Tag Archives: Probiotics

Probiotic Fungi too?

Posted on 4 June 2013 by Keith Barrington

It seems that probiotic fungi, specifically Saccharomyces boulardii probably don’t prevent NEC. There is one previous study Costalos et al which showed no difference in NEC, but some benefits on secondary outcomes (it was very underpowered for NEC, 87 babies … Continue reading →

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Probiotics in the NICU: a ‘how-to’ guide

Posted on 22 May 2013 by Keith Barrington

I have had several communications from people interested in starting the use of probiotics in their nurseries. There are often roadblocks, and some reluctance from either infection control, or pharmacy and therapeutics committees (or both). I will recount what we … Continue reading →

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Probiotics work in Practice

Posted on 19 May 2013 by Keith Barrington

For anyone who was at the latest PAS meeting, you probably heard about the presentation of Proprems. This is the latest RCT of probiotics, from Australia and New Zealand, using ABCDophilus, which is interestingly manufactured in New Jersey. The authors … Continue reading →

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Surgeons like probiotics, breast milk, and eating quickly.

Posted on 18 May 2013 by Keith Barrington

…for their patients of course, or to be more accurate, to reduce the chances of small preterm infants becoming their patients. A review of ways to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis, and then to treat it if it occurs, was just published. … Continue reading →

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Bugs in the news

Posted on 11 April 2013 by Keith Barrington

Many thanks to Girish Deshpande for sending me a link to an Australian news item about probiotics and their use in the preterm, a 2 minute video clip for your edification. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-10/new-hope-for-premature-babies/4619984 The excellent science blogs ‘Phenomena’ have an article … Continue reading →

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Leave my gut alone!

Posted on 5 February 2013 by Keith Barrington

Many things that we put in the intestines of preterm infants increase the risk of necrotising enterocolitis, including xanthan gum, kayexalate, and now, it seems, gastrografin. A group from Vienna performed a masked RCT in 96 very low birth weight, … Continue reading →

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How do Probiotics and Breast Milk prevent NEC?

Posted on 10 January 2013 by Keith Barrington

The question of the mechanism of action of probiotics and the manner in which breast milk reduces the incidence of NEC are important if we are to figure out for the future how to advance. There are specific components of … Continue reading →

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The Politics of Probiotics

Posted on 15 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

Annie Janvier and John Lantos and I have just published a ‘different view’ article in Acta Paediatrica, which has just appeared on-line. For various reasons we were asked to remove the references, so I list the references that we based … Continue reading →

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Probiotics in a Canadian NICU

Posted on 9 November 2012 by Keith Barrington

We occasionally have parents who request ‘alternative’ therapies for their babies in my unit, not many, as I think very often parents are rather overwhelmed by the efficacy and intensiveness of a modern NICU. On two occasions in my career I have … Continue reading →

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Probiotics: enough is enough

Posted on 9 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

At the EAPS meeting in Istanbul, the Proprems trial results were just presented. Now this has not yet been subject to full peer-review, but as a report of a large multicenter RCT it is not likely that their main findings … Continue reading →

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