Strong Link Found Between Antibiotic Use, Changes in Gut Bacteria and Disease in Adulthood

Antibiotics are the most common prescription drugs given to children and the use of antibiotics may eradicate key gut bacteria that help immune cells mature.

Commonly prescribed antibiotics can lead to changes in the gut bacteria of children and make them vulnerable to infectious diseases, allergies, autoimmune disorders and even obesity, later in life, warns a new study.

"Over the past year we synthesized hundreds of studies and found evidence of strong correlations between antibiotic use, changes in gut bacteria and disease in adulthood," said the study’s senior author Dan Knights, assistant professor at University of Minnesota.

Simple Home Remedies to Tackle the Side Effects of Antibiotics
When used appropriately, antibiotics are relatively safe. However, antibiotic side effects like bloating, belching, gas, constipation and diarrhea can occur.

Antibiotics are by far the most common prescription drugs given to children. Other studies have shown profound short- and long-term effects of antibiotics on the diversity and composition of the bacteria in our bodies, called our microbiome.

In the current study, the researcher developed a framework to map how antibiotics may be acting in the gut to cause disease later in life.

In the case of allergies, for example, the use of antibiotics may eradicate key gut bacteria that help immune cells mature.

Alternating Doses of Antibiotics at Low Dosages Help Beat Antibiotic Resistance
This simple way of administering antibiotics improves treatment of bacterial infection and also reduces the risk of bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.

Related to obesity, antibiotic-induced changes in the gut microbiota resulted in increased levels of short-chain fatty acids that affect metabolism, the findings showed.

The researchers demonstrated that an infant’s age could be predicted within 1.3 months based on the maturity of their gut bacteria.

3-D Printing Offers Innovative Method to Deliver Antibiotics and Chemotherapeutic Medications
With clinicians having the ability to construct devices to a specific size and shape, 3-D printing could become a powerful tool in customizing interventional radiology treatments to individual patient needs.

The findings may lead to recommendations for antibiotic usage and a clinical test for measuring gut microbe development in children.

"We think these findings help develop a roadmap for future research to determine the health consequences of antibiotic use and for recommendations for prescribing them," Knights said.

McDonald's to Stop Serving Chicken Raised on Antibiotics
Amidst growing worries of antibiotic resistance, fast-food giant McDonald's announced that it would stop serving chicken raised with antibiotics that are important to human health.

The study appeared in the scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe.

Source-IANS