| Theme |
Chronic Constipation : A New Classification, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Treatment |
| Title |
Effects of Probiotic Administration on Chronic Constipation and Current Status of Clinical Application |
| Author |
Yoshikiyo Okada |
Department of Internal Medicine, National Defense Medical College |
| Author |
Ryota Hokari |
Department of Internal Medicine, National Defense Medical College |
| [ Summary ] |
Probiotics are currently defined as "living microorganisms or foods containing them, which when consumed in adequate amounts, confer a health effect on the host". Probiotics strains have intestinal disorder‒controlling action for their fundamental action which is derived from increasing the number of beneficial intestinal microorganism and decreasing the number of harmful intestinal microorganisms, and studies into their clinical applications to chronic constipation have been attempted. Recent studies on probiotics for the treatment of patients with chronic constipation under randomized control trial or meta‒analysis have demonstrated that probiotics did lead to a significant improvement in the mean number of stools without ingravescence of abdominal symptoms. In addition, several studies have reported improvement of subjective symptoms such as hardness of the stool, a feeling of incomplete evacuation or stomachache during defecation. In the future, accumulation of further evidence and elucidation of the relationship between imbalance of the composition of the intestinal microbiota (dysbiosis) and patients with chronic constipation are needed. |