AIDS-HIV Treatment Briefs: Yogurt & Candida Infection

AIDS-HIV Treatment Briefs: Yogurt & Candida Infection

Step Perspective, Volume 5, Number 1; A Publication Of The Seattle Treatment Education Project - February 1993

Chronic vaginal candida infections are a common problem for many women with HIV. current therapies for treating and preventing recurrence of these painful infections are often inadequate in women with HIV. Anecdotal reports of success using the old folklore remedy of ingestion or topical administration of yogurt led researchers to conduct a study of the efficacy of yogurt. Thirty-three women entered the study. Of these thirty-three, twelve were eliminated for protocol violations.

The women on the treatment arm of the study ate 8-oz of yogurt containing Lactobacillus acidophilus a day for six months. At the end of the six months, the women crossed-over, meaning those women on the treatment became controls, and those who had been serving as controls began eating yogurt. However, eight of the women who were assigned initially to the yogurt arm refused to enter the control phase after six months because of the clinical improvements they experienced from eating yogurt daily.

Altogether, a three-fold decrease in the number of infections was seen when the women consumed yogurt containing Lactobacillus acidophilus on a daily basis. The mean number of infections in the treatment arm was 0.38+0.51 during the six month period, versus 2.54+1.66 in the control arm. In addition, candidal colonization decreased from a mean of 3.23+2.17 per six months in the control group to 0.84+0.90 in the treatment group.

Although this trial did not study the effects of yogurt in women with HIV specifically, similar results might be seen in women with HIV and chronic vaginal candida infections. In addition, these findings also pose the question as to whether or not the ingestion of yogurt containing Lactobacillus acidophilus would also decrease oral candida infections in individuals with HIV.
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Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeard in 1993. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

Copyright © 1993 - Seattle Treatment Education Project (STEP) - All rights reserved. Noncommercial reproduction is encouraged. STEP is published four times a year by the Seattle Treatment Education Project, 127 Broadway East, 3rd Floor, Seattle, WA 98102. Email: step100@aol.com STEP web page

This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1993. AEGIS.