A Tipping Point for Probiotic Use? A Clinician’s Perspective

November 2016. By Daniel Merenstein, MD, Georgetown University Medical Center –

As a clinician and clinical researcher in the probiotic field, I am beginning to think we have reached a tipping point for clinical use of probiotics.

This month, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published three articles dealing with probiotics. I heard about these through a friend of mine who asked, “Can you send me this article? I’m curious how probiotics are disparaged this time.” (For example, see here.) This is a reasonable refrain, as too often as probiotics are lumped together with questionable supplements. Part of this blame clearly falls on the probiotic industry, as there are some products that are sold with limited or no evidence base. However, the medical community seems finally to be catching up with the research on the probiotics that have been well-studied. This changing opinion was clearly evidenced by the article; while I assumed my friend’s pessimism would be justified, we were instead both surprised that probiotics were not just mentioned in the article, but they were generally recommended and supported.

The first paper was a survey of supplement usage in the United States. They reported a 156% increase in probiotic usage over last 10 years (p value trend=0.03).  The second paper was an accompanying editorial, which primarily addressed all the problems with supplements: the lack of studies, efficacy questions and limited enforcement of regulations. This editorial stated, “Not all supplements, of course, lack evidence of efficacy. Many supplements, including vitamins, minerals, and probiotics, are important components of modern health care.” Finally, the third paper was a very thorough review published under the JAMA heading, JAMA Clinical Evidence Synopsis. This paper summarized the evidence for probiotics for prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) in infants and children. The authors concluded, “BOTTOM LINE: Moderate-quality evidence suggests that probiotics are associated with lower rates of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in children (aged 1 month to 18 years) without an increase in adverse events.”

Although the likes of JAMA seem to be embracing the probiotic data, and articles about probiotics or the microbiome are now commonplace in today’s mainstream news and are regularly featured in medical journals, there is still room for improvement in how probiotics are implemented medically. The three large health care systems that operate near me in the Washington DC area carry a probiotic product in their formularies that has limited to no evidence base. Recently, I reached out to the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists to see if ISAPP could work with them to develop a more evidence-based approach to the products offered in hospitals. I am confident that a tipping point has been reached and that in a few years nearly all hospitals and physicians will adopt an evidence-based approach to probiotic administration.

Even considering the need to do better, I think that probiotics have now achieved a firm status in the medical community. Patients and consumers have accepted them for years as the survey data demonstrate, and an increasing number of physicians have as well. For some indications such as ulcerative colitis, traveler’s diarrhea and colic it is more often the norm than the exception when physicians recommend probiotics. I believe that the three articles in the JAMA issue reflect this evolving awareness of probiotics among physicians and importantly reflect a shift to higher expectations of evidence for use.

As this field expands, a risk is that even more products with limited evidence will try to partake in this market opportunity. To protect the important gains made by these important and well-studied probiotics, we need to be ever more vigilant to guard against poor products tainting the evidence-based products by association.

Dan Merenstein, M.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Georgetown University Medical Center

Elizabeth D. Kantor, Colin D. Rehm,  Mengmeng Du,  et al. JAMA.  2016;316(14):1464-1474. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.14403

Pieter A. Cohen. JAMA. 2016;316(14):1453-1454. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.14252

Bradley C. Johnston, Joshua Z. Goldenberg, Patricia C. Parkin. JAMA.  2016;316(14):1484-1485. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.11838