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Xylitol and acute otitis media
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Xylitol is used as an artificial sweetener and its use prevents dental caries, not only by replacing sucrose but also by inhibiting Streptococcus mutans. Paediatricians in Finland found that xylitol also inhibited the growth of pneumococci, and in a 1996 BMJ paper they showed that xylitol chewing gum reduced the occurrence of otitis media in children old enough to chew it. Now they have compared xylitol syrup, lozenges, and gum with placebos in younger children (Matti Uhari and colleagues. Pediatrics 1998;102:879-84).
The study included 857 healthy children aged
from 7 months to 7 years attending day care centres. Those old enough
to chew safely were randomly assigned to xylitol or placebo, chewing
gum or lozenges. The younger ones were randomised to xylitol or placebo syrup. Over a trial period of three months the incidence of acute otitis media was reduced by 30% with xylitol syrup, by 40% with chewing gum,
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Arch. Dis. Child. 2001 84: 310.[Extract] [Full Text]
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