By Jennifer Huget
You're finally taking that long-dreamed-of trip to Mexico, and one thing's for sure: You don't want a bout of diarrhea to force you off the beach or out of the ruins. So you pack your Pepto-Bismol and your hand sanitizer. Should you also stash a supply of helpful bacteria? Maybe.
The jury's out as to whether probiotics -- "pro" for good, "biotics" for microscopic living organisms -- can help ward off travelers' diarrhea, or TD, which affects 20 percent or more of travelers to developing countries, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
TD, like many domestic forms of diarrhea, occurs when pathogenic (bad) bacteria, parasites or viruses enter the digestive system. They upset the balance of "flora," or naturally occurring bacteria, in the gut; as the bad bacteria overcome the good guys, you get sick.
TD is characterized by four or more loose or watery bowel movements in a day; it can be accompanied by cramps, nausea, fever and other un-vacation-friendly symptoms. Most cases are caused by eating food or drinking water infected with such pathogens as E. coli. A traveler's risk of getting TD depends largely on his destination. Developed nations = low risk, underdeveloped countries = higher risk. The whole mess usually runs its course in a couple of days. But those days can seem very long indeed, especially when they're cutting into your touring time.
In theory, populating your gut with healthy bacteria or yeasts can help combat those disease-causing organisms. The notion has gained currency in recent decades in the world of alternative medicine and even in mainstream commerce, where products such as Dannon's new Activia yogurt, enhanced with probiotics, are proliferating like happy bacteria. But although science has begun to establish probiotics' utility in treating some maladies, including varieties of diarrhea caused by antibiotic use and those associated with Crohn's disease, nobody has quite demonstrated that popping probiotics while traveling can keep the runs on the run.
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