Is there evidence that probiotics might be an effective treatment?
The data is still emerging. There are many good, quality-controlled trials in the medical literature that suggest that probiotics might work. For example, Dr. Erika Isolauri in Finland has shown that early administration of probiotics to mothers delivering infants at risk for allergy, and to those infants once they are born, will reduce the likelihood that the children will develop allergies. Dr. Susan Prescott in Australia has shown that giving probiotics to babies with eczema may reduce eczema severity. These studies, however, raise further questions, such as: what dose should be used? For which diseases? At what age and how early in the course of the disease do you have to give the probiotic? Will the effect of the probiotic wear off if you stop giving it? All of these questions have not been answered. I published a big study looking at Lactobaccillus GG in kids with Crohn’s disease who were already doing fairly well on medication. We put them on the probiotic or a placebo for two y
