Industry groups regularly schedule presentations on interesting topics that will engage their membership, and doctors from Harvard and Yale recently spoke about the value of probiotics in a symposium at the annual conference of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Physicians assistants are medical professionals who work under the supervision of doctors but can write prescriptions and make healthcare decisions, and they say that they are increasingly asked about the benefits of probiotics in improving immunity, general health and specifically the gastrointestinal tract.

"Bacteria colonizing our bodies are numerous and vital," said Dr Mary Ellen Sanders from Yale at the symposium. "They outnumber our own cells 10-fold and are known to play critical roles in immune system development, maturation of intestinal cells and providing important metabolic functions that we can’t do for ourselves.

Sanders and other researchers talked about the "good bacteria" and the success of their use in clinical trials for several conditions including allergies and other respiratory ailments.

Dr D. Allan Walker came from Harvard Medical School and told attendees that the dairy-based bacteria may also benefit younger children in boosting their immunity when added to diets of children before age 2.