ORLANDO, Fla. — Probiotics may improve symptoms and normalize bowel movement frequency in patients who suffer from constipation or diarrhea related to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to findings presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting.
A systematic review of the efficacy of probiotics in IBS found that “probiotics are effective in IBS, but we do not have enough information to be sure whether there is one probiotic that is particularly effective or whether combinations of probiotics are required,” according to Dr. Paul Moayyedi, the study’s lead researcher.
A multi-center analysis was conducted to determine if a multi-strain probiotic was effective in reducing the frequency of diarrhea in 84 IBS patients (IBS-D). In this small study, a multi-strain probiotic administered daily for 28 days normalized bowel habits in IBS patients compared to those who received the placebo. The average number of daily diarrheal episodes in the probiotic group significantly decreased from day 1 to day 28 compared to slight decreases in the placebo group during the same period.
In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over study conducted at seven pediatric GI centers in the United States, Italy, and India, researchers randomly assigned 59 pediatric IBS patients to receive either a probiotic agent (VSL#3®) or a placebo for six weeks. At the end of six weeks, patients switched to the other arm of the study and underwent six more weeks of treatment. Researchers found the probiotic agent was safe and significantly more effective than the placebo in alleviating IBS-related symptoms in children and teenagers.