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According to a new study, children under 2 who take antibiotics are at a higher risk of developing multiple chronic conditions.
Conditions include childhood-onset asthma, respiratory allergies, eczema, celiac disease, obesity, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the researchers say.
As reported in the magazine Proceedings of the Mayo Clinic, the researchers looked at 14,572 babies born in Olmsted County, Minnesota between 2003 and 2011, 70 percent of whom received at least one prescription for antibiotics during the first two years, mostly for respiratory or ear infections.
The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the composition of the microbiome – the trillions of beneficial microorganisms that live in and on our bodies – plays a critical role in the early development of immunity, metabolism and behavior.
“The evolution of drug-resistant bacteria exemplifies an unintended consequence of antibiotic abuse,” says co-author Martin Blaser, director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers University.
“The growing prevalence of health conditions that begin in childhood has raised concern about antibiotic exposure during key developmental periods due to their impact on the microbiome.”
Although previous studies have looked at the association of antibiotics with single diseases, this is the first to examine the association between many diseases. The researchers found that antibiotics were associated with metabolic diseases (obesity, overweight), immunological diseases (asthma, food allergies, hay fever) and cognitive conditions or impairments (ADHD, autism).
The effects varied between different antibiotics. Cephalosporins were associated with the increased risk of multiple diseases and only with autism and food allergies.
The researchers also found that the risk increases with multiple courses of antibiotics and when given earlier in life, especially within the first 6 months.
“The Olmsted County findings provide evidence for the broad and delayed effects of antibiotic exposures early in life and should change doctors’ practices in how often they prescribe antibiotics, especially for mild conditions,” Blaser says.
Other co-authors come from the Mayo Clinic.
Source: Rutgers University
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