In today’s fast paced media-driven world, consumers encounter tens of thousands of words and concepts daily, many of which have implied definitions.  However, in situations such as the health industry, using the implied definition is simply not enough.  For example, many consumers misunderstand and misuse the terms antibiotic and probiotic.  These terms are appearing more and more often in print, online and commercial advertising, without providing consumers with concise definitions.  Although the two words look very similar, in reality they are two very different concepts. If we simply break down the two words we are left with three main parts; anti – meaning "against", pro – meaning "for", and biotic – meaning "having to do with life or living organisms"; but there is much more to their definitions than just the meanings of these three components.

In the health industry, antibiotics are drugs that are used to treat bacterial infections.  Most of these antibiotics are derived from bacteria or molds and either kill the intended bacterial target or stop them from reproducing.  This allows the body’s natural immune defenses to take over and remove them from the body.  However, it is important to realize that one antibiotic does not treat all types of bacterial infections.  For this reason, doctors and veterinarians prescribe a specific antibiotic for the specific type of bacterial infection that their patient has.  Yes, that means that penicillin is not a magical cure all, and most often your doctor or veterinarian will prescribe a different antibiotic.  Most importantly, when a doctor or veterinarian prescribes an antibiotic make sure to follow their directions, (continue to take the medicine) even if improvements are seen.  If the dosage directions are not followed, the antibiotics will not be in the system for enough time to make a full recovery, and most often a relapse infection will occur.

On the other hand, probiotics by definition are organisms that contribute to the overall health of the digestive track.  Sometimes you will hear people refer to probiotics as “friendly”, “beneficial”, or “good” bacteria, which are an easy way to remember the difference between these bacteria and bacteria that cause diseases and infections.  Naturally, all organisms have probiotics in their digestive systems, most of which line the digestive system’s walls.   Newborn individuals get their first probiotics from their mothers’ milk. However, to improve the amount of beneficial bacteria in one’s digestive system, there is a wide array of products available on the market for both human and animal use.  A good example of a widely used probiotic is Lactobacillus acidophilus, which is most commonly found in yogurt, but now can be found in many supplements.  There are many other strains of bacteria that are probiotics, and specific probiotics have different uses and benefits.  That is why you may see multiple types of bacteria in a probiotic product. Using probiotic supplements is a great idea because they can be used to administer a large number of the beneficial bacteria, which then can effectively colonize the digestive system.  The more probiotic organisms that colonize the lining of the digestive system means that there are fewer spaces for bad bacteria to infect.

When looking at these definitions, it may appear that antibiotics work against probiotics, but most this isn’t the case exactly.  If you remember, most antibiotics treat a specific bacteria or bacterial infection, so taking an antibiotic will not kill all the bacteria in a digestive system, but it will kill a portion of the beneficial gut flora…  However, one problem for many that is associated with taking an antibiotic is antibiotic-associated diarrhea. This may be true for both humans and animals taking antibiotics.  This is why using a probiotic in association with taking an antibiotic is especially beneficial, because taking probiotics can help prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea and other related antibiotic health issues.  To help keep everyone healthy, human and animals alike, find a probiotic and keep it handy for use in association with antibiotics, or better yet – start a daily probiotic regimen for even better results!

If you are interested in finding out more about the role of probiotics ask your doctor or veterinarian, or read some of these articles:  Probiotics 101, such as “What are Probiotics”, “The Benefits of Probiotics”, as well as others.