Probiotics May Benefit Health and Quality of Life of Older People

02/05/08 Cutting-edge science on the potential for probiotics in geriatric health and disease was presented at The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Annual Meeting in a symposium, "Probiotics: Impact on Health and Quality of Life in Older People." Leading 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, like those in certain yogurts and fermented dairy drinks that can provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Research has shown that regularly consuming certain specific probiotics can help strengthen the body's natural defenses, or improving digestive health.

At the symposium, John E. Morley, MB, B.Ch. of Saint Louis University School of Medicine led a world-class panel of speakers who stimulated scientific dialog concerning the benefits from specific "friendly" bacteria in older adults and their use in clinical applications.

Dr. Allan Walker, 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 percent 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 of the different arms of immune function, reported Dr. Simin Meydani, 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 are lacking a proper immune function. Dr. Meydani also discussed how probiotics could be beneficial to immune response and intestinal diseases in the aging.

Peter R. Holt, Senior Research Associate at Rockefeller University, highlighted the role of probiotics in inflammation and cancer. One of the main cancers contributing to death in the US is colorectal cancer, which has been associated with our diets. Dr. Holt reviewed the promising body of evidence, which 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.

Probiotics have been used worldwide and their health benefits have been noted for some time. As the science on probiotics continues to emerge, their use in the United States has become more prevalent. A large body of evidence is showing that the addition of certain types of "friendly" bacteria to the diet can have beneficial effects on immune function and microbial activities throughout the body and in people of all ages. The role of probiotics in health may extend far beyond what was originally conceived.

The symposium was supported by an educational grant provided by The Dannon Company, Inc. and Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd.