Dannon gives presentation on probiotics to geriatric organization

WASHINGTON Dannon on Thursday reported that its presentation of the potential for probiotics in geriatric health and disease was presented to annual-meeting attendees of the The American Geriatrics Society, noting that probiotics can play positive roles in immune function, intestinal disorders, inflammation and cancer in older adults.

At the symposium, delivered Wednesday evening, John Morley of Saint Louis University School of Medicine led a panel of speakers concerning the benefits from specific “friendly” bacteria in older adults and their use in clinical applications.

There will be approximately 2 billion people over the age of 60 by 2050, noted Simin Meydani, associate director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University. As we age, there is impairment of all of the different arms of immune function, he said, with the most significant problem that older people face being a higher incidence of morbidity or mortality from infectious diseases because they are lacking a proper immune function.