Elderly population may be ripe for probiotics message
By Jess Halliday
08/08/2006 - Elderly people could ward off digestive problems with probiotics, said scientists at a briefing yesterday that may raise awareness of the benefits amongst this sector of the population and help direct marketing of consumer products.
The comments were made by Professor Glenn Gibson of the University of Reading at a briefing at the Science Media Centre, at which Dr Sandra McFarlene of Dundee University also presented on ulcerative colitis.
Dr McFarlane explained that people over 60 years old have around 1000-fold less of the so-called friendly bacteria in their guts. The balance is thus more heavily weighted towards ‘unfriendly’ bacteria, which may make them more susceptible to gastrointestinal infections and bowel conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome.
What is more, the publicity Prof Gibson and Dr McFarlane’s comments have received in mainstream media may make more elderly people aware of probiotics benefits.
A review of the scientific literature on the subject by Professor Jeremy Hamilton-Miller of the Royal Free and Univ. College Medical School was published in the Postgraduate Medical Journal in 2004 (doi:10.1136/pgmj.2003.015339 Vol. 80, pp. 447-451).
- “Review of the literature suggests that three problems common in the elderly, namely, undernutrition, constipation, and the decline in efficiency of the immune system leading to reduced capacity to resist infection, may all be beneficially affected by appropriate probiotic organisms,” he wrote.
He stressed that one single probiotic is not suitable for every use. It is necessary to study strains from a variety of sources to identify one with specific beneficial properties, such as boosting elderly peoples’ immune systems.
