'Friendly' bacteria aid post-operative recovery Jenny
Hope looks at the advantages of using 'friendly' bacteria to treat severely ill
patients recovering from operations in hospital. Two new studies prove
that 'good' bacteria cut down on post-operative infections and the need for antibiotics.
Fewer than one in six liver transplant patients who had the probiotic strain LP299v
added to their feeding tubes suffered from bacterial infections in one trial,
compared with almost half of conventionally-treated patients. The researchers
carrying out this trial, reported in the journal Transplantation, point out that
probiotic therapy is 'cheap' and well-tolerated. The researchers have called for
trials to study the effects of patients taking probiotics while they are on the
waiting list for transplantation.
Source: Daily Mail (17/12/02) |
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