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The object of this article was to compare the efficacy of probiotics for the prevention of AAD based on the published randomized, controlled clinical trials using meta-analyses, three types of probiotics (Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, and probiotic.) the trials were included where specific probiotics for either prevention or treatment were the diseases of interest. Thirty-one of 180 screened studies (totally 3,164 subjects) met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. One reviewer identified studies and abstracted data on sample size, population characteristics, treatments, and outcomes. From 25 trials, probiotics significantly reduced the relative use of AAD. The authors concluded that a variety of different types of probiotics presently look promising as effective therapies.

The study that covered the topic most thoroughly was the one by Saavedra, J.M. (2001), which covered not only the present situation with probiotics, but also looked at such topics as intestinal flora, lactose malabsorption, diarrhea, bacteria vs. viruses, atopic disease, and clinical safety and tolerance. In order to better understand the place that probiotics has in today's modern-day society, it is worthwhile to have a background such as the one offered here. On a whole, the rest of studies were comparable, because they were all meta-analyses and dealt with looking at the results of several studies over time. Of interest, of course, is the fact that not one of these articles found that probiotics does not help the side effects of taking antibiotics. As was mentioned, additional studies need to be done on dose, agent, length time taken, and so forth. Of course, it would be very helpful that the normal diet would change enough that these probiotics were not necessary.

Probiotics are clearly found to be helpful for acute diarrhea, particularly in infants. It also may be the case that probiotics has a prophylactic effect to decrease the degree of illness when taken regularly, the effect of which appears to be greater in high-risk populations. The documented therapeutic effects include decreases shorter episodes or severity of illness. Probiotic agents also appear promising for the management of other diseases such as colitis, atopic disease, and other gut conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease. It also may be the case that in the future people will continue to consume friendly bacteria even when they are not on antibiotics. This would help return the body back thousands of years when the diet was much better, be a major benefit of warding off serious diseases such as colon cancer, and greatly help the immune system as well as cut down on stomach problems, such as gas, bloating and diarrhea. In the long run, the amount of antibiotics needed by the general population would also decrease.