Stroke risk warning for women on antibiotics

WOMEN who use antibiotics for more than two months at a time are at increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, research suggests.

Experts believe the long-term use of the drugs wipes out healthy bacteria in the gut, creating an imbalance that increases inflammation and narrows blood vessels.

Researchers, who tracked 36,500 women, found over-60s using antibiotics for more than two months were 32 per cent more likely to develop heart disease in the next eight years than those not taking them.

For those aged 40 to 59, there was a 28 per cent increased risk. For women under 40, there was no discernible effect.

Researcher Dr Yoriko Heianza, of Tulane University, US, said: ‘We have found an association between long-term use in middle age and later life and an increased risk of stroke and heart disease.

‘As these women grew older, they were more likely to need more antibiotics, and sometimes for longer periods of time, which suggests a cumulative effect may be the reason for the stronger link in older age between antibiotic use and cardiovascular disease.’

But they found individual as opposed to overall risk remained small. For every 1,000 women taking antibiotics for at least two months, just six would be likely to experience damage to hearts or arteries.

Fellow researcher Professor Lu Qi, of Harvard School of Public Health, told the European Heart Journal: ‘Previous studies have shown a link between alterations in the microbiotic environment of the gut and inflammation and narrowing of the blood vessels, stroke and heart disease.’

The NHS is desperately trying to reduce the overuse of antibiotics because it encourages the evolution of bacteriaresistant superbugs. More than 3,000 people a year already die in Britain as a result of the crisis and the NHS spends £180million a year tackling the problem.