Bacteria are not good for our health, right? Not always. In fact, over the past decade, studies have shown that the right balance of so-called “good bacteria” in our gut (known as the microbiome) is not only key to improving digestion and manufacturing the vitamins our bodies need, but also helps to regulate our immune system. On the flip side, an imbalance of “bad” gut bacteria might trigger an autoimmune overreaction — and that could lead to a relapse for those with multiple sclerosis.
“This is key because multiple sclerosis is considered to be a chronic autoimmune disease. When the autoimmune system goes on overdrive, the coating (myelin sheath) wrapped around neurons in the central nervous system gets damaged and causes communication problems with other parts of the body,” explains Dr. Suleiman Kojan, a Beaumont Health neurologist in Royal Oak, Michigan.
The main symptoms of MS for the 400,00 people diagnosed with the disease include pain, mood disorders, visual blurriness, balance problems, weakness and paralysis, as well as loss of bladder and bowel control. Research is showing the use of probiotics, which delivers “good” bacteria in supplement form, may help MS patients reduce symptom relapse by helping to keep the immune system in check and preventing it from overreacting,
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A presentation in support of using probiotics in the treatment of MS was made at the February 2017 Americas for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis Conference in Orlando, Florida. The pilot study found the immune system was regulated in those patients with MS who were given probiotic treatment, while the group that discontinued use of probiotics had a decrease in immune regulation.
Dr. Aaron Glatt, chairman of medicine at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, New York, urged caution about putting too much weight on these findings. “You have to be careful interpreting the results. I would say this study is extremely interesting with the potential for future clinical care, but at the present time, there’s not enough significant evidence to routinely prescribe probiotics to MS patients.”
Yet, this is not the first time a connection between the gut’s bacterial balance and multiple sclerosis has been made. Three years earlier in 2014, a roundup of microbiome studies and MS was published in the journal FEBS Letters. Based on the studies, the researchers hypothesized that an out-of-balance microbiome is the biggest risk factor for MS and that it could be for other autoimmune diseases, as well. The scientists suggested changing the gut bacterial environment might be a reasonable way to control relapses and treat MS patients.
In a case illustrating which comes first — the chicken or the egg — there’s also evidence that folks with MS have different kinds of bacteria in their guts than people who don’t have the disease. A 2014 study by scientists at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and published in the journal Neurology reported that MS patients have more archaea (a microbe that triggers inflammation) and less butyricimonas (a microbe with anti-inflammatory properties).
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“We still can’t come to a firm conclusion,” Kojan says. “There are a lot of contributing factors that could be playing into these results. For one thing, certain medications can change the microbiome in the gut and MS patients frequently take several medications.” Kojan also points out that gut bacteria can be affected by diet. As an example, he points to India, where there are significantly fewer MS cases than in the U.S. “Many of India’s dishes are made with fermenting rice and lentils, and the fermentation process creates a perfect environment for growth of good bacteria,” Kojan explains. What are other fermented foods? Kimchi, sauerkraut and miso are a few. Yogurt containing live cultures is also an option for helping to nurture good microbial balance.
In contrast, processed and sugar-laden foods can hurt a healthy microbiome. In a study by Oregon State University, rats that were fed a high sugar diet not only showed bacterial changes in their gut, but also had a significant loss of “cognitive flexibility,” including the power to adapt to changing situations, as well as evidence of impaired memory.
In the October 2017 issue of the journal Clinical Nutrition, researchers reported a study where 60 patients with MS were either given probiotic capsules or a placebo over the course of 12 weeks. At the end of the period, scientists came to the conclusion that supplementation with probiotics offered therapeutic benefits because it improved disability scores and also lowered the impact of mental disorders, including depression and anxiety — common symptoms for MS sufferers.
[See: 10 Seemingly Innocent Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore.]
An interest in the relationship between the microbiome, probiotics and MS continues to gain traction. So much so that a coalition of four U.S. research centers (University of California at San Francisco; Ilana Katz-Sand Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City; California Institute of Technology in Pasadena; and the University of California, San Diego) called the MS Microbiome Consortium was formed in 2013. Scientists are in the process of comparing the gut bacteria of people with relapsing MS and people with primary progressive MS, compared to control groups who don’t have multiple sclerosis. The consortium is exploring the hypothesis that significant differences in gut bacteria may drive MS progression. Their findings could help the medical community move toward using personalized probiotics as therapy for MS patients.
The potential for probiotics to help MS patients reduce their relapse risk is still in its exploratory stage, but stay tuned.
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Can Probiotics Ease MS Symptoms? originally appeared on usnews.com
