[Effects of Respecta®] 3 Benefits of Respecta that are recognized by Ministry of Food & Drug Safety (MFDS)

Hello, I am Jinny, a pharmacist.

I'm sure you've all had the experience of feeling itchy and stinging in your female organs or worrying about bad-smelling discharge. Often called 'women's cold', vaginitis commonly occurs when your body's condition deteriorates due to seasonal changes or fatigue, which lowers your immune system.

We often meet people who believe that vaginitis is caused by sexual contact, but in fact, Trichomonas vaginitis, which is mainly transmitted sexually, accounts for only about 1/4 of all vaginitis. This means that three out of four people who have experienced vaginitis are highly likely to have experienced bacterial or candidal vaginitis, which can be caused simply by fatigue or decreased immunity without sexual contact.

As we enter the change of seasons, when vaginal health is prone to decline, today we would like to introduce Respecta® probiotics, a functional female lactic acid bacteria that has been recognized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as having ‘vaginal health functionality.’ This raw material is a functional raw material obtained by combining lactic acid bacteria and lactoferrin, which are biological indicators of vaginal health, and is a raw material that is raising expectations in academia due to the high level of evidence for the raw material composition.
*[Source] Valenti, P., Rosa, L., Capobianco, D., Lepanto, M. S., Schiavi, E., Cutone, A., ... & Mastromarino, P. (2018). Role of lactobacilli and lactoferrin in the mucosal cervicovaginal defense. Frontiers in immunology, 9, 376.

So, let’s look at academic research on Respecta® probiotics and see how this ingredient can contribute to vaginal health.

I'm sure you can all relate to the experience of declining vaginal health. There are two main ways you can sense that something is wrong. One is an uncomfortable tingling and stinging sensation when sitting or standing, and discharge that appears on underwear.

In 2018, the results of a human application study was published in the Archives of gynecology and obstetrics evaluating the effects of consuming Respecta® probiotics on women suffering from vaginitis. It is reported that improvement in vaginal itching and discharge in women with vaginitis has been confirmed following consumption of Respecta® probiotics.

Because women's reproductive organs are sensitive to decreased immunity, they easily respond to external stimuli or decreased physical strength. Recurrence of vaginitis is very common, as it is known that more than 75% of women experience vaginitis, and 45% of them experience recurrence of vaginitis more than twice a year.

Accordingly, a human application test was conducted to evaluate whether Respecta® probiotics, which has been confirmed in human application tests to contribute to the improvement of vaginitis symptoms, can also contribute to suppressing the recurrence of vaginitis. This study reports a significant reduction in the recurrence rate of vaginitis following consumption of Respecta® probiotics.

In fact, both normal and abnormal bacteria are already distributed in a woman's vagina. Normally, normal bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria maintain a balance with abnormal bacteria to maintain vaginal health, but if the balance of vaginal flora is disrupted due to reasons such as decreased immunity or use of antibiotics, abnormal bacteria may become activated and cause bacterial vaginitis or candidal vaginitis.

Existing vaginitis treatment has mainly been done using antibiotics, but as mentioned earlier, the use of antibiotics can also cause vaginitis, so the academic world has continued to search for alternative treatment methods. In 2020, a paper was published in Microorganisms that reviewed the effectiveness of probiotics and lactoferrin, which are considered the most promising treatment methods. The researcher presents the review results as follows.

Today, we learned about Respecta® probiotics, a functional raw material for vaginal health for the health of precious female organs. Since the level of evidence for the raw material composition is high and its functionality has been verified in human application tests, you may want to consider consuming it if you have ever had concerns about vaginal health.

I know that many women still keep their symptoms of vaginitis to themselves because they find it difficult to express themselves and visit an obstetrician/gynecologist is burdensome. Please remember that management through health functional foods is not a cure for the disease, and we hope that you can combine the treatment through a specialist and management through health functional foods.

I hope you have a healthy day both physically and mentally. This was Jinny.