probiotics

[magicmoment]

Which probiotics best help for stomach pains due to IBS?

[Julie Thompson]

Hi

This is a challenging question for practitioners to answer at the moment. The difficulty is that the evidence for one particular product being effective for one symptom or all IBS symptoms is very limited. Having said that when we combine the evidence for all probiotics the 'overall' evidence suggests they can be effective and they are generally not harmful. For all IBS symptoms (global) and symptoms of abdominal pain the products that have some research are probably the better ones to consider, if you want to try. We looked at the evidence as part of developing consensus and guidelines for diet and IBS in the UK. Please check the link to the following article - it is now free to access. It contains a chart which looks at each symptom and the evidence - you might want to try the products that are coloured green first, both for 'global' symptoms, which includes abdominal pain and the column for abdominal pain. The list telling you what the actual product name is can be found at the bottom of the chart. Please let me know if you struggle to access the document.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 12386/full

The reality is that some people do find them effective and some don't - my thoughts on this aspect is that IBS is a very varied condition and we can't guarantee that one type of treatment is effective for everyone. You could try them for at least a month and monitor you symptoms. If you find them effective you will have to continue to take them - if not you could try another type. Check with your healthcare practitioner if you are taking medications that lowers your immunity or have a medical condition that lowers your immunity - before you consider taking them.

Kind regards

Julie

[Dr Anton Bungay]

I am afraid there is little or no scientific evidence for the use of probiotics in managing IBS symptoms. I say to patients that they should at least try a probiotic if they have not done so before but after what we call a 'therapeutic trial' e.g. 4 to 8 weeks if there is no appreciable benefit then I would not continue with them. Products that contain B.infantis for example Alflorex or Symprove are examples of some products that I may recommend

Regards

Anton