'A holistic approach to women's intimate health; why issues arise and how probiotics can support' sponsored by OptiBac Probiotics

To access the PDF version of the slides, click here.

To see the IHCAN Conference Webinars we have coming up, click here.

Questions and Answers

Any advice for interstitial cystitis?
Can probiotics help cases of interstitial cystitis?

As discussed in the webinar this product is well researched for Urinary Tract Infections. However, interstitial cystitis is a more chronic presentation of the condition and the product was not clinically trialled for use by IC sufferers. Interstitial cystitis is an inflammatory bladder condition which may share similar symptoms with bacterial infections, but typically, no pathogenic infection is found and this is why treatment with antibiotics is usually ineffective.

‘For women’ certainly improves the integrity of the vaginal flora which is always a good thing for ladies, as this delicate balance of bacteria is vital for good genito-urinary health and protection from infection, though other factors are believed to be involved in the pathophysiology of interstitial cystitis.

That being said, we currently have a few customers who have opted to try it for IC and see if it helps. Feedback so far is positive and the product is well tolerated. Whilst not much research has been done in this area, there seems to be a wealth of anecdotal evidence to suggest that taking probiotics may be helpful when trying to support this condition holistically. This may be due to the potential anti-inflammatory effects of probiotics; there is some evidence to suggest that taking probiotics may help to reduce inflammation in the body. For more about this, see some of our blogs on this subject – simply type ‘Inflammation’ into the Search field on our website to bring up the latest articles on this subject: Search – Inflammation

Can probiotics support vaginal dryness after menopause – a common problem I see with clients who then struggle with intercourse?

One of the causes for vaginal dryness when perimenopausal or menopausal is the drop in oestrogen levels. Oestrogen actually stimulates the production of the vaginal epithelial cells, and its production of glycogen. This glycogen is then broken down into glucose, which in turn is metabolized by healthy levels of vaginal lactobacilli and produces hydrogen peroxide which leads to control of growth of any invading vaginal pathogens. So a natural drop in oestrogen therefore leads to the epithelial cells producing less glycogen, which is potential ‘food’ for the lactobacilli to thrive, reproduce and produce hydrogen peroxide which both keeps the pH at the right balance and inhibits pathogens that might inflame the area.

There is no specific research behind ‘For women’ for vaginal dryness, however it follows that taking a maintenance dose will keep the levels of lactobacilli at a more optimum levels despite oestrogen and glycogen levels being lower than necessary. We have good anecdotal evidence from women who have taken this product and have found a reduction or even disappearance in vaginal dryness.

Therefore taking ‘For women’ together with other aspects of maintaining vaginal health – such as reducing soaps and perfumed products, and possibly looking at other natural supplements such as Sea buckthorn (omega 7) could form part of a protocol to help contribute to reducing vaginal dryness.

What research is there on the bioavailability of the probiotics to the vagina?

Probiotics don’t need to be bioavailable as such, as they are not absorbed into the body systemically. However, as covered in the webinar, the research shows that when women took the probiotics orally, they were subsequently found in swabs taken from the vagino-urinary tract. This shows that Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 travel from the gut to where they are needed to have an effect locally in the vagina, where they colonise. It is thought that they travel through the digestive tract, across the perineum and then adhere to the vaginal epithelium and colonise there.

The research referred to in the webinar was Gardiner et al 2002a, Gardiner et al 2002b, Morelli et al. 2004, Burton et al. 2003, and Cadieux et al. 2004 on slide 18.

Can you take the probiotics for Candida and the probiotics for BV together safely?

Absolutely. Probiotics are natural products and you can take combinations of them, and indeed this is sometimes even necessary. The products ‘For every day EXTRA Strength’, ‘Saccharomyces boulardii’ and ‘For women’ is a combination that we often recommend. This probiotic combination works well to rebalance both the digestive system as well as the vagino-urinary at the same time preventing reinfection.

Should probiotics always follow from Colonic irrigation?

We would recommend taking a well-researched probiotic after colonic irrigation to boost levels of healthy bacteria following this deep cleanse. However, we would not recommend ‘For women’ for this. ‘For every day EXTRA Strength’ would be an appropriate probiotic to take for this.

I seem to be getting thrush every month, I have tried this product plus regular treatment but to no avail. Any other suggestions?

Firstly, I am wondering if you have been checked by the doctor and diagnosed accurately. BV can sometimes be confused as thrush. BV also has a different allopathic treatment to thrush as in it needs to be treated with antibiotics. As the research shows, ‘For women’ work almost as well as antibiotics, and results are even better when ‘For women’ are taken alongside antibiotics. So this may be worth checking.

My second thought is whether you are looking at using a probiotic gut protocol at the same time as taking ‘For women’? As discussed towards the end of the webinar, this is something that we do recommend if you suspect candida or gut dysbiosis as obviously having this in the gut can re-infect the vaginal area. Please do drop me a line if you’d like to discuss this further.

Do you recommend testing prior to selecting probiotic or is ‘for women’ useful regardless of bacterial imbalance?

‘For women’ is a natural product and keeps the natural balance of bacteria and pH in the genito-urinary tract healthy.  Whether or not it is necessary to take if the vaginal microbial balance is healthy is questionable and probably down to the individual situation. Looking at the number of causes for vaginal imbalance there is certainly a case for taking it at certain times such as when hormones are changing or when changing sexual partner. It can certainly be taken just to maintain optimal health in the same way that you might take a gut probiotic to do this. It may however not be necessary if the women is in optimal health but this is really down to the individual.

What do you do if your client is taking immunosuppressants for asthma and gets chronic UTI’s what would you recommend?

This is a tricky one as we do not recommend probiotics when on immunosuppressants without a discussion with the consultant first. However, clearly this product could be of help to reduce the severity of the UTI. I would in this case suggest a conversation with the consultant as some people’s immunity can be very vulnerable when on this medication, whereas others can be overall in a healthy place and therefore taking a probiotic appropriate.