Probiotics can prevent disorders in infant gut

When we give probiotics, or "good bacteria" to healthy children soon after their birth, it can reduce the development of gastrointestinal disorders later in life, a new study from Italy suggests, Fox News reports.

In the study, newborns that received a daily dose of the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri had fewer episodes of inconsolable crying (colic), constipation and regurgitation (reflux) at age three months compared to newborns given a placebo.

However, more research is needed to confirm the findings before it can be recommended for newborns, experts say. Currently, doctors do not recommend that probiotics be used routinely in infants, said Dr. William Muinos, co-director of the gastroenterology department at Miami Children's Hospital, who was not involved with the study.

And although the treatment was not related to any harmful events in the current study, use of probiotics could potentially pose risks to newborns, Muinos said. For example, the lining of a newborn's intestinal tract is less mature, and more porous, than that of an older child, which could cause some bacteria to seep into the blood stream, Muinos said. This risk will need to be evaluated in future studies, Muinos said.

In the new study, Dr. Flavia Indrio, of the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy, and colleagues randomly assigned 554 infants born at full term to receive either daily drops of Lactobacillus reuteri mixed with oil, or just an oil mixture (the placebo). Neither the parents nor the doctors knew which treatment children received.

Parents were asked to keep diaries recording vomiting episodes, bowel movements and episodes of inconsolable crying, as well as the number of pediatrician visits they made.

After three months, the average duration of inconsolable crying per day was 38 minutes for those infants who received probiotics versus 71 minutes for those who received the placebo; the average number of regurgitations per day was 2.9 for those who received probiotics versus 4.6 for those who received the placebo; and the average number of bowel movements for those that received probiotics was 4.2 versus 3.6 for those that received the placebo.

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