consumption of alcohol or caffeine can drive down or kill off good bacteria. Yeast is apparently opportunistic, and will take the opportunity to fill that space. At some point (and on this, I’m a bit hazy) it turns from harmless to parasitic–for instance, growing through the intestine walls in search of food (hence the leaky gut), and the resulting dis-equilibrium has been linked to everything from asthma to fibromyalgia. (Also, sugar cravings, since yeast eat sugar; mood swings; persistent weight gain or resistance to weight loss. In my case, I’ve lost more than 8 pounds since starting on the anti-yeast protocol one week ago.)
Below you linked probiotics to less post-partum weight gain. Apparently, the presence of progesterone is a trigger for yeast–meaning that it finds it easier to get a foothold during pregnancy.
All this to say that when I read your posts on probiotics, the flip side of that (to me) is yeast. A big part of the anti-yeast protocol (once you’ve killed off much of it, which can take months–my relatively mild anti-yeast program involves at least two months of diligent eating and medication) has to do with replenishing all of the good bacteria in your digestive tract–and making sure to keep doing it so the yeast doesn’t grow back. People I’ve read say yeast overgrowth is rampant….and of course that makes sense in a society full of anti-biotics but very few probiotics.
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