Page 92
The Willner Window Product Reference Catalog, Spring, 2013
since 1911
• Willner Chemists •
the nutritional supplement professionals
Essential Formulas
that women in particular reported a benefi-
cial effect on energy levels following supple-
mentation with the multivitamin.
In addition, the researchers reported a
trend towards better sleep in the multivita-
min group, compared with placebo.
Regarding mood and emotional state,
15.1% more participants in the multivitamin
group reported improvements, compared
with the placebo group. This difference was
statistically significant, said Sarris and his co-
workers.
"Overall the exploratory experiential data
provided by the participants was found to
reflect the general findings of previous quan-
titative trial data; multivitamin supplementa-
tion may be associated with appreciable
mood enhancement and increases in energy
even in a normal, non-depressed and non-
anxious population. . .”.
How did they prevent the participants from
knowing whether they were taking the place-
bo or the real multivitamin? “The placebo
tablets were the same size and colour as the
[multivitamin] tablets and contained starch
and a small amount of riboflavin (2mg)
designed to give a similar smell and coloura-
tion of the urine.”
Methods: Semi-structured and open-ended
written questions were incorporated into a
16-week double-blind, randomised, placebo-
controlled, parallel groups trial of once-daily
multivitamin administration. At the final study
visit (week 16), three open-ended questions
were posed to elucidate any positive, nega-
tive or unusual experiences from taking
either the multivitamin or matched placebo. .
. Participant’s experiences were categorised
as “positive” or “negative” and a Chi Square
analysis was then applied to each of the
experiential themes, to compare experiences
between the multivitamin and placebo
groups . . .
Results: Of the 182 participants enrolled,
116 completed the study and qualitative data
were available from 114 participants.
Thematic analysis revealed significant effects
in favour of the multivitamin over placebo for
participants experiencing increased energy
levels (p=.022) and enhanced mood
(p=.027). The beneficial effect on energy
levels was particularly evident among female
participants. A trend was found for partici-
pants reporting better sleep in the multivita-
min over placebo. The multivitamin and
placebo groups did not significantly differ in
perceived positive or negative effects in areas
relating to other aspects of mental function
or physical health.
(To read the full article:
http://www.willner.com/content/multivita-
min_wellbeing.pdf)
Probiotics Effective Against
Vaginal Infections
Oral Dosage Vs Intravaginal
A typical definition of “probiotics” reads
like this: “Probiotics are bacteria or yeast
organisms that may have beneficial effects on
human physiology and health. Probiotic
organisms are believed to work in part by
enhancing digestion and immune function,
by competing with pathogenic microorgan-
isms for binding sites on mucosal surfaces,
and by producing chemicals that inactivate or
kill pathogens.” (Gaby, Alan R., MD.
Nutritional Medicine. Alan R. Gaby, M.D.,
01/2011.)
The therapeutic benefits of probiotics have
been applied to numerous and various health
problems. One well recognized condition is
bacterial vaginosis and similar vaginal infec-
tions. One question, when it comes to this
conditions, is which strain or strains of probi-
otic organisms are most effective.
“. . . It should be noted that the normal
bacterial flora differs substantially in different
parts of the body, and that the capacity of
specific probiotic strains to exert a beneficial
effect may vary at different sites. For exam-
ple, while L. rhamnosus GG has been found
to be useful for preventing and treating cer-
tain gastrointestinal conditions, it was not
effective at colonizing the vaginal mucosa. In
contrast, L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. reuteri
. . . continued from page 86
RC-14 were relatively effective at colonizing
the vaginal mucosa, and these organisms
have been used with some success for pre-
venting and treating vaginitis and recurrent
urinary tract infections . . .” (Gaby, Alan R.,
MD. Nutritional Medicine. Alan R. Gaby,
M.D., 01/2011.)
The other question is how to best adminis-
ter the probiotic supplement. In the case of
vaginal infections, is it necessary to adminis-
ter the probiotcs intravaginally, or does oral
administration work?
A new study sheds light on this question.
The study, “Efficacy of orally applied probiot-
ic capsules for bacterial vaginosis and other
vaginal infections: a double-blind, random-
ized, placebo-controlled study.” by Vujic G,
Jajac Knez A, Despot Stefanovic V, Kuzmic
Vrbanovic V. Was published in Eur J Obstet
Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2013 Feb 7. pii:
S0301-2115(13)00013-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ejo-
grb.2012.12.031. [Epub ahead of print]
Their goal was to assess the efficacy of oral-
ly administered capsules containing the pro-
biotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and
Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 compared to
placebo in otherwise healthy women diag-
nosed with bacterial vaginosis.
It was a randomized, double-blind, multi-
centric, placebo-controlled trial, including a
total of 544 subjects. Included were women
older than 18 years of age, diagnosed with
vaginal infection. Subjects received either
probiotic (395 subjects or 72.6%) or identi-
cal-looking placebo capsules (149 subjects or
27.4%,) per day over a period of 6 weeks.
Six and 12 weeks after the beginning of the
study, subjects underwent two additional
gynecological examinations and their vaginal
swabs were evaluated by a clinical cytologist.
Here are the results. The mean follow-up
. . . continued on page 108