(Amy Norton/ HealthDay) — When young children have a bout of “stomach flu,” parents often turn to probiotics for help. But two new clinical trials suggest they are wasting their money.
Researchers found that probiotic formulas showed no benefit for babies and preschoolers with acute gastroenteritis — a common gut infection that causes diarrhea and vomiting.
The findings contradict some earlier, smaller trials.
But researchers said those studies were generally “poorly done” and provided only weak evidence that probiotics worked.
The new trials, performed in Canada and the United States, were much better designed, said Dr. J. Thomas LaMont, a gastroenterologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. (…)