Study: Overuse of antibiotics linked with higher odds for Crohn’s, colitis
Overuse of antibiotics may trigger inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, new research suggests.
Among folks 40 or older, a new study found that antibiotics may increase the risk for bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, for one to two years after use. And the greatest risk was posed by two classes of antibiotics — nitroimidazoles and fluoroquinolones — often used to treat gut infections.
Researchers said these drugs target all bacteria, not just those that cause disease.
“Antibiotics may impact the development of IBD through alteration of the microbiome,” said lead researcher Dr. Adam Faye, assistant professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
To reduce your risk for IBD, Faye advises using antibiotics only when needed and not for viral diseases such as colds, flu or other respiratory and gastrointestinal illness.
“We want patients to improve quickly, so we may be more apt to prescribe an antibiotic in some of these settings, but in addition to exacerbating bacterial resistance patterns, this is another reason to practice antibiotic stewardship,” Faye said.
The study doesn’t prove that antibiotics cause IBD, only that there appears to be a connection.
For the study, Faye’s team used a Danish national medical database from 2000 to 2018 of more than 6.1 million Danes who had not been diagnosed with IBD. In all, 91% were prescribed at least one course of antibiotics during the study period.
From 2000 to 2018, more than 36,000 people were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and nearly 17,000 with Crohn’s disease.
Among people who had taken antibiotics, those between 10 and 40 years of age were 28% more likely to be diagnosed with IBD, as were 48% of 40- to 60-year-olds, and 47% of those in their 60s or older.
The risk was a little higher for Crohn’s disease than for ulcerative colitis: 40% among those aged 10 to 40; 62% among 40to 60-year-olds; and 51% among those in their 60s or older.
The study was recently published in the journal Gut.