scholarly journals Probiotics Effect on the Immune System

Author(s):  
Jonathan Cho Kin Ng

Background: Probiotics can provide health benefits to an individual by regulation of the immune system. Many clinical trials have found that probiotics can prevent upper respiratory tracts infections. Aim: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of available trials to investigate the effectiveness of probiotics in the prevention of upper respiratory tract infections in individuals of all ages. Conclusion: Probiotics were found to be better in reducing the number of participants who experienced acute URTI, the average duration per episode of acute URTI, use of antibiotics in URTI related cases and absence due to URTI. Side effects were found to be minor, making probiotics a good candidate for clinical use. This shows that probiotics are effective in preventing acute URTIs. However, due to limited studies and small sample size, the results are subjected to bias and should be interpreted with care.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cho Kin Ng

Background: Probiotics can provide health benefits to an individual by regulation of the immune system. Many clinical trials have found that probiotics can prevent upperrespiratory tracts infections.Aim: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of available trials to investigate the effectiveness of probiotics in the prevention of upper respiratory tract infections in individuals of all ages.Conclusions: Probiotics were found to be better in reducing the number of participants who experienced acute URTI, the average duration per episode of acute URTI, use of antibiotics in URTI related cases and absence due to URTI. Side effects were found to be minor, making probiotics a good candidate for clinical use. This shows that probiotics are effective in preventing acute URTIs. However, due to limited studies and small sample size, the results are subjected to bias and should be interpreted with care.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cho Kin Ng

Background: Probiotics can provide health benefits to an individual by regulation of the immune system. Many clinical trials have found that probiotics can prevent upperrespiratory tracts infections.Aim: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of available trials to investigate the effectiveness of probiotics in the prevention of upper respiratory tract infections in individuals of all ages.Conclusions: Probiotics were found to be better in reducing the number of participants who experienced acute URTI, the average duration per episode of acute URTI, use of antibiotics in URTI related cases and absence due to URTI. Side effects were found to be minor, making probiotics a good candidate for clinical use. This shows that probiotics are effective in preventing acute URTIs. However, due to limited studies and small sample size, the results are subjected to bias and should be interpreted with care.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cho Kin Ng

Abstract Background: Probiotics can provide health benefits to an individual by regulation of the immune system. Many clinical trials have found that probiotics can prevent upper respiratory tracts infections.Aim: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of available trials to investigate the effectiveness of probiotics in the prevention of upper respiratory tract infections in individuals of all ages.Methods: A database search was carried out with databases ScienceDirect, Wiley, Springer, Medline and Pubmed. Completed randomised double blind, placebo-controlled trials were selected.Selection criteria: Randomised placebo-controlled trials, with the objective of investigating probiotic effectiveness in preventing URTIs.Results: Five randomised controlled trials were included, as the extracted data could be meta-analysed. This included a total of 785 participants of different age groups, children and adults. It was found that probiotics were better compared to placebo in reducing the number of participants who experienced acute upper respiratory tract infections. Probiotics were found to reduce the mean duration of acute URTI episodes, antibiotic use compared to placebo and URTI or cold related absence. Side effects and adverse effects were found to be minor and not statistically significant.Conclusions: Probiotics were found to be better in reducing the number of participants who experienced acute URTI, the average duration per episode of acute URTI, use of antibiotics in URTI related cases and absence due to URTI. Side effects were found to be minor, making probiotics a good candidate for clinical use. This shows that probiotics are effective in preventing acute URTIs. However, due to limited studies and small sample size, the results are subjected to bias and should be interpreted with care.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 362
Author(s):  
Antonio Cicchella ◽  
Claudio Stefanelli ◽  
Marika Massaro

Immunity is the consequence of a complex interaction between organs and the environment. It is mediated the interaction of several genes, receptors, molecules, hormones, cytokines, antibodies, antigens, and inflammatory mediators which in turn relate and influence the psychological health. The immune system response of heavily trained athletes resembles an even more complex conditions being theorized to follow a J or S shape dynamics at times. High training loads modify the immune response elevating the biological markers of immunity and the body susceptibility to infections. Heavy training and/or training in a cold environment increase the athletes’ risk to develop Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs). Therefore, athletes, who are considered healthier than the normal population, are in fact more prone to infections of the respiratory tract, due to lowering of the immune system in the time frames subsequent heavy training sessions. In this revision we will review the behavioral intervention, including nutritional approaches, useful to minimize the “open window” effect on infection and how to cope with stressors and boost the immune system in athletes.


1989 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 180-182
Author(s):  
Richard Hong

Recurrent infections constitute a major challenge to primary care physicians. Primary immunodeficiency or other alterations of the host defense system are extremely rare. In the case of recurrent respiratory infections, particularly of the lungs, a diagnosis will result much more often from ordering a sweat chloride test than a serum immunoglobulin level. RECURRENT RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS The major reason for referral to our clinic for investigation of the immune system is a complaint of too many upper respiratory tract infections. Each respiratory infection in a young child means loss of sleep for child and parents, expenditure of time at the physician's office, and possible loss of income in addition to the expense of medication and office visits. The child is often irritable and his or her misery clouds the home atmosphere. With repeated episodes of this sort each year, it is small wonder that parents want relief. The average number of upper respiratory tract infections experienced by healthy children is approximately 9 to 10 per year. At least 100 viruses can cause the common cold. Accordingly, even when a child has a normal immune system establishing immunity to each virus or virus subtype, it can take many years for a broad enough immunity to develop to diminish the frequency of infection due to newly encountered respiratory viruses.


2020 ◽  
pp. bmjebm-2020-111336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hibatullah Abuelgasim ◽  
Charlotte Albury ◽  
Joseph Lee

BackgroundAntibiotic over prescription for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in primary care exacerbates antimicrobial resistance. There is a need for effective alternatives to antibiotic prescribing. Honey is a lay remedy for URTIs, and has an emerging evidence base for its use. Honey has antimicrobial properties, and guidelines recommended honey for acute cough in children.ObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of honey for symptomatic relief in URTIs.MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, AMED, Cab abstracts, Cochrane Library, LILACS, and CINAHL with a combination of keywords and MeSH terms.ResultsWe identified 1345 unique records, and 14 studies were included. Overall risk of bias was moderate. Compared with usual care, honey improved combined symptom score (three studies, mean difference −3.96, 95% CI −5.42 to −2.51, I2=0%), cough frequency (eight studies, standardised mean difference (SMD) −0.36, 95% CI −0.50 to −0.21, I2=0%) and cough severity (five studies, SMD −0.44, 95% CI −0.64 to −0.25, I2=20%). We combined two studies comparing honey with placebo for relieving combined symptoms (SMD −0.63, 95% CI −1.44 to 0.18, I2=91%).ConclusionsHoney was superior to usual care for the improvement of symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. It provides a widely available and cheap alternative to antibiotics. Honey could help efforts to slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance, but further high quality, placebo controlled trials are needed.PROSPERO registration NoStudy ID, CRD42017067582 on PROSPERO: International prospective register of systematic reviews (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/).


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