The October 2008 issue of Science Daily reported that, “Studies presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting highlight the safety and efficacy of probiotics in improving symptoms and normalizing bowel movement frequency in patients suffering from constipation or diarrhea related to IBS.”

“A systematic review of the efficacy of probiotics in IBS that included 19 randomized controlled trials in 1,628 IBS patients 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,” said Dr. Paul Moayyedi, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, NY.

What is IBS?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder of abdominal discomfort or pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits. This discomfort, pain, or cramping can be a dull ache or it can be severe, according to IBSanswers.net, a web resource for those who suffer from IBS.

Types of IBS

Doctors distinguish different forms of IBS based on bowel patterns reported by patients. Some people with IBS suffer from constipation, diarrhea, or both.2 Symptoms can vary by person, but the three types of IBS are:

• IBS with constipation

• IBS with diarrhea

• Mixed IBS with both constipation and diarrhea

Affecting 25 to 55 million people in the United States, IBS results in 2.5 to 3.5 million yearly visits to physicians. Twenty to 40 percent of all visits to gastroenterologists are due to symptoms of irritable bowel. Not surprisingly, dozens of research studies have been conducted in search of answers about IBS, and how to minimize the discomfort associated with this common syndrome. Several studies have examined probiotics, meaning the “friendly” bacteria that reside in our intestinal tracts. The findings of these studies indicate that probiotics may play a role in treating and preventing IBS.

The British Nutrition Foundation carried out a review of probiotics and health in 2008. The review states that, “Irritable bowel syndrome symptoms have been found to be reduced by consuming probiotics.”

Research published in the March, 2009 issue of Postgraduate Medicine concluded that after an eight-week study, probiotics could, “Improve the severity and frequency of symptoms associated with IBS.”

“The role of the enteric flora is evidently an area of great potential in IBS; we are on the threshold of a new era of research and therapy for this common disorder” said Dr. E.M. Quigley of the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre of the National University of Ireland.

Why do probiotics work for IBS?

Probiotics have had more than a century to prove themselves. The concept first emerged in 1907, when Elie Metchnikoff, the Nobel Prize winning scientist, attributed the longevity of a Bulgarian peasant village to its inhabitants’ consumption of live yogurt. Since then a number of well designed clinical trials have shown beneficial effects of probiotics in the treatment of travelers’ diarrhea, acute diarrhea in children and antibiotic associated diarrhea. Trials also suggest that such bacteria can have a beneficial effect on the immune system, as reported on the helpforibs.com website.

Some researchers theorize that one cause of IBS may have to do with the bacteria, or “flora” balance of the intestinal tract. These scientists think that when “good” and “bad” bacteria get out of balance, the good bacteria can no longer manage the bad bacteria populations. If bad bacteria overwhelm good, this may cause inflammation, diarrhea, and other symptoms of IBS. This condition is called “SIBO,” or “Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth.” Regular doses of “good bacteria,” or probiotics, may help to regulate, balance and control overgrowth of “bad bacteria.”

Many of our customers have contacted us for more information on Delpro™, our live probiotic product. Question topics include whether Delpro should be refrigerated, and whether traveling through the mail system damages the product. Probiotics are living organisms and should be refrigerated when stored, but Delpro is manufactured in such a way that an excess of live CFU’s, or “colony-forming units” are built into each dose. This means that even if some of the CFUs are lost during transit, Delpro still delivers 10 billion CFU’s per dose by the time it reaches customers. We know that Delpro can remain unrefrigerated for up to 30 days, so travelers may carry Delpro when refrigeration is not available.

To learn more about how Delpro capsules work, click here.