Home » Daily News

May 7 - Probiotics May Benefit Health and Quality of Life of Older People

Cutting-edge science on the potential for probiotics in geriatric health and disease was recently presented at the American Geriatrics Society annual meeting in the symposium "Probiotics: Impact on Health and Quality of Life in Older People." Scientists and physicians shared the newest science on probiotics and how they relate to immune function, intestinal disorders, inflammation, and cancer in older adults.

Probiotics are "friendly" bacteria, such as those in certain yogurts and fermented dairy drinks, that can provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Research has shown that regularly consuming certain probiotics can help strengthen the body's natural defenses or improve digestive health.

At the symposium, John E. Morley, MB, BCh, of St. Louis University School of Medicine, led a panel of speakers who discussed the benefits of specific friendly bacteria in older adults and their use in clinical applications. Allan Walker, MD, director of the division of nutrition at Harvard Medical School, opened by providing an overview of probiotics. He explained that probiotics act on the intestinal tract to modulate the intestinal microbiota and other intestinal functions. Adding probiotics to the diet can change the composition of gut flora in older people, optimizing the functioning of the intestinal lining, as well as the immune system. About 70% of our body's immune system is located in the digestive tract.

There will be approximately 2 billion people over the age of 60 by 2050. As we age, there is impairment of all portions of immune function, reported Simin Meydani, DVM, PhD, associate director of the Jean Mayer
USDA Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University. The main problem older people face is a higher incidence of morbidity or mortality from infectious diseases because they lack proper immune function. Meydani also discussed how probiotics could be beneficial to immune response and intestinal diseases in the aging.

Peter R. Holt, MD, adjunct senior scientist at Rockefeller University, highlighted the role of probiotics in inflammation and cancer. One of the main cancers contributing to death in the United States is colorectal cancer, which has been associated with our diets. Holt reviewed the body of evidence that supports the role of certain probiotic cultures in colon cancer risk reduction. He reported that probiotics may be beneficial by influencing several major intestinal functions that may accompany the development of colon cancer, such as detoxification, colonic fermentation, and gastrointestinal transit.

Source: The Dannon Company; Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd.

(View the Daily News Archive)