Intestinal dysbacteriosis in children.

Treatment of dysbacteriosis. The main causes of intestinal dysbacteriosis in children:

The use of antibiotics, late attachment of the child to the mother's breast, early transfer to artificial feeding.

Causes of intestinal dysbacteriosis in children:the use of antibiotics, late breastfeeding, early transition to artificial feeding, acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases, treatment with immunosuppressants, radiation therapy; environmental problems (industrial poisons, heavy metals, pesticides, radiation), stress, frequent colds, passive inhalation of tobacco smoke, malnutrition.

Intestinal dysbacteriosis in children. Symptoms.
In young children, regurgitation, vomiting, bad breath, a decrease in the rate of weight gain, anxiety, and sleep disturbances are observed. The stool may be copious, thin or mushy, frothy, with white lumps, greenish with a sour or putrid odor.
The pain is paroxysmal in nature, appears 2-3 hours after eating, accompanied by bloating, rumbling, urge to defecate.
In case of intestinal absorption disorders, the clinical picture is dominated by diarrhea with putrefactive fermentation, steatorrhea, flatulence, weight loss, symptoms of polyhypovitaminosis. Intolerance to many food ingredients and a toxic-dystrophic state may develop. The pathological process involves the hepatobiliary system and the pancreas, there is a deficiency of enzymes and bile acids. All this closes the vicious circle of metabolic processes in the body. Macromolecules of incompletely digested food accumulate, which become allergens and cause allergic dermatosis.
Older children may have persistent constipation, unstable stools, intestinal colic, hyper- and hypomotor dyskinesias of the intestines. Children complain of a feeling of fullness in the stomach, belching. Appetite decreases. With long-term and persistently recurrent intestinal dysbacteriosis, intoxication and astheno-neurotic syndromes develop.
Violations of the intestinal microflora, sometimes pronounced, are not necessarily accompanied by clinical symptoms.
The most severe is the so-called widespread dysbacteriosis, when microbes are carried from the intestines throughout the body, causing inflammation in many organs. For example, a fungal disease (candidomycosis) can simultaneously cause thrush, sore throat, damage to the gastrointestinal tract and pneumonia. Dysbacteriosis sometimes proceeds imperceptibly, without the described vivid symptoms. But at the same time, frequent morbidity, decreased appetite, and a lag in weight from peers are still observed. Such a course is called latent (hidden).

Prevention and measures to eliminate intestinal dysbacteriosis include:

1. Early attachment of the child to the mother's breast (within half an hour after birth), as well as prolonged breastfeeding for 1-1.5 years. On the first or second day, the intestines of the newborn are sterile, and then it begins to be populated by the intestinal flora. When colonized by harmful flora, dysbacteriosis occurs. The child is discharged from the hospital with a large weight loss. At home, parents notice that he has very frequent stools, sometimes after each feed. When feeding, the baby first greedily grabs the nipple, and then suddenly starts screaming, arching, refusing the breast, although the mother knows that he is hungry. And in some children, the opposite picture is observed: constipation, the child can recover only with the help of an enema. Constipation is the result of breast milk being poorly digested.
An interesting fact has been noticed: the later the newborn is attached to the breast, the more likely he is to get dysbacteriosis. Therefore, for the natural prevention of dysbacteriosis, early attachment of the newborn to the breast is recommended, which also stimulates the flow of milk from his mother, i.e. prevents hypogalactia (lack of milk)
2. Prophylactic administration of Lactusan to pregnant women. The fact is that the treatment of dysbacteriosis is difficult and lengthy, so it is better to start with the prevention of this condition even before the birth of the baby. Observations have shown that in mothers before childbirth, the number of very useful bifidumbacteria increases in the intestines. The meaning of prevention is to prevent the sterilization of beneficial flora in the intestines of a pregnant woman.
During pregnancy, it is necessary to refuse the use of drugs, especially antibiotics, if possible. Proper nutrition is very important. It should have a lot of vitamins. During pregnancy, juices, fruits, berries are recommended (forest ones are especially useful, which a person has not yet poisoned with nitrogen-containing fertilizers). At this time, it is better to refuse food that is difficult to digest (fatty meats, cakes, smoked meats) or prepared with the addition of nitrates (sausage, sausages), or is an allergen for some (fish, chocolate, cocoa). By the beginning of pregnancy, it is necessary to try to treat all chronic foci of infection in the teeth, in the nasopharynx, in the genitourinary and digestive systems. During pregnancy, a woman should walk a lot, not get tired. Birth injuries often occur in nervous, poorly physically developed women suffering from various diseases.
3. Healthy lifestyle. Daily walks in the air, exercise, water treatments (rubbing, contrast showers). Water procedures always improve the condition of the child, and also have a hardening effect. They stimulate the body's defenses, and this is the most necessary thing for dysbacteriosis.
4. Balanced diet. For normal bowel function, it is necessary to include foods containing dietary fiber in the daily menu: cereals, vegetables, fruits. Useful such cereals: buckwheat, oatmeal, barley, millet, rye.
Bread should also be present in the child's diet. It is desirable that it be slightly dried, bread from different cereals, containing bran.
A sufficient amount of vegetables and fruits should be in the child's daily menu. It is good to cook vegetable stew for a child from different vegetables, with the addition of beans, peas. And do not forget to add various vegetable oils to vegetables.
For children older than a year, it is advisable to include berry jelly, fruit compotes, rosehip broth in the diet.
Fermented milk products provide good bowel function. But one should not hurry with the introduction of kefir and yogurt in the first year of a child's life. The most optimal food for a child in the first year of life is breast milk. On artificial feeding, he receives milk formula.
We should not forget about cottage cheese - a source of protein and calcium. But it should be used within reasonable limits in accordance with the age of the baby.
Do not give a child who has dysbacteriosis sauerkraut, cucumbers and fried potatoes (replace it with any porridge).
4. Treatment of dysbacteriosis
Treatment of the child himself must begin with the appointment of the right diet. For infants, breastfeeding must be maintained at all costs. If completely impossible, then at least partially.
For older children, it is necessary to adjust the diet as described above.
For the treatment of dysbacteriosis, it is necessary, first of all, to provide the protective microflora of the intestine (bifidus and lactobacilli) with advantages over pathogenic bacteria, that is, to provide useful microflora with the energy necessary for its growth and vital activity. The drug Lactusan - effectively copes with this task.
Mechanism of action of Lactusan
The active substance of Lactusan is lactulose, a well-known disaccharide that does not break down in the upper sections of the gastrointestinal tract and reaches the large intestine unchanged.
Here, lactulose (Lactusan) acts as a food substrate for the saccharolytic (normal) microflora, selectively stimulating its growth and vital activity.
Lactusan safety and dosage.
Lactusan refers to over-the-counter drugs. Lactusan is available in syrup.
Recommendations for the use of Laktusan syrup for dysbacteriosis: for adults, 2 teaspoons of syrup 2 times a day; children from 3 years old - 1 teaspoon per day, children from 1 to 3 years old - 0.5-1 teaspoon per day.
Lactulose (the active substance of Lactusan) has been known to doctors for over 40 years. In no study, during the entire period of use of lactulose, no direct or indirect evidence of the presence of mutagenic, genotoxic or teratogenic effects was obtained.
Lactulose does not penetrate into the bloodstream and does not have a systemic effect on the body. Safe for pregnant women and newborns. Being a sugar, lactulose does not increase blood glucose and may be indicated in diabetes.