PROBIOTICS: LIVING MEDICINES IN HEALTH MAINTENANCE AND DISEASE PREVENTION

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Probiotics are defined by the world health organization as live organisms, when taken in sufficient amounts; provide a benefit to human health. The beneficial microflora found in the gastrointestinal tract were termed probiotics. Probiotics, literally meaning “for life,” are microorganisms proven to exert health-promoting influences in humans and animals [1].The term “synbiotics” was coined to describe the synergistic actions of preand probiotics [2]. In 1994, the world health organization deemed probiotics to be the next-most important immune defense system when commonly prescribed antibiotics are rendered useless by antibiotic resistance [3]. The use of probiotics in antibiotic resistance is termed microbial interference therapy. With increasing understanding that beneficial microbes are required for health, probiotics may become a common therapeutic tool used by health care practitioners in the near future.