| Probiotics, which means "for life," have been used for centuries as natural components in health-promoting foods. The original observation of the positive role played by certain bacteria was first introduced by Russian scientist and Nobel laureate Eli Metchnikoff, who in the beginning of the 20th century suggested that it would be possible to modify the gut flora and to replace harmful microbes by useful microbes.
Researchers Say Soviets Took Probiotics to the Next Level
During the Cold War Era of
the 1960s, Russian researchers were looking for ways to
support the immune system in conditions running the gamut
from cancer to bio-warfare agents. Eastern Europeans, with a
cultural love of fermented milk products, logically looked
to probiotics, or lactobacillus, for immune support because
it was safe, cheap and effective. A Bulgarian researcher and medical doctor, Dr. Ivan
Bogdanov, researched lactobacillus bacteria in the 1960s.
Bogdanov believed that specific strains of probiotics could
have anti-tumor properties.
The doctor's research team injected mice with a sarcoma
cancer, then administered a crude mixture of cell fragments
from a strain of Lactobacillus delbrukii. Bogdanov observed
that the cancer disappeared within a few days. Subsequently,
researchers attempted to re-grow cancer in the same mice,
but without success - the mice seemed immune to the cancer
cells.
In the 1970s, a Soviet-owned biotech company, Enzymes Ltd.,
worked on developing products for protection against
bio-warfare agents such as anthrax. The researchers
discovered that not only did probiotic cell fragments
support healthy immune function - they offered protection
from radiation sickness and cell damage.
"We used a lactobacillus cell fragments after Chernobyl,
conducting experimental work on animals exposed to
radiation, then later on humans," said Dr. Luba Shynkarenko,
former dean of the Institute of Biotechnology at the
National Technical University in Kiev, Ukraine. Shynkarenko
also worked for Enzymes, Ltd. in 1986 at the time of the
Chernobyl accident.
"We found the cell fragments provided protection from
radiation cell damage, and also anti-mutagenic activity,
which meant the genetic material was protected from
radiation. The main damage of radiation is destruction of
the bone marrow cells and genetic damage that causes
cellular mutation," she said.
American-made Del-Immune V is the first probiotic
cell-fragment immune support products available in the U.S.
market. This is a direct descendant of Shynkarenko's
Chernobyl research, and is now being used by doctors and health practitioners in all 50 states.
"I find this product of significant value for treating
patients with chronic disease, where someone has been ill
for a period of time with infectious agents and
micro-organisms. It has a restorative effect on the immune
system after damage from malnutrition, stress and
infection," said Dr. Roger Mazlen of Roslyn, N.Y. Dr. Mazlen
added that he has successfully used the product in over 500
patients with no contra-indications or side effects.
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2008 by AlternativeApproaches.com
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