Prevention and treatment of diarrhoea with Saccharomyces boulardii in children with acute lower respiratory tract infections

The aim of this study was to determine whether Saccharomyces boulardii prevents and treats diarrhoea and antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (AAD) in children. A total of 333 hospitalised children with acute lower respiratory tract infection were enrolled in a 2-phase open randomised controlled trial. During the 1st phase, all children received intravenous antibiotics (AB). They were randomly allocated to group A (S. boulardii 500 mg/day + AB, n=167) or group B (AB alone, n=166) and followed for 2 weeks. Diarrhoea was defined as ≥3 loose/watery stools/day during at least 2 days, occurring during treatment and/or up to 2 weeks after AB therapy had stopped. AAD was considered when diarrhoea was caused by Clostridium difficile or when stool cultures remained negative. In the 2nd phase of the study, group B patients who developed diarrhoea were randomly allocated to two sub-groups: group B1 (S. boulardii + oral rehydration solution (ORS)) and group B2 (ORS alone). Data from 283 patients were available for analysis. Diarrhoea prevalence was lower in group A than in group B (11/139 (7.9%) vs. 42/144 (29.2%); relative risk (RR): 0.27, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1-0.5). S. boulardii reduced the risk of AAD (6/139 (4.3%) vs. 28/144 (19.4%); RR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.1-0.5). When group B patients developed diarrhoea (n=42), S. boulardii treatment during 5 days (group B1) resulted in lower stool frequency (P<0.05) and higher recovery rate (91.3% in group B1 vs. 21.1% in B2; P<0.001). The mean duration of diarrhoea in group B1 was shorter (2.31±0.95 vs. 8.97±1.07 days; P<0.001). No adverse effects related to S. boulardii were observed. S. boulardii appeared to be effective in the prevention and treatment of diarrhoea and AAD in children treated with intravenous antibiotics.

EEG characteristics of healthy adults living at higher elevations

EEG data from 400 healthy adult volunteers in the Xining area (with an altitude of 2260 meters) are summarized to show changes in indices of waves, frequencies and amplitude. Analysis and observations were made for tests of eyes open-close, acoustic stimulation and hyperventilation. Differences in EEGs were compared between males and females of various age groups, and between adults living at the higher elevations in Xining and those living on the plains in the Beijing area (altitude 40 meters). Comparisons showed that EEG characteristics of healthy adults at the higher altitude were: an increase in the incidence of abnormality, a decrease of alpha indices, an increase in the number of slow waves, the appearance of spikes and sharp waves, and a reduction in the level of sensitivity to activation tests.

EEG characteristics of healthy adults in plateaus

This paper covers the EEG data of 400 adult cases in Xining area (where the altitude is 2,260 meters), with a lot of statistics of the changes in the indexes of waves, frequencies and amplitude. And, analysis and observation were made in the tests of open-close eyes, acoustic stimulation and hyperventilation. Besides, we compared the differences of EEG between males and females of different age, and between adults living on the plateau and those living in the plain of Beijing area. We found that the EEG of healthy adults on the plateau showed the following characteristics: increase of abnormal rate, decrease of alpha indexes, increase of the number of slow waves, appearance of spike and sharp waves, and reduction of the level of sensitivity in evoked tests.