They May Help Improve Energy And Physical Activity In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Due to excessive fatigue, patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have low levels of physical activity and this is associated with increased symptom severity in ME/CFS.
Though no research has been done on this exclusively in chronic fatigue syndrome, studies in individuals who have received physical training suggest that probiotics may lower fatigue caused by strenuous physical activity.
These healthy bacterial strains possibly enhance immune function and lower inflammation and thus indirectly improve energy levels and physical activity.
Adding probiotics to diet may help individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome to cope with daily activities.
Quick Gist: Under conditions of high physical activity, probiotics are found to improve energy levels, attenuate fatigue and support recovery. This property of probiotics may help patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and help improve physical activity.
Home Remedies And Lifestyle
Making lifestyle changes may greatly impact how you feel, and the specific changes you need can depend on the severity of your illness and whether certain activities exacerbate your symptoms. While some people may see the tremendous benefit just from making changes to the way they eat, for example, others may find that more sweeping changessuch as a job changemay be necessary.
Oxidative Stress And Inflammation In Disease Pathogenesis
Oxidative stress refers to a condition in which high levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulate and cause protein, lipid, and DNA damage . Although antioxidants are supposed to counteract the buildup of ROS, their levels in chronic conditions, such as IBD, remain low . In addition, chronic low-grade inflammation and oxidative stress are both associated with ME/CFS . For example, an increase in oxidative stress level and a decrease in antioxidant levels in resting conditions have been reported in ME/CFS cases when compared to controls . Moreover, elevated urinary 8-hydroxy-deoxoguanosine levels, a well-known marker of oxidative DNA damage, was shown to correlate with malaise and depression in ME/CFS . Similar to IBS, high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines are also detected in ME/CFS . Although it is not yet clear whether inflammation can directly cause fatigue, the enhancement of 92 circulating inflammatory markers in ME/CFS individuals resembles the analysis obtained for Q fever fatigue . Given the lack of defined biomarkers in ME/CFS, the possibility of relying on inflammatory, oxidative/nitrosative stress, and antioxidants markers has been proposed .
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How Probiotics Help Chronic Fatigue
Leaky Gut and probiotics
Intestinal permeability is the medical term for the condition you know as leaky gut. To determine whether your gut is leaking, a blood test will measure something called lipopolysaccharides . Lipopolysaccharides are large molecules that consist of a lipid and a polysaccharide they are found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. If LPS are found in your blood, your gut is leaking the lipopolysaccharides found on bacteria should only be in your gut. Not in your blood!
Whats so bad about bacteria in your blood?
Elevated LPS indicates inflammation. And not just any type of inflammation, but chronic inflammation. Im sure you wont be surprised to learn that elevated levels of LPS are connected to chronic fatigue syndrome. When researchers combined LPS markers with the types of bacteria found in patients guts, they were able to accurately predict the likelihood of chronic fatigue.
The simple addition of a probiotic supplement decreases LPS levels and improves the tight junctions of your intestinal tract. By improving the tight junctions, you are healing your leaky gut making it much less leaky! All this is done by simply adding a probiotic supplement.
IBS-related symptoms and probiotics
Intestinal dysbiosis and probiotics
Anxiety, depression, and probiotics
The bacteria in your gut can influence emotions like anxiety and depression.
Inflammation and probiotics
Icipant Recruitment And Sample Collection
A total of 105 volunteers were enrolled for this study: 35 CFS patients, 35 patients relatives without CFS living with patients, and 35 healthy controls. The recruitment was performed according to the following inclusion criteria: CFS diagnosis according to Fukudas criteria, age between 18 to 80 years and signature of informed consent.
All participants who had used antibiotics, cortisone and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, inhibitors of proton pump inhibitors and probiotic drugs in the two months before the recruitment were excluded.
Healthy control subjects and patients relatives who had a previous history of diseases associated with chronic fatigue, bacterial and viral infections, cancer, chronic coronary diseases and allergies were also excluded.
Only the relatives who lived with the patients and shared similar dietary habits with them were enrolled. Age, sex and body mass index were matched in healthy controls.
Twenty-five patients reported gastrointestinal symptoms and showed post-exertional malaise. Moreover, eleven patients also had Irritable Bowel Syndrome diagnoses. Neither controls nor patients relatives reported this syndrome.
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What Can You Do
My opinion is that the root cause is a static microbiome dysfunction and thus correcting the microbiome is the ideal long term approach . According to the US National Library of Medicine studies:
- Jerusalem Artichoke
A reader asked me to put together a list of test that could/should be done. I divide the tests into two categories:
- Actionable the results lead immediately to an accepted treatment with high possibility of success
- Informational this shows that there is a problem, there may be treatment of a sort typically symptom mitigations
Fatigue And Physical Activity
At baseline , at the end of treatment and at the end of the study the patients were assessed by the Visual Analogue Scales to measure the intensity of symptoms . The patients’ self-reported physical activity level and general health status were measured with the SF-12 Health Survey once weekly during the study period .
At the end of the study the patients were asked to evaluate the treatment by the use of a four-point scale complete recovery, improvement, unchanged or impairment of symptoms.
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Major Study Links Gut Bacteria To Fatigue In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Me/cfs
Led by Cheng Guo and Brent L. Williams this big NIH-funded study from Ian Lipkins Columbia team at the Center for Solutions for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome set out to fix some of the problems found in prior gut studies. The study Deficient butyrate-producing capacity in the gut microbiome of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients is associated with fatigue symptoms was bigger , more rigorous, and used better bacterial sequencing techniques than past studies.
A lactobacillus gut bacteria . This study found a reduced diversity of gut bacteria in ME/CFS.
Ian Lipkins team involved seemingly everyone possible in this big NIH-funded study. The study was not just big it was long as well. Study participants provided stool samples 4xs over a year and completed a multidimensional fatigue inventory each time to boot.
Plus, following past studies from this group the study assessed the effect irritable bowel syndrome a common but certainly not universal comorbid condition found in ME/CFS has on gut flora. Finally, as it did in a past study, this new study added metabolomics to the mix as well.
The study also used a technique that appears to be new to ME/CFS gut studies called shotgun metagenomics sequencing which allows researchers to comprehensively sample all the genes in all the organisms found in a complex environment. This technique allows researchers to detect bacterial species that other methods are likely to miss.
Probiotics May Help Some With Chronic Fatigue
By Anne Harding, Reuters Health
3 Min Read
NEW YORK – Supplements containing good bacteria can help some people with chronic fatigue syndrome feel better, but they may make others feel worse, report Swedish researchers who conducted a small study.
I think that its worth trying, Dr. Birgitta Evengard of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, study co-author, told Reuters Health. Evengard said she recommends her patients with chronic fatigue syndrome try taking the probiotics tested in her study, and stop if they start feeling worse, but stick with it for 3 weeks if they feel better or if they dont notice an immediate effect.
Evidence is increasingly pointing toward the need for individualized treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, the researcher noted. The cause of this condition, characterized by debilitating fatigue that doesnt get better with rest and may be worsened by physical or mental activity, remains unclear, although there is evidence that dysfunction in the neurohormonal system or the immune system could be involved.
Given that there is a close connection between the gut and the immune system, as well as the central nervous system, Evengard and her colleagues decided to test whether probiotics — which can restore the normal balance of bacteria in the digestive system — might help patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
None of the authors reported any competing interests.
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The Irritable Bowel Syndrome Connection
Both our current and prior fecal shotgun metagenomic study support the notion that IBS morbidity must be carefully considered in future ME/CFS microbiome studies. The authors
Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by symptoms like abdominal pain, cramping or bloating usually associated with a bowel movement, changes in the appearance of bowel movements , and changes in how often youre having a bowel movement. About a third of the ME/CFS patients in the study had IBS.
Conditions Associated With Leaky Gut Syndrome
A short-list includes allergies and food sensitivities, headaches, brain fog, memory loss, eczema or psoriasis, acne, depression, diarrhea and constipation and bloating. Many researchers theorize that leaky gut also leads to serious health challenges such as irritable bowel and colitis, Crohns disease, autoimmune diseases, liver and gallbladder inflammation and disease, celiac disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia.
Gut imbalances can contribute to hormonal imbalances. If that happens, its an entire new rabbit hole with things like polycystic ovary syndrome , researchers have discovered a relationship between leaky gut and low progesterone levels leading to irritable bowel syndrome . It has been said that if a patient develops unexplainable symptoms, and no clear diagnosis can be established, it could be that a leaky gut is the underlying cause.
Diagnostic tests can determine whether intestinal permeability, or leaky gut, is present Genova Diagnostics offers the Intestinal Permeability Assessment. Another is available from BioHealth Laboratory the Leaky Gut Assessment. The Life Extension website also offers tests. KBMO Diagnostics has designed tests for food sensitivities that may be associated with leaky gut.
A coarse condition that results from:
A finer definition would be a condition with a significant number of abnormalities in the Autoimmune profiles see this page for the current criteria .
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Have You Tried Probiotics For Your Depression Anxiety Or Mental Health
If youve tried probiotics for your depression, anxiety, or brain health, have you noticed any significant benefits? To help others get a better understanding of your particular situation, mention the specific probiotic product that youre taking, as well as the specific strains of bacteria within that product, and the total CFU . Assuming your probiotic has had no effect on your overall health, have you considered that the particular product youre taking isnt actually delivering the bacteria to your gut?
Many probiotic products are hypothesized to deliver the beneficial bacteria to your gut, completely unadulterated. The problem is that many times the product will have spoiled and/or the bacteria will die off well before they can proliferate within your gut. If you believe that a particular probiotic is working well for you, have you considered a possible placebo effect and/or been able to dismiss such an effect?
Since there is a bidirectional relationship between the brain and the gut, perhaps even if there is a placebo effect it could yield benefit for your gut health via CNS-to-ENS signaling. That said, if you want to rule out a placebo effect, you could pursue a gut assay via a kit that involves mailing in a stool sample. The stool sample is analyzed and a microbial profile is created for your particular gut to highlight pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and parasites.
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Characteristics Of The Study Population
A total of 105 subjects: 35 patients and 70 control subjects were enrolled. The healthy control population constituted of two distinct groups: 35 patients relatives without CFS/ME and 35 healthy subjects not belonging to the patients families . Twenty-six CFS/ME patients were females and 9 were males, with a mean age of 46.4±16.1 years and a Body mass Index of 23.1±4.4. Twenty-five patients claimed gastrointestinal disturbances and 11 of them showed IBS comorbidity. The majority of patients suffered from post-exertional malaise. Patients relatives had a mean age of 54.4±15.9 years and a BMI of 25.5±5. Sixteen relatives were females and 19 males. The control group included 26 females and 9 males, with a mean age of 55.2±18 years and a BMI of 23.5±4.7. Seven patients relatives reported gastrointestinal symptoms, while only two relatives showed post-exertional malaise. No external controls and patients relatives reported IBS diagnosis. All participants were Caucasian, followed an omnivorous diet and belonged to the same geographical area . No one was a smoker. CFS subjects completed the Chalder Fatigue scale and the MOS SF-36 Health Survey .
Table 1 Characteristics of study population.
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Probiotic Therapy Knocks Down Inflammation In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Gut bacteria are a hot topic in medical circles right now, but few studies have assessed their impact on chronic fatigue syndrome . This Irish and Swiss study asked if inflammation was present in ME/CFS, and if it was, if a single gut bacteria could reduce it. The answers were yes, and yes.
The answers, with some provisos, were yes, and yes.
Dosage Of Probiotics For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Probiotics dosage depends on the product and the type of bacteria used. Of the two studies that have investigated the efficacy of probiotics in ME/CFS, one utilised a dose of 24 billion colony forming units of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota and the other used 108 colony forming units /ml of the strains Lactobacillus, L. acidophilus and B. lactis twice daily.
For lactobacilli, the general dosage may be in the range of 1-20 billion colony forming units per day. For yeast, the dose is 250-500 mg.
Harvard Health Publications reports the recommended dosage is 1-10 billion colony forming units several days per week.
It takes about 1-2 months to observe benefits of probiotics supplementation in chronic fatigue syndrome.
Probiotics can be obtained from foods as well such as yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, soy drinks, tempeh, etc.
Note: Symptoms and severity of ME/CFS differ with every individual. This may influence the efficacy and use of dietary supplements and herbs. Consult a health practitioner before taking probiotics supplements.
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Did Probiotics Cure My Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
by Carol Wolf | Jan 7, 2016 | Gut, Homepage, Treatment |
Thanks to Carol for allowing Health Rising to post her startling recovery story. Please note that were at the very early stages of understanding how probiotics may help people with chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia. The trillions of bacteria present in the guts of the very heterogeneous ME/CFS and FM communities present much opportunity for variability. Warning: while Carol did very well taking large numbers of probiotics some people with ME/CFS/FM can be sensitive to even small amounts of probiotics.
Role Of Gut Microbiota And Probiotic In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Abstract:
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a combination of complex illness characterized by tiredness or intense fatigue that may worsen with too much exertion. Among the wide range of neuropsychological symptoms, 97% CFS patients have been reported with neuronal disorders such as headaches and symptoms in the emotional realm.
Patients with CFS also show noticeable alterations in microflora, lowering level of LactobacilliandBifidobacterium.
Recent researches explain that probiotics in the gastrointestinal tract can greatly influence the neuronal pathways and central nervous system to modulate behavior.
Various studies expressed the benefit of probiotic therapy in normalizing fatigue patients and also restored mitochondrial electron transport function in patients with CFS.
In this chapter, we provided a historical skeleton, bidirectional communication pathophysiology, selection criteria of probiotics, CFS treatment, and clinical implications of gutbrain connections. In summary, various aspects concerning the potential and safety of probiotics in the management of chronic fatigue syndrome are discussed in this chapter.
: Sharma A., Wakode S., Sharma S., Fayaz F. Role of Gut Microbiota and Probiotic in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In: Kaur I.P., Deol P.K., Sandhu S.K. Probiotic Research in Therapeutics. Springer, Singapore.
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How To Choose A Probiotic
By taking advantage of probiotic benefits, you can help heal your leaky gut AND your chronic fatigue symptoms. But with literally thousands of probiotics on the market now, it can be nearly impossible to choose. To get the most benefit, look for a high potency probiotic with billions, rather than millions, of microorganisms. Ideally, you want to purchase the highest quality, most potent probiotic you can afford, one which uses human-sourced strains of both lactobacilli and bifidobacteria and has been proven to survive the harsh conditions of the stomach.
Fixing your digestion and improving the health of your gut is absolutely essential for total health and for healing from fatigue. But gut health is not the only factor that causes fatigue.
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Simrén M, Abrahamsson H, Svedlund J, Björnsson ES. Quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome seen in referral centers versus primary care: the impact of gender and predominant bowel pattern. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2001 May 36:545-52.
Lakhan SE, Kirchgessner A. Gut inflammation in chronic fatigue syndrome. Nutr Metab . 2010 Oct 12 7:79.
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