probiotics in gastroenterology

Probiotics,which translates from the Greek as "for life",have been conceptually recognized for over 100 years and these agents are widely used,even prescribed by physicians,in the community with the emergency of observations linking the gastrointestinal microbiota to various states of health and disease,interest in the use of probiotics as medical interventions has increased.Probiotics are defined as "live micro-organisms which,when administered in adequate amounts,confer a health benefit on the host".unfortunately,it is often not clear how much health benefit is actually conferred.(by DR.Saleem Qureshi)