Prophylactic Effects of Kefir-Fermented Milk on Constipation among Mentally and Physically Handicapped Persons

Abstract

Constipation is one of the most serious problems concerning the care of mentally and physically handicapped people in nursing homes in Japan. The major causes of constipation are related to their physical abnormality. Therefore, Glycerol Enema (GE) is used to treat constipation. However, the administration of GE not only causes mental and physical stresses to handicapped people but also causes physical damage to nurses. Therefore, we explored whether the probiotic effect of Kefir-fermented milk can prevent constipation. We selected eleven participants, who have suffered from severe constipation. They did not show Bowel Movements (BMs) without the administration of GE. Kefir was taken three times a day for three months, and the numbers of BM and GE were investigated. Here, we found that four of the eleven participants showed improvement in BMs without the administration of GE. This study was carried out with the highly limited number of subjects, our results implicated that the adding of Kefir to the daily diet of handicapped people might have benefit for constipation prophylaxis. For future, we must investigate with the larger number of subjects to understand the effect of Kefir for preventing constipation. Even though further investigation is required, our study suggests that to add the oral intake of Kefir would contribute to the reduction of the physical labor of nurses spending much time and effort for the administration of GE, and also contribute to an increase in the quality of life for handicapped people.

Therapeutic effect of lyophilized, Kefir‐fermented milk on constipation among persons with mental and physical disabilities

“…The individuals in whom kefir was effective showed almost complete relief of constipation, whereas those in whom kefir was ineffective showed no effect. The same tendency was observed in the authors’ previous study, which found that kefir had no effect on the bowel movements in unresponsive individuals (Ino et al , ). Thus, a limitation of this strategy is that kefir’s probiotic effect of preventing constipation shows individual variation.…”

“…In the current hospital, nine individuals, including three from the previous study (Ino et al, 2014), experienced the complete relief of constipation in response to the oral kefir intake. This reduces the physical labor of nurses who are required to administer GEs and increases their work efficiency, allowing them time to perform other tasks.…”

“…One of the most effective regimens to date has been the oral intake of kefir‐fermented milk. A previous examination of kefir’s probiotic effects in 11 individuals with severe constipation showed that three experienced a complete relief of constipation, whereas the other eight experienced no effect (Ino et al , ). None of the three individuals who previously had experienced the complete relief of constipation participated in this study.…”

“…To overcome these problems, many efforts have been made to reduce or prevent constipation; for example, by dietary regimens, including dietary fiber and herbal teas. One of the most effective regimens to date has been the oral intake of kefir‐fermented milk (Ino, Matsukawa, Yamaoka, Hanada, & Fujii, ). The merit of this scheme is in its reduction of the administration of laxatives and GEs.…”

Fermented Foods: Definitions and Characteristics, Impact on the Gut Microbiota and Effects on Gastrointestinal Health and Disease

“…Several non-randomised studies have also explored the impact of kefir in constipation [58,59,60] (Table 2). A non-randomised cross-over study in 42 hospitalised patients with constipation and mental and physical disabilities showed that 6 g of lyophilized kefir had no impact on laxative use, stool consistency and stool volume compared to control powdered milk, however the number of patients not requiring any laxatives was higher 12 weeks following the kefir intervention compared to baseline (Table 2) [59].…”