Probiotics

Celiac disease is a complex inherited digestive disorder that affects I in 100 persons worldwide. This condition involves a unique immune response within the digestive tract to gluten, a protein found in the grains of wheat, barley, rye and oats.  All persons with celiac disease, regardless of age, race or gender, are susceptible to intestinal damage when they eat food containing gluten or its derivatives. The treatment for celiac disease is a strict gluten-free diet that stops damage and allows recovery.  Probiotics and prebiotics should be incorporated into the diet to improve the quality and balance of intestinal bacteria that inhabit the colon.

Read More »

Editors’ note: This animal study investigating the effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus, a strain of probiotic bacteria, on ulcers of the stomach lining of rats demonstrated that bacteria placed directly into the stomach significantly and according to dose reduced gastric ulcer size.  If the results of this animal research are reproduced in humans, it would demonstrate that probiotics may hasten recovery for people suffering from stomach ulcers.  The bacteria did not affect the function of normal gastric mucosa but normalized those with abnormal changes during ulceration.

“Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG enhances gastric ulcer healing in rats.”

Lam EK, et. al.

Department of Pharmacology, The University of Hong Kong, China.

European Journal of Pharmacology. 2007 Jun 22;565(1-3):171-9.

Background: Probiotics are widely used as functional foods which have been advocated for the maintenance of gastrointestinal microflora equilibrium and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. However, studying the role of probiotics in peptic ulcer disease is limited. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of a probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG on gastric ulcer and to elucidate the mechanisms involved.

Methods: Gastric kissing ulcers were induced in rats by acetic acid (60% v/v). L. rhamnosus GG was given intragastrically (directly into the stomach) at 10(8) cfu/day or 10(9) cfu/day for three consecutive days after ulcer induction. L. rhamnosus GG successfully colonized in the gastric mucosa especially at the ulcer margin. It also significantly and dose-dependently reduced gastric ulcer area.

Results: L. rhamnosus GG successfully colonized in the gastric mucosa especially at the ulcer margin. It also significantly and dose-dependently reduced gastric ulcer area. Cell apoptosis to cell proliferation ratio was strongly decreased and accompanied by significant up-regulation of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein expression at the ulcer margin. Angiogenesis was also significantly stimulated together with the induction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. Furthermore, L. rhamnosus GG up-regulated the phosphorylation level of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF receptor) without altering the total EGF receptor expression.

Conclusions: These findings suggested that L. rhamnosus GG enhanced gastric ulcer healing via the attenuation of cell apoptosis to cell proliferation ratio and increase in angiogenesis. Regulators of these processes such as ODC, Bcl-2, VEGF and EGF receptor are likely to be involved in the healing action of L. rhamnosus GG for gastric ulcer.

————————
Author Information: Cleo Libonati, RN, BSN
Cleo Libonati is president/CEO and co-Founder of Gluten Free Works, Inc. She is the author of Recognizing Celiac Disease and the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.

Source: Buzzle.com

It’s a fact. Everyone produces gas. Ordinarily, most people produce about 1 to 3 pints of gas in a day. Gas is normally painless, creating a feeling of fullness until it is passed.

But sometimes pain is experienced, and when it does it can be either dull or sharp, leaving us feeling bloated or tender in places. It can be localized in one spot, or felt throughout the abdomen.

About 50% of people with celiac disease complain of chronic discomfort from gas at the time of diagnosis.

What is Gas?

The accumulation of gas in the digestive tract is called flatus, and having Read More »