Posted on 05/19/2010 6:43:55 AM PDT by decimon
Washington, DC – The probiotic yogurt-like drink DanActive reduced the rate of common sicknesses such as ear infections, sinusitis, the flu and diarrhea in daycare children, say researchers who studied the drink in the largest known probiotic clinical trial to be conducted in the United States. An additional finding, however, showed no reduction in the number school days missed. The study led by Daniel Merenstein of Georgetown University School of Medicine (GUSOM), was funded by The Dannon Company, Inc., and published today online in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Probiotic foods are continuing to increase in popularity and some are marketed for the potential benefits of probiotics such as Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) DN-114 001, the probiotic in DanActive. Studies in other countries have found that probiotics, which are live micro-organisms, produce positive health benefits in children, including the reduction of school days missed due to infections. However, most of the research was conducted outside the United States in structured conditions not comparable to normal everyday living.
"We were interested in a study that resembled how children in the U.S. consume drinks that are stored in home refrigerators and consumed without study personnel observation," says the study's lead author Daniel Merenstein, MD, director of research in the Department of Family Medicine at GUSOM.
"…To our knowledge this is the largest probiotic clinical trial conducted in the U.S. and provides much needed data," say the authors of the study. "We studied a functional food, not a medicinal product; parents will thus feed their children without any physician input and we felt it was best to assess [the drink] under similar conditions."
The study, titled DRINK (Decreasing the Rates of Illness in Kids), was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study – the gold standard in clinical research design. It included 638 healthy children, aged three to six, who attended school five days a week. Parents were asked to give their child a daily strawberry yogurt-like drink. Some of the drinks were supplemented with the probiotic strain L. casei DN-114 001 (DanActive), while others had no probiotics (placebo). Neither the study coordinators, the children, nor the parents knew which drink was given to which participant until the study ended. In addition to phone interviews with researchers, parents kept daily diaries of their child's health and the number of drinks consumed.
Researchers found a 19 percent decrease of common infections among the children who drank the yogurt-like drink with L. casei DN-114 001 compared to those whose drink did not have the probiotic. More specifically, those who drank DanActive had 24 percent fewer gastrointestinal infections (such as diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting), and 18 percent fewer upper respiratory tract infections (such as ear infections, sinusitis and strep). However, the reduction in infections did not result in fewer missed school days or activities – also a primary outcome of the study.
"Our study had mixed results," says Merenstein. "Children in school or daycare are especially susceptible to these illnesses. We did find some differences in infection rates but this did not translate to fewer missed school days or change in daily activity. It is my hope that safe and tolerable ways to reduce illnesses could eventually result in fewer missed school days which means fewer work days missed by parents."
"It is important that more of these products are put under the microscope by independent academic researchers," he concludes.
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In addition to Merenstein, the study's authors include Megan Murphy, GUMC; Ali Fokar, MPH, Medstar Research Institute; Rohini K. Hernandez MPH, MedStar Research Institute; Haewon Park, MPH, GUMC; Hala Nsouli, MPH, MedStar Research Institute; Mary Ellen Sanders, PhD, Dairy & Food Culture Technologies; Barbara A Davis, PhD, The Dannon Company, Inc.; Violeta Niborski, PhD, The Dannon Company, Inc.; Francoise Tondu, MSc, Danone Research; and Nawar M. Shara, PhD, MedStar Research Institute.
Davis was an employee of The Dannon Company, Inc. during the study. Niborski and Tondu were employees of Danone Research during the study. Sanders consults for numerous probiotic companies, including the The Dannon Company. No other authors report related financial interests.
Georgetown retains full academic freedom to publish all results. Statements made in this document are not endorsed by The Dannon Company.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). Our mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Health Studies, both nationally ranked, the world-renowned Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), home to 60 percent of the university's sponsored research funding.
Nonetheless, the probiotic angle is interesting.
Ping.
Best thing to do for the children’s health is keep them out of day care. But then that would be too simple, wouldn’t it?
I take a probiotic every day. It helps my digestion. And any one who takes an antibiotic should also take a probiotic, to replace the good bacteria in the gut, as antibiotics kill both good and bad. Helps prevent yeast infections that often occur when females are given antibiotics.
Prescription yogurt ... $8.95 per pint per day.
We swear by probiotics. All three of us (me, hubby and toddler) had the rotovirus a couple of months ago, but other than that we are very healthy. Probiotics are expensive but worth the cost.
Have you tried this? I want to give it a try but can’t stand the taste of yogurt, even with all the flavors, fruit, etc.
We take probiotic supplements in pill form. Just pop the pill with some water and you are set. They are a bit pricey, but worth it in the long run. We buy from vitacost.com - they have the best prices and very high quality supplements. Most of the stuff on the shelf at Walmart has very little effectiveness. They have a flat 4.99 shipping fee, but that is offset by the price of their products.
Also, my in-laws were feeding their dog this expensive, vet prescribed dog food for her intestinal issues. She was abused by a previous owner, had terrible worms and flees. I started giving her a pill a day when we watched her and her “pooping issues” were resolved. She is off the overpriced prescription dog food and the vet is pissed!
Prescription yogurt ... $8.95 per pint per day.
Don't give them any ideas. That would probably be good news for Dannon.
I take a shot glass of this once a day:
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=AH-1109
I’ve noticed a marked difference, but if I stop taking it, the problem comes back within three days. It tastes sour, but not bad. I occasionally took Danactive, but stopped as I didn’t like the nutritional profile (80 calories for 3oz, and 14g of sugar).
bttt
If the vet is upset that the pet is healthy, your in-laws need to find a new vet. The DVM that I use for my vast collection of critters wants them healthy. One of my dogs improved dramatically when I started cooking her food and the doc was tickled pink. If I ask him a direct question about getting meds and treatments from a substantially cheaper source, he helps every time.
I buy mine when Walgreens puts them on sale buy 1 get 1 free, I buy the Natures Bounty Gold, which is the stronger one. And after you bought a few they give you register coupons that are good for $3-5 off 3-4 bottles. Plus you can use coupons from the Sunday paper to boot. I bought 2 cranberry, 2 Acai, and 2 flex amin and got out for about $40 yesterday.
Puritan’s Pride is another good source they often have buy 1 get 1 free. But you have shipping and handling.
And it’s tasty.
We love this stuff and it has become a fun hobby.
gives me diarrhea.
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