You have more microbes in your body than you do human cells, according to the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Under normal circumstances, your body maintains a healthy balance of good and bad microbes. Trouble arises if bad bacteria overpower good bacteria, negatively affecting digestion and your immune system. That's when the beneficial bacteria called probiotics can help. Some conditions that cause stomach pain may be relieved by taking probiotics.
Lactose Intolerance
Most of the world's population does not possess adequate amounts of the enzyme beta-galactosidase to properly digest lactose, the sugar found in dairy products. Only those of northern or central European descent are able to process lactose, according to a study published in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in February 2001. Lactose intolerance is the norm for 70 to 100 percent of other adults worldwide, according to Dr. Michael de Vrese of the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry of Nutrition at the Federal Dairy Research Center in Keil Germany. Lactose intolerance causes such symptoms as abdominal pain, bloating, gas and diarrhea. Probiotics, including Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, the starter cultures used to produce yogurt, may improve lactose digestion in those that are intolerant.
Helicobacter Pylori Infection
The pathogen Helicobacter pylori is responsible for many cases of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer, both of which are causes of stomach pain. Chronic infection with this bacterium is a contributor to gastric cancer risk, according to research published in the March 2007 issue of "The Journal of Nutrition." Drahoslava Lesbros-Pantoflickova of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Clinique Genolier in Switzerland studied the effects of the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus johnsonii on gastritis caused by Helicobacter pylori, and found that probiotic bacteria inhibit this pathogen by producing antimicrobial substances, competing with the pathogen for adhesion to cells that line the stomach and stimulating mucus production.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
When patients who had failed to respond to other therapies for irritable bowel syndrome were treated with Lactobacillus plantarum, a probiotic bacterium, for four weeks, for all of them the primary outcome was pain relief, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Patients who were treated with a placebo experienced far less remission of symptoms. Probiotics are suggested as an inexpensive therapeutic option for those who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome.
References
- University of Michigan Health System: Probiotics Are More Effective than Placebo in Treating the Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Probiotics - Compensation for Lactase Insufficiency
- National Institutes of Health: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: The Art and Science of Natural Products
- Journal of Nutrition: Helicobacter Pylori and Probiotics
