16 ms·

Early antibiotic use 'may predispose children to weight gain and asthma'

88 points by junto 11y ago

ashark 11y ago
I wish it were easier to avoid their use, but without antibiotics my kids would spend like half the year with ear infections, miserable (and making everyone else miserable) and lethargic at best. Then there's strep—last year I discovered the hard way how dangerous that can be if you don't treat that very soon after symptoms start (I'd never had it, didn't realize what was happening/how serious it was at first)
- overcast 11y ago
  I had strep every year around the holidays as a kid. It's a common, and easily treatable infection, but extremely dangerous left alone. It can go from bad to really bad, quickly, especially when it travels to the heart.
  - maxerickson 11y ago
    The danger to the heart is believed to be from the immune response to the strep, not the infection directly. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rheumatic-fever/basics/causes/con-20031399 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rheumatic-feve...
    - overcast 11y ago
      Symptoms are the bodies response to infection. Regardless of what happens, because strep is present, then it occurs.
      - maxerickson 11y ago
        The point of my comment was that the infection does not travel to the heart. The immune response to the infection in the throat ends up having consequences elsewhere.
  - ashark 11y ago
    Yeah, so I learned. Didn't even have any of the more serious complications, but had nausea with it which led to dehydration and sleep deprivation. 72+ hours of that and I was in really rough shape, I'd guess not more than 12 hours from requiring hospitalization when I finally went to the doctor and got some drugs. Will not make that mistake again.
  - junto 11y ago
    I believe that streptococcus bacterial infections can cause long term damage to the tonsils. It causes puts and holes, and people who have this often suffer from tonsil stones. You'll know if you've have them because every so often you'll cough one up and it causes halitosis. Anyway, within the folds of the tonsils, streptococcus and other bacteria can survive, waiting for your immune system to become depressed, where it powers up again, making you ill. Hence, you may think you have got rid of the infection, but it is just in stasis inside you. This is one of the primary reasons that physicians recommend that you have your tonsils removed once you appear to have overly frequent repeats of strep throat. Sadly, the removal of the tonsils often means that infections tend to end up further down the throat after having the tonsils removed, which being nearer to the lungs raises the risk of more serious illnesses later.
  - fezz 11y ago
    My son has to take antibiotics continuously because of an autoimmune reactions to strep (called PANDAS). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/pandas/index.shtml https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/pandas/index.sh... Symptoms from the above link: Presence of obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or a tic disorder Pediatric onset of symptoms (age 3 years to puberty) Episodic course of symptom severity (see information below) Association with group A Beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection (a positive throat culture for strep or history of scarlet fever) Association with neurological abnormalities (physical hyperactivity, or unusual, jerky movements that are not in the child’s control) Very abrupt onset or worsening of symptoms
- mrow84 11y ago
  The following anecdote may not really be applicable to children, but you might find it interesting anyway. I went through a period of getting an ear infection, being prescribed antibiotics, having it clear up, but then having it recur sometime later. After quite a few goes round this loop I decided to just take painkillers (ibuprofen was very effective for me) and wait it out, and the infections stopped coming back.
  - pygy_ 11y ago
    Ibuprofen is a NSAID where 'AI' stands for anti-inflamatory. Reducing the inflamation probably helped draining your ear through the Eustachian tube.
  - maratd 11y ago
    Ear infections aren't always bacterial. They can be fungal. Antibiotics will do zero if it's fungal. Do NOT go to a general practitioner with an ear infection. They will prescribe antibiotics and tell you to get lost. Bad idea. Go to an ENT (ear-nose-throat doctor) instead. They have the right equipment on hand and the experience necessary to properly identify what you have and how to treat it. They will take away the pain in minutes by relieving pressure using specialized equipment. Huge mistake to go to a regular doctor.
    - meric 11y ago
      Or go to the pharmacist. There's a few products that you can drip in your ear for ear infections and you'll save a doctor visit.
    - hanklazard 11y ago
      Pediatric doc here. True, many are not bacterial but fungal ear infections are quite rare. The majority of otitis media is viral, which is not surprising given the concurrent URI that most kids (and adults) have when they get a painful ear. This is also the reason I try to have parents wait out ear infections in their kids ... I'd rather not use antibiotics, especially when they have a viral infection that wouldn't respond anyway. I'm not sure what tools you're referring to in the ENT office. If the ear infection is external (i.e. Swimmer's Ear) any GP office should be able to culture and treat it. If it's a middle ear infection (and that's usually what we're talking about), an ENT still has to deal with the fact that the tympanic membrane blocks access to the middle ear. Only in very extreme cases would an ENT consider violating the TM to sample the middle ear.
- junto 11y ago
  I think that the challenge we have is that today's antibiotics are really like the proverbial "sledgehammer to crack a nut". There hasn't been a great deal of interest in discovering new antibiotics, as this extract from Wikipedia describes: Following a 40-year hiatus in discovering new classes of antibacterial compounds, four new classes of antibacterial antibiotics have been brought into clinical use in the late 2000s and early 2010s I assume that there isn't much interest due to the limited financial rewards to the pharmaceutical industry. What is really needed is a new way to target the truly " foreign " and trouble making bacteria in the body, and eradicate it. Hopefully in the next 40 years we can make such a breakthrough and stop the "carpet bombing" methods we have today.
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
    Most of the antibiotics you're going to get from your PCP are old chestnuts like amoxicillin (1972) and doxycycline (1967).
- Mz 11y ago
  I wish it were easier to avoid their use There are things you can do to reduce their need. A few things off the top of my head: * Take shoes off at the front door (like Japan and a few other civilized places). * Do not let the kids get on their beds wearing street clothes. * Use hot baths and peroxide (in the ear) to help kill infection before it is so advanced that it requires antibiotics. Of course, those things take work and are inconvenient, something many Americans seem allergic to. But if you really want to reduce antibiotic use, it absolutely can be done.
  - ashark 11y ago
    We already tick the other boxes, but may try the peroxide thing. I'd heard of it for cleaning ears, but not fighting infections. Thanks for the tip.
    - Mz 11y ago
      There is a lot more that you can do. Keep researching it. It gets easier the further you go. I apologize if my original comment came across as snarky. Best of luck.
  - hendekagon 11y ago
    terrible advice too much hygiene weakens your immune system, exposure to common bacteria and fungi at a low level is good for it and don't put anything in your ears! (except maybe salt-water), especially not peroxide which will cause irritation and maybe even scarring
  - hawski 11y ago
    I read once a blog post [1] that I am constantly reminded of. The author had a problem that he frequently gets ear infection, because he rides his car with windows open (unscrewed to be honest). After seeking professional help and failed antibiotics treatment he went with one idea. He was warming his ear with halogen lamp by setting the light so it would go inside his ear. It worked. I never had such infection so couldn't check validity of this myself. [1] In Polish: http://frycz.pl.salon24.pl/335341,zapalenie-ucha-wewnetrznego http://frycz.pl.salon24.pl/335341,zapalenie-ucha-wewnetrzneg... Google Translate: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pl&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=pl&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffrycz.pl.salon24.pl%2F335341%2Czapalenie-ucha-wewnetrznego&edit-text=&act=url https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pl&tl=en&js=y&prev...
- TylerE 11y ago
  Yep. Makes me wonder... I'm overweight and asthmatic....and had frequent ear infections as a toddler.
- dghughes 11y ago
  I can relate! I had ear aches nearly every week or it seemed like it when I was a kid in the 70s it was really bad. I got to like the taste of the orange Aspirin tablets my mother would crush them into some sugar. When my father stopped smoking all my ear aches disappeared.
- stefanix 11y ago
  Having lived in the US and moved to Austria, I can say it's quite comical how few times doctors prescribe antibiotics here. It's something like 10:1. At times this is frustrating because you want the easy fix and when antibiotics work they work really well. It's also quite illuminating how many symptoms do not seem to benefit from taking antibiotics even when they are the knee-jerk treatment. I sometimes joke that modern medicine is 50% prescribing cortisone and antibiotics.
esaym 11y ago
I've noticed that if I am very sick, even with antibiotics, I don't start getting better until 5+ days after first dose. Wondering what my body would naturally do with those five days, I've basically stopped going to the doc and just fight it off myself. Really haven't noticed a difference. I'm talking stuff like ear pain, pink eye, severe sinus pain, ect. Don't know what I've had (since I didn't go to the doc, though I don't think they know half the time anyway..), but I survived it. I'm sure there are valid reasons for antibiotics, but they are clearly over prescribed.
- overcast 11y ago
  You're an outlier then. Within twenty-four hours of taking an antibiotic, I've always felt MUCH better. I will agree they are over prescribed, especially for things that don't even respond to antibiotics(viruses). But there is no denying their effectiveness.
  - bosdev 11y ago
    How do you know he's the outlier?
    - sithadmin 11y ago
      Occam's razor. Antibiotics aren't over-prescribed/over-used just for giggles. It's because when they're actually necessary, they usually improve one's health quite quickly.
  - ljf 11y ago
    I've had an antibiotic shot a couple of times and that was amazing. Going from tonsils so swollen they were touching and impeding my breathing to being able to eat my first meal in days just a few hours later. Was quite amazing!
  - ljf 11y ago
    I've had an antibiotic shot a couple of times and that was amazing. Going from tonsils so swollen they were touching and impeding my breathing to being able to eat my first meal in days just a few hours later. Was quite amazing!
PythonicAlpha 11y ago
Good, that the usage of antibiotics is rising in cattle-breeding. The blind usage of the fruits of progress is one of our biggest problems in a world, where many problems of human beings have relieved by the same.
rdmcfee 11y ago
It's an interesting hypothesis but unfortunately a cohort study with no randomized control and n=236 isn't really meaningful. There's no control at all here and the sample size is tiny.
- kmm 11y ago
  236 is a massieve sample size and it is more than sufficient for showing an effect here. The p-values are below 0.001, and while p-values aren't everything, it's a strong indicator that the result is statistically significant.
  - rdmcfee 11y ago
    Sure, the correlation is statistically significant. Without a control to infer causality the results become much less interesting. To infer causality in an epidemiological study such as this you need very large cohorts with very specific results. Even with huge cohorts you still have relatively indefensible results. The 7 country study is a good example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Countries_Study https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Countries_Study
    - moultano 11y ago
      Particularly since one of the connections they postulate is between antibiotics and asthma, I'm curious how they control for respiratory infections which seems like a much more likely common cause.
  - pc2g4d 11y ago
    p-value is almost irrelevant if you don't know how many overall statistical tests were performed. Finding a p<0.001 "significant" result after testing 1,000 different variables is far less meaningful than finding one after testing 5 variables.
wiredfool 11y ago
I wonder if there's a correlation between kids with asthma/weight gain and pre-labor antibiotics given to the mother to control Group B strep. That seems like it could be the sort of study that could be done based on a medical records search, as the data should be recorded. (not that it's easy to get the data...)
andy_ppp 11y ago
Killing gut microbes considered harmful...
- SteveNuts 11y ago
  What?
  - andy_ppp 11y ago
    I think a lot of people are suggesting these days that interfering with gut biome with things such as anti biotics can have far reaching effects on the rest of your system. Maybe you don't agree with this but I think there is research suggesting, for example, having the wrong gut bacteria can make you more likely to be over weight, be a factor heart disease and even diseases like Alzheimer's are implicated.
    - chillwaves 11y ago
      Even depression. If you read about candida or yeast overgrowth, it is believed to cause some kind of inflammation which might be linked to depression.
      - charlieflowers 11y ago
        Careful though. There is a lot of pseudoscience and quackery around candida and yeast.
gmarx 11y ago
Whenever you read the word "may" in the title of an article about a scientific study, you should mentally fill in the end..."then again, it may not"
- fiatjaf 11y ago
  Unbelievable.
blakesterz 11y ago
It's funny, I've seen this before and my experience is the exact opposite. I've got 2 kids that were on what feels like a million antibiotics when they were young, one's thin, one's average. I've got a 3rd kid was NEVER on them at all, he's obese. I know this and other studies are population averages and all that, but it always surprises me when my experience is the exact opposite. Something to do with what gut microbes were killed or something?
refurb 11y ago
Antibiotics were first discovered around WW2. Use of antibiotics was rampant in early years (it's come down since then, but is still excessive). Why do we see a rise in obesity only in the last 20-30 years?
- TylerE 11y ago
  One of my pet theories is that is has to do with the decline in cigarette smoking.
antibiotic956 11y ago
Interesting article and it is a coincidence in my life. My wife is pregnant and has been diagnosed with Group B strep and the dr has said she will be given Ampicillin during labor. I have some concerns regarding this, and now I read this article. Dr says that there is 1 in 1000 chances of the baby getting (very) sick. With the antibiotics the chances are 1 in 4000. I am wondering if anyone here has had experience with this.
- hanklazard 11y ago
  Ped doc here. Group B strep can cause severe sepsis in neonates and I would definitely recommend that she get 1-2 doses of an antibiotic while in labor. I have not seen any good evidence that this sort of treatment causes any problems down the road for the baby. Furthermore, if you consider the mechanism that this paper suggests, it involves the manipulation of gut flora. A neonate's GI tract is sterile when it comes into the world, and is colonized over the first months to years of life. So since there are no bacteria to affect, this proposed mechanism should have no relevance. Also, Amp's half-life is just a few hours so no long-lasting presence in your baby. Don't mess with group B strep--before we understood how to deal with it, it made a lot of babies very sick and many died.

88 points by junto 11y ago

I wish it were easier to avoid their use, but without antibiotics my kids would spend like half the year with ear infections, miserable (and making everyone else miserable) and lethargic at best. Then there's strep—last year I discovered the hard way how dangerous that can be if you don't treat that very soon after symptoms start (I'd never had it, didn't realize what was happening/how serious it was at first)

overcast 11y ago
I had strep every year around the holidays as a kid. It's a common, and easily treatable infection, but extremely dangerous left alone. It can go from bad to really bad, quickly, especially when it travels to the heart.
- maxerickson 11y ago
  The danger to the heart is believed to be from the immune response to the strep, not the infection directly. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rheumatic-fever/basics/causes/con-20031399 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rheumatic-feve...
  - overcast 11y ago
    Symptoms are the bodies response to infection. Regardless of what happens, because strep is present, then it occurs.
    - maxerickson 11y ago
      The point of my comment was that the infection does not travel to the heart. The immune response to the infection in the throat ends up having consequences elsewhere.
- ashark 11y ago
  Yeah, so I learned. Didn't even have any of the more serious complications, but had nausea with it which led to dehydration and sleep deprivation. 72+ hours of that and I was in really rough shape, I'd guess not more than 12 hours from requiring hospitalization when I finally went to the doctor and got some drugs. Will not make that mistake again.
- junto 11y ago
  I believe that streptococcus bacterial infections can cause long term damage to the tonsils. It causes puts and holes, and people who have this often suffer from tonsil stones. You'll know if you've have them because every so often you'll cough one up and it causes halitosis. Anyway, within the folds of the tonsils, streptococcus and other bacteria can survive, waiting for your immune system to become depressed, where it powers up again, making you ill. Hence, you may think you have got rid of the infection, but it is just in stasis inside you. This is one of the primary reasons that physicians recommend that you have your tonsils removed once you appear to have overly frequent repeats of strep throat. Sadly, the removal of the tonsils often means that infections tend to end up further down the throat after having the tonsils removed, which being nearer to the lungs raises the risk of more serious illnesses later.
- fezz 11y ago
  My son has to take antibiotics continuously because of an autoimmune reactions to strep (called PANDAS). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/pandas/index.shtml https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/pandas/index.sh... Symptoms from the above link: Presence of obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or a tic disorder Pediatric onset of symptoms (age 3 years to puberty) Episodic course of symptom severity (see information below) Association with group A Beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection (a positive throat culture for strep or history of scarlet fever) Association with neurological abnormalities (physical hyperactivity, or unusual, jerky movements that are not in the child’s control) Very abrupt onset or worsening of symptoms
mrow84 11y ago
The following anecdote may not really be applicable to children, but you might find it interesting anyway. I went through a period of getting an ear infection, being prescribed antibiotics, having it clear up, but then having it recur sometime later. After quite a few goes round this loop I decided to just take painkillers (ibuprofen was very effective for me) and wait it out, and the infections stopped coming back.
- pygy_ 11y ago
  Ibuprofen is a NSAID where 'AI' stands for anti-inflamatory. Reducing the inflamation probably helped draining your ear through the Eustachian tube.
- maratd 11y ago
  Ear infections aren't always bacterial. They can be fungal. Antibiotics will do zero if it's fungal. Do NOT go to a general practitioner with an ear infection. They will prescribe antibiotics and tell you to get lost. Bad idea. Go to an ENT (ear-nose-throat doctor) instead. They have the right equipment on hand and the experience necessary to properly identify what you have and how to treat it. They will take away the pain in minutes by relieving pressure using specialized equipment. Huge mistake to go to a regular doctor.
  - meric 11y ago
    Or go to the pharmacist. There's a few products that you can drip in your ear for ear infections and you'll save a doctor visit.
  - hanklazard 11y ago
    Pediatric doc here. True, many are not bacterial but fungal ear infections are quite rare. The majority of otitis media is viral, which is not surprising given the concurrent URI that most kids (and adults) have when they get a painful ear. This is also the reason I try to have parents wait out ear infections in their kids ... I'd rather not use antibiotics, especially when they have a viral infection that wouldn't respond anyway. I'm not sure what tools you're referring to in the ENT office. If the ear infection is external (i.e. Swimmer's Ear) any GP office should be able to culture and treat it. If it's a middle ear infection (and that's usually what we're talking about), an ENT still has to deal with the fact that the tympanic membrane blocks access to the middle ear. Only in very extreme cases would an ENT consider violating the TM to sample the middle ear.
junto 11y ago
I think that the challenge we have is that today's antibiotics are really like the proverbial "sledgehammer to crack a nut". There hasn't been a great deal of interest in discovering new antibiotics, as this extract from Wikipedia describes: Following a 40-year hiatus in discovering new classes of antibacterial compounds, four new classes of antibacterial antibiotics have been brought into clinical use in the late 2000s and early 2010s I assume that there isn't much interest due to the limited financial rewards to the pharmaceutical industry. What is really needed is a new way to target the truly " foreign " and trouble making bacteria in the body, and eradicate it. Hopefully in the next 40 years we can make such a breakthrough and stop the "carpet bombing" methods we have today.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
  Most of the antibiotics you're going to get from your PCP are old chestnuts like amoxicillin (1972) and doxycycline (1967).
Mz 11y ago
I wish it were easier to avoid their use There are things you can do to reduce their need. A few things off the top of my head: * Take shoes off at the front door (like Japan and a few other civilized places). * Do not let the kids get on their beds wearing street clothes. * Use hot baths and peroxide (in the ear) to help kill infection before it is so advanced that it requires antibiotics. Of course, those things take work and are inconvenient, something many Americans seem allergic to. But if you really want to reduce antibiotic use, it absolutely can be done.
- ashark 11y ago
  We already tick the other boxes, but may try the peroxide thing. I'd heard of it for cleaning ears, but not fighting infections. Thanks for the tip.
  - Mz 11y ago
    There is a lot more that you can do. Keep researching it. It gets easier the further you go. I apologize if my original comment came across as snarky. Best of luck.
- hendekagon 11y ago
  terrible advice too much hygiene weakens your immune system, exposure to common bacteria and fungi at a low level is good for it and don't put anything in your ears! (except maybe salt-water), especially not peroxide which will cause irritation and maybe even scarring
- hawski 11y ago
  I read once a blog post [1] that I am constantly reminded of. The author had a problem that he frequently gets ear infection, because he rides his car with windows open (unscrewed to be honest). After seeking professional help and failed antibiotics treatment he went with one idea. He was warming his ear with halogen lamp by setting the light so it would go inside his ear. It worked. I never had such infection so couldn't check validity of this myself. [1] In Polish: http://frycz.pl.salon24.pl/335341,zapalenie-ucha-wewnetrznego http://frycz.pl.salon24.pl/335341,zapalenie-ucha-wewnetrzneg... Google Translate: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pl&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=pl&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffrycz.pl.salon24.pl%2F335341%2Czapalenie-ucha-wewnetrznego&edit-text=&act=url https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pl&tl=en&js=y&prev...
TylerE 11y ago
Yep. Makes me wonder... I'm overweight and asthmatic....and had frequent ear infections as a toddler.
dghughes 11y ago
I can relate! I had ear aches nearly every week or it seemed like it when I was a kid in the 70s it was really bad. I got to like the taste of the orange Aspirin tablets my mother would crush them into some sugar. When my father stopped smoking all my ear aches disappeared.
stefanix 11y ago
Having lived in the US and moved to Austria, I can say it's quite comical how few times doctors prescribe antibiotics here. It's something like 10:1. At times this is frustrating because you want the easy fix and when antibiotics work they work really well. It's also quite illuminating how many symptoms do not seem to benefit from taking antibiotics even when they are the knee-jerk treatment. I sometimes joke that modern medicine is 50% prescribing cortisone and antibiotics.

esaym 11y ago

I've noticed that if I am very sick, even with antibiotics, I don't start getting better until 5+ days after first dose. Wondering what my body would naturally do with those five days, I've basically stopped going to the doc and just fight it off myself. Really haven't noticed a difference. I'm talking stuff like ear pain, pink eye, severe sinus pain, ect. Don't know what I've had (since I didn't go to the doc, though I don't think they know half the time anyway..), but I survived it. I'm sure there are valid reasons for antibiotics, but they are clearly over prescribed.

overcast 11y ago
You're an outlier then. Within twenty-four hours of taking an antibiotic, I've always felt MUCH better. I will agree they are over prescribed, especially for things that don't even respond to antibiotics(viruses). But there is no denying their effectiveness.
- bosdev 11y ago
  How do you know he's the outlier?
  - sithadmin 11y ago
    Occam's razor. Antibiotics aren't over-prescribed/over-used just for giggles. It's because when they're actually necessary, they usually improve one's health quite quickly.
- ljf 11y ago
  I've had an antibiotic shot a couple of times and that was amazing. Going from tonsils so swollen they were touching and impeding my breathing to being able to eat my first meal in days just a few hours later. Was quite amazing!
- ljf 11y ago
  I've had an antibiotic shot a couple of times and that was amazing. Going from tonsils so swollen they were touching and impeding my breathing to being able to eat my first meal in days just a few hours later. Was quite amazing!

PythonicAlpha 11y ago

Good, that the usage of antibiotics is rising in cattle-breeding. The blind usage of the fruits of progress is one of our biggest problems in a world, where many problems of human beings have relieved by the same.

rdmcfee 11y ago

It's an interesting hypothesis but unfortunately a cohort study with no randomized control and n=236 isn't really meaningful. There's no control at all here and the sample size is tiny.

kmm 11y ago
236 is a massieve sample size and it is more than sufficient for showing an effect here. The p-values are below 0.001, and while p-values aren't everything, it's a strong indicator that the result is statistically significant.
- rdmcfee 11y ago
  Sure, the correlation is statistically significant. Without a control to infer causality the results become much less interesting. To infer causality in an epidemiological study such as this you need very large cohorts with very specific results. Even with huge cohorts you still have relatively indefensible results. The 7 country study is a good example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Countries_Study https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Countries_Study
  - moultano 11y ago
    Particularly since one of the connections they postulate is between antibiotics and asthma, I'm curious how they control for respiratory infections which seems like a much more likely common cause.
- pc2g4d 11y ago
  p-value is almost irrelevant if you don't know how many overall statistical tests were performed. Finding a p<0.001 "significant" result after testing 1,000 different variables is far less meaningful than finding one after testing 5 variables.

wiredfool 11y ago

I wonder if there's a correlation between kids with asthma/weight gain and pre-labor antibiotics given to the mother to control Group B strep. That seems like it could be the sort of study that could be done based on a medical records search, as the data should be recorded. (not that it's easy to get the data...)

andy_ppp 11y ago

Killing gut microbes considered harmful...

SteveNuts 11y ago
What?
- andy_ppp 11y ago
  I think a lot of people are suggesting these days that interfering with gut biome with things such as anti biotics can have far reaching effects on the rest of your system. Maybe you don't agree with this but I think there is research suggesting, for example, having the wrong gut bacteria can make you more likely to be over weight, be a factor heart disease and even diseases like Alzheimer's are implicated.
  - chillwaves 11y ago
    Even depression. If you read about candida or yeast overgrowth, it is believed to cause some kind of inflammation which might be linked to depression.
    - charlieflowers 11y ago
      Careful though. There is a lot of pseudoscience and quackery around candida and yeast.

gmarx 11y ago

Whenever you read the word "may" in the title of an article about a scientific study, you should mentally fill in the end..."then again, it may not"

fiatjaf 11y ago
Unbelievable.

blakesterz 11y ago

It's funny, I've seen this before and my experience is the exact opposite. I've got 2 kids that were on what feels like a million antibiotics when they were young, one's thin, one's average. I've got a 3rd kid was NEVER on them at all, he's obese. I know this and other studies are population averages and all that, but it always surprises me when my experience is the exact opposite. Something to do with what gut microbes were killed or something?

refurb 11y ago

Antibiotics were first discovered around WW2. Use of antibiotics was rampant in early years (it's come down since then, but is still excessive). Why do we see a rise in obesity only in the last 20-30 years?

TylerE 11y ago
One of my pet theories is that is has to do with the decline in cigarette smoking.

antibiotic956 11y ago

Interesting article and it is a coincidence in my life. My wife is pregnant and has been diagnosed with Group B strep and the dr has said she will be given Ampicillin during labor. I have some concerns regarding this, and now I read this article. Dr says that there is 1 in 1000 chances of the baby getting (very) sick. With the antibiotics the chances are 1 in 4000. I am wondering if anyone here has had experience with this.

hanklazard 11y ago
Ped doc here. Group B strep can cause severe sepsis in neonates and I would definitely recommend that she get 1-2 doses of an antibiotic while in labor. I have not seen any good evidence that this sort of treatment causes any problems down the road for the baby. Furthermore, if you consider the mechanism that this paper suggests, it involves the manipulation of gut flora. A neonate's GI tract is sterile when it comes into the world, and is colonized over the first months to years of life. So since there are no bacteria to affect, this proposed mechanism should have no relevance. Also, Amp's half-life is just a few hours so no long-lasting presence in your baby. Don't mess with group B strep--before we understood how to deal with it, it made a lot of babies very sick and many died.