Probiotics are "friendly" bacteria that normally exist in your gastrointestinal tract. The World Health Organization defines probiotics as "live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host." Exposure to naturally occurring, probiotic-like organisms early in life may have profound effects on your immune system. However, you should ask your doctor if probiotic supplements are appropriate for your children.
Immune Development
Your immune system allows you to exist in an environment that is filled with hostile microorganisms. Viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites that would otherwise quickly overwhelm you are held in check by an array of white cells, antibodies and antimicrobial and inflammatory molecules. However, your immune system is not mature at birth. It must be "educated" by exposure to a host of foreign agents that challenge its limits and lead to the development of immune integrity.
Hygiene Hypothesis
"The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy" reports that some immune disorders such as allergies and asthma are becoming more frequent in developed countries where improved hygiene, antibiotics and immunization practices limit your exposure to infectious organisms and other foreign agents during childhood. The theory is that a lack of interaction with such noxious stimuli prevents the normal transition of immune cells to a more robust and balanced state. Proponents of "the hygiene hypothesis" believe that exposure to a broad spectrum of organisms during childhood helps to prevent the development of chronic diseases, such as allergies, later in life. The hygiene hypothesis is not universally accepted and it is contradicted by some epidemiological observations such as the rising incidence of allergic asthma in "unhygienic" inner cities.
Probiotics and Immunity
A March 2010 review in "The Journal of Nutrition" outlines many possible uses for probiotics in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Probiotics can colonize your intestine, inhibiting invasion by disease-causing organisms and modulating your immune response to prevent immune overreaction and subsequent allergic or autoimmune diseases. However, probiotics have only been shown to be of definitive benefit in a limited number of medical conditions, such as infectious diarrhea in children, traveler's diarrhea, antibiotic-associated diarrhea and necrotizing enterocolitis, a disease of newborn infants.
Considerations
The potential benefits of using probiotic supplements to improve immune response in children are not fully defined, nor has the safety of such a practice been evaluated. According to scientists at International Life Sciences Institute Europe, "certain probiotics, under certain conditions, and in certain target populations, are beneficial in reducing the risk of infection." Clinical trials showing benefit from probiotics have used preparations containing billions of organisms and, in many cases, several different strains. However, as of 2011, there are no recommendations regarding the best strains or the optimal dose for any purpose, including boosting immunity in children. Ask your doctor before you administer probiotic supplements to your child.
References
- Joint WHO/FAO Report: Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food Including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria
- "The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 18th Edition: Atopic Dermatitis"; Mark H. Beers, M.D., Editor-in-Chief; 2006
- "The Journal of Nutrition"; Guidance for Substantiating the Evidence for Beneficial Effects of Probiotics: Prevention and Management of Infections by Probiotics; D. Wolvers, et al.; March 2010
- "Clinical and Experimental Immunology"; 99th Dahlem Conference on Infection, Inflammation, and Chronic Inflammatory Disorders: Controversial Aspects of the "Hygiene Hypothesis"; P.M. Matricardi; April 2010
