What the research says

Research on acidophilus use for some conditions shows:

• Bacterial vaginosis. Taking acidophilus might help to treat this type of vaginal swelling and irritation, called inflammation. Some studies have found that acidophilus may improve the condition when it's taken as a suppository that's placed in the vagina. It's not clear if it works as well when a person takes it as a pill by mouth or eats yogurt with acidophilus.
• Cold and influenza. Acidophilus might play a role in lessening how many cold and flu viruses children may get. It also may help shorten how long they have these viruses.

• Some types of diarrhea. A person might have a reduced chance of having diarrhea related to taking antibiotics, called antibiotic-associated diarrhea, when taking acidophilus along with other specific forms of lactobacillus. It also might lessen diarrhea, bloating and cramps. The probiotic mixture might reduce how often people have diarrhea related to taking antibiotics as well.

  The probiotic mixture might lessen how much people taking antibiotics have diarrhea related to Clostridioides difficile, called C. difficile, infection. But more research needs to be done. This type of infection can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening swelling and irritation, called inflammation, of the colon.

• Eczema. Mothers who take acidophilus by mouth during pregnancy and when breastfeeding and give acidophilus to their babies and young infants might lower their babies' and children's chances of having eczema, called atopic dermatitis. It also may lessen how often the children have eczema or how severe their eczema symptoms are if they have them.

Acidophilus products might have major differences in their makeup, called composition, which could cause varying results.