Probiotics may aid hayfever symptoms 10 June 2008
A pilot study involving hayfever sufferers and the Lactobacillus casei strain of bacteria found in some probiotics has suggested a possibility that the probiotics could lessen the sneezing and sniffing that millions of Britons experience at this time of year.
In the first human study of its kind, ten hayfever suffers were given either a probiotic or placebo milk drink for five months. Those taking the probiotic appeared to experience less symptoms.
The results were published this month in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Allergy.
Probiotics have been linked before with reductions in asthma and in babies’ development of childhood allergies, but this is the first time probiotics have been linked with hayfever.
