Tag Archives: Probiotics

Probiotics: are they cost effective?

Posted on 28 August 2020 by

Like almost any intervention in the NICU (even maternal breast milk requires pumps and equipment, and kangaroo care requires chairs) there is some cost associated with routine probiotic administration. A new publication attempts to calculate the cost-effectiveness relationship. (Craighead AF, … Continue reading →

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Probiotics, can’t get enough…

Posted on 27 August 2020 by

All probiotics are not equal. I think it is clear, for example, that the probiotic fungi (Saccharomyces) studied in 2 small trials had no impact on NEC. In addition one of the largest and best trials (PiPS) from the UK … Continue reading →

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Probiotics save the lives of preterm infants. Find a reliable source.

Posted on 24 August 2020 by

The American Gastroenterological Association has recently published its guidance about probiotics for various conditions. They found little evidence of benefit for most indications with the probable exception of preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. The 8th indication that they reviewed was the prevention … Continue reading →

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Do Probiotics work in the UK?

Posted on 27 January 2020 by

Seems like a dumb question I know, if they work in one country, surely they should work everywhere? It is sometimes difficult, however, to institute change based on studies that are done elsewhere, usually because there is an idea, or … Continue reading →

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Prebiotics and preterms and probiotics.

Posted on 25 October 2018 by

A selection of recent publications, regarding the issues in the title, that I find interesting and which seem to tell a consistent story. From Nick Embleton’s group the following interesting study (Stewart CJ, et al. Longitudinal development of the gut … Continue reading →

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Probiotics for extremely preterm infants

Posted on 25 May 2017 by

The use of probiotics for Necrotising enterocolitis prophylaxis in the very preterm is increasing across Canada. There are apparently, though, centers that will only give them to larger preterm infants, and not to the most immature. I think that is … Continue reading →

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Necrotizing Enterocolitis: manipulating the microbiome, part 3

Posted on 9 May 2016 by

Abdulkadir B, et al. Stool bacterial load in preterm infants with necrotising enterocolitis. Early Hum Dev. 2016;95:1-2.  More work from the Newcastle group, this time the group decided not to look at the proportion of different bugs in the stools, … Continue reading →

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Prebiotics, Probiotics and the microbiome

Posted on 2 October 2015 by

A series of interesting recent articles: Yang J, et al. Application of Laser Capture Microdissection and 16S rRNA Gene Polymerase Chain Reaction in the Analysis of Bacteria Colonizing the Intestinal Tissue of Neonates With Necrotizing Enterocolitis. Pediatr Infect Dis J. … Continue reading →

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Genetic variants and NEC risk

Posted on 19 May 2015 by

This post is out of my usual comfort zone, but I thought I’d write about it as it is fascinating, and might lead to something clinical. I don’t understand any of the lab methodology of this study, except to say … Continue reading →

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What is the news about probiotics?

Posted on 9 March 2015 by

A few things have been happening recently: first of all, the big news was that Solgar recalled ABCDophilus as a result of some contamination of the product. As many of you will probably know, there was fungal contamination of the … Continue reading →

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