Complementary, supplemental therapies for skin problems
Introduction
Eczema is a long term skin condition with rough and inflamed patches of skin as an itchy red rash that can become infected. It affects children and adults and is often called dermatitis and can be associated with allergies.
The itching and scratching can be severe enough to cause sleep disturbance and impact on everyday life. The rash can be unsightly and cause problems with tasks such as housework, gardening and food preparation. There is no cure for eczema and treatments such as soothing ointments (emollients) and corticosteroid creams are used to control symptoms recommended, and there are many other options. Applying the treatments can be time consuming and expensive.
| Healthcare condition | Intervention | About the findings |
|---|---|---|
| Eczema | Probiotics | 12 trials |
We present some of the evidence from Cochrane systematic reviews about complementary and alternative treatments related to skin disorders. This evidence comes from carefully researched reviews of information about clinical trials done to evaluate medical treatments. Studies are only included in these reviews if they meet pre-defined criteria.
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Probiotics for eczema
Eczema is a long term skin condition with rough and inflamed patches of skin as an itchy red rash that can become infected. It affects children and adults and is often called dermatitis and can be associated with allergies.
The itching and scratching can be severe enough to cause sleep disturbance and impact on everyday life. The rash can be unsightly and cause problems with tasks such as housework, gardening and food preparation. There is no cure for eczema and treatments such as soothing ointments (emollients) and corticosteroid creams are used to control symptoms recommended, and there are many other options. Applying the treatments can be time consuming and expensive.
Because people with eczema have different bacteria in their gut than others without eczema, and the gut may be inflamed, taking probiotics to change the gut (intestinal) bacteria may be effective. Probiotics stimulate the growth of ‘good’ bacteria and are taken by mouth, possibly as unpasteurised milk or yoghurt.
What the synthesised research says
Overall, probiotics were not effective in reducing symptom scores or eczema severity. The different controlled trials had varying results.
How it was tested
The researchers made a thorough search of the medical literature and found 12 controlled trials that randomly assigned 781 children with eczema to receive a probiotic or not. In 11 of these studies a Lactobacillus species, either alone or in combination with other probiotic bacteria, was used.
The severity of symptoms such as itching and sleep loss was measured on a visual scale.
The trials had very different results with no clear overall difference in participant or parent-rated symptom scores between the probiotics and control groups (5 trials, 313 children). Findings were similar when the investigators rated eczema severity (7 trials, 588 participants).
Age of participant, severity of eczema, and whether the children had allergies did not appear to influence the findings.
Side effects and general cautions
While there was no evidence found that probiotic treatment changed eczema symptoms, the confidence intervals for the findings are wide and the trials had very different results. The methodological quality of the studies was mixed.
Probiotics are generally considered to be safe. Four of the included trials reported adverse events, with no significant difference between the probiotics and control groups. Probiotics have been reported in the medical literature to cause sepsis (infection in the bloodstream) and insufficient blood supply to the bowel (ischaemia) in critically ill patients but the risk of these is unlikely for most people.
Source
Boyle RJ, Bath-Hextall FJ, Leonardi-Bee J, Murrell DF, Tang MLK. Probiotics for treating eczema. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD006135. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006135.pub2.
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