The probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota attenuates symptoms of vestibular migraine: a randomised placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 469-476
Author(s):  
X. Qi ◽  
G. Fan ◽  
H. Jia

Vestibular migraine (VM) has emerged as one of the major vestibular syndromes. Although probiotics have exhibited beneficial effects on migraine headache, its effect on VM is not clear. This trial aimed to investigate the treatment efficacy of the probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) on symptoms of VM. 247 VM patients were enrolled, of which 204 eligible patients receiving either LcS or placebo on a daily basis completed the 4 month study. They were re-visited at 2 and 4 months after study initiation to assess treatment outcomes. The primary endpoints were vestibular symptoms, evaluated by the number of vertiginous attacks during the past week, the Vertigo Severity Score (VSS), and Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) scores. The secondary endpoints were anxiety and depressive symptoms, evaluated using Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. Efficacy of LcS over placebo was not obvious at 2 month follow-up. At 4 month follow-up, while both LcS and placebo groups of VM patients displayed alleviated symptoms, the extents of the improvements were significantly better in LcS group than those of placebo group, with regard to vestibular symptoms using DHI and VSS, as well as anxiety and depressive symptoms using BAI and BDI. Although placebo effect cannot be ignored in intervention for VM patients, the probiotic LcS still exhibits considerable efficacy against VM symptoms over a 4 month study period, supporting further clinical study of a larger and more diverse cohort.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 697-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lei ◽  
C. Guo ◽  
D. Wang ◽  
C. Zhang ◽  
L. Hua

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) treatment is challenging due to inefficacy and adverse effects of current medications. Probiotic treatment has been shown to promote bone metabolism, reduce pain and inflammatory responses of age-related musculoskeletal disorders, including OA. We aimed to investigate the effect of probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) on patients with knee OA. 537 patients with knee OA were enrolled in this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, who were randomised to receive skimmed milk containing either LcS or placebo daily for 6 months. Primary outcome was defined as changes in WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) and VAS (visual analog scale) scores. Secondary outcome was defined as changes in serum levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). After 6 months of treatment, both WOMAC and VAS scores were significantly improved in the LcS groups of patients compared to the placebo group. Serum levels of hs-CRP were also significantly lower in patients receiving LcS than placebo. Strong linear correlations were observed between serum hs-CRP levels and WOMAC and VAS scores. LcS consumption could serve as a novel therapeutic option in the clinical management of knee OA, improving treatment outcome likely through reducing serum hs-CRP levels.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 631-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lei ◽  
L-M. Hua ◽  
D-W. Wang

Probiotic treatment has been shown to improve bone formation, increase bone mass density and prevent bone loss. We aimed to assess the effect of probiotic treatment on functional recovery in elderly patients with a distal radius fracture. A total of 417 elderly patients with an acute distal radius fracture were enrolled in this double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. They were randomised to receive skimmed milk containing either a commercial probiotic (Lactobacillus casei Shirota) or placebo daily for a period of 6 months after the fracture. Treatment outcomes were the DASH (disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand) score, pain, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) score, active range of motion and grip strength, all of which were measured on a monthly basis. Throughout the duration of the study, DASH score, pain, CRPS score, wrist flexion and grip strength of patients receiving probiotics exhibited a significantly faster pace of improvement than those on placebo, with treatment outcomes of patients receiving Lactobacillus casei Shirota at month 4 at comparable levels with those of patients receiving placebo at month 6. In elderly patients with a fracture of the distal radius, administration of the probiotic could greatly accelerating the healing process.


2020 ◽  
pp. 140349482092041
Author(s):  
Agnete Skovlund Dissing ◽  
Naja Hulvej Rod ◽  
Thomas A. Gerds ◽  
Rikke Lund

Aims: To investigate the effects of objectively measured smartphone interactions on indicators of mental well-being among men and women in a population of young adults. Methods: A total of 816 young adults (mean±SD age 21.6±2.6 years; 77% men) from the Copenhagen Network Study were followed with objective recordings of smartphone interactions from calls, texts and social media. Participants self-reported on loneliness, depressive symptoms and disturbed sleep at baseline and in a four-month (interquartile range 75–163 days) follow-up survey. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse the association between smartphone interactions and mental well-being separately for men and women. Results: A higher number of smartphone interactions was associated with lower levels of loneliness at baseline and the same pattern appeared for depressive symptoms, although this was less pronounced. A high level of smartphone interaction was associated with lower levels of disturbed sleep for men, but not for women. In follow-up analyses, a high versus low level of smartphone interaction was associated with an increase in loneliness and depressive symptoms over time for women, but not for men. Conclusions: Smartphone interactions are related to better mental well-being, which may be attributed to the beneficial effects of an underlying social network. Over time, accommodating a large network via smartphone communication might, however, have negative effects on mental well-being for women.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1884-1893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheung-Tak Cheng ◽  
Emily P M Mak ◽  
Timothy Kwok ◽  
Helene Fung ◽  
Linda C W Lam

Abstract Objectives To examine the longer-term effects of benefit-finding on caregivers’ depressive symptoms (primary outcome), and global burden, role overload, psychological well-being, and positive aspects of caregiving (secondary outcomes). Method Ninety-six Hong Kong Chinese caregivers of relatives with Alzheimer’s disease were randomly assigned to receive the benefit-finding intervention (BFT) or one of the two control conditions, namely, simplified psychoeducation (lectures only; SIM-PE) or standard psychoeducation (STD-PE). Caregivers received four biweekly one-to-one interventions of 3 hours each at their own homes. We focused on outcomes measured at 4- and 10-month follow-ups. The trajectories of intervention effects were modeled by BFT × time and BFT × time2 interaction terms. Results Mixed-effects regression showed significant BFT × time2 interaction effects on depressive symptoms against both control conditions, suggesting diminishing BFT effects over time. Z tests showed that, compared with controls, BFT participants reported substantial reductions in depressive symptoms at 4-month follow-up (d = −0.85 and −0.75 vs. SIM-PE and STD-PE, respectively). For depressive symptoms measured at 10-month follow-up, BFT was indistinguishable from STD-PE, whereas a moderate effect was observed in comparison with SIM-PE (d = −0.52). Moreover, positive aspects of caregiving, but not other secondary outcomes, continued to show intervention effect up to 10-month follow-up. Discussion Benefit-finding is an efficacious intervention for depressive symptoms in Alzheimer caregivers, with strong effects in the medium-term post-intervention and possible moderate effects in the longer-term post-intervention.


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