Early childhood antibiotics may change gut microbes and lead to adolescent prediabetes

Of course, sometimes they are necessary.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/tes-eca040216.php

Public Release: 3-Apr-2016
Early childhood antibiotics may change gut microbes and lead to adolescent prediabetes
The Endocrine Society

Young children who take antibiotics may disrupt their gut's microbial ecosystem and be more likely to develop prediabetes in adolescence, new research from Greece reports. The study results will be presented in a poster Sunday, April 3, at ENDO 2016, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Boston.

"Increased consumption of antibiotics up to the age of 3 seems to decrease beneficial gut microbes and alter nutrient absorption and metabolism. This may lead to prediabetes, an early high-risk stage of Type 2 diabetes mellitus," said lead study investigator and author Charikleia Stefanaki, MD, MSc, Fellow and Research Associate in Pediatric Endocrinology, at Athens University Medical School in Athens, Greece.

"Antibiotics should be administered only when really indicated," Stefanaki said. "Gut microbes are a delicate 'organ' frequently neglected by the medical community that produces vitamins, hormones and micronutrients, interacts with the gut's nervous system, and influences the gut's immune response."

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