Treatment of autism: use of probiotics in the treatment of autism
I want to discuss the different types of probiotics and what are considered general probiotics and what are considered treatment-specific probiotics. The options on the probiotics market are many and varied. Three main examples of multifloral probiotic products are Probiotic Support Formula from New Beginnings, Therbiotic Complete from Klaire Labs, and Multi-Flora Spectrum from Kirkman labs. There are certainly other ways, but these are three very good multi-floral probiotics that contain a number of good bacteria. And a good way to understand the benefits of these probiotics is to view them as a multivitamin for the overall health of your digestive tract. Probiotic Support Formula, Therbiotic Complete and Multi-Flora Spectrum are very helpful for the general health of the digestive system.
Next, we can discuss what I call the specific probiotic treatment options. Treatment-specific probiotics are used to treat a specific disorder or problem within the body. Cultural is an example of this. What Culturelle is, is a specific type of probiotic called acidophilus GG and it can be very effective in attacking and chasing down clostridia bacteria. Quite a few people use Three Lac as a yeast treatment, as it is particularly useful for that. So of course I would not use Three Lac long term as a comprehensive digestive and immune support aid. I would use Three Lac with the intention of helping control yeast overgrowth. VSL #3 is another example of a treatment-specific probiotic. It is a very potent probiotic that has been used successfully to break down oxalates. And while it also has some effectiveness against clostridia, for the most part it’s used to help combat high oxalate levels. A fourth specific probiotic for treatment is called Saccharomyces Boulardii, which is a type of yeast that will attack another form of yeast called candida. Therefore, Saccharomyces Boulardii is specifically used as part of an antifungal approach due to this tendency to help control candida. It can also be very effective when used while taking antibiotics, it can prevent yeast overgrowth from starting. Saccharomyces Boulardii is also somewhat effective in fighting clostridia.
So, as you can see, there are a lot of probiotics out there and this was just to highlight. As a summary, there are multi-floral probiotics that work to improve the immune system and the digestive system and then there are probiotics that are specific for treatment, as I described above.
