Antibiotics overuse may increase diabetes risk

People having frequent antibiotic prescription are more likely to have type 2 diabetes than those who take lesser antibacterial.

Researchers analyzed data from three national registries of Denmark to determine whether the use of antibiotics may be associated with the development of type 2 diabetes. They tracked antibiotic prescriptions for more than 170,000 individuals who had type 2 diabetes and for 1.3 million individuals who did not have the condition.

The experts discovered that individuals with type 2 diabetes had greater number of antibiotic prescription annually as compared to those without the disease. They also found that individuals who filled more prescriptions for antibiotics were at greater risk for type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Moreover, the strongest association was for narrow-spectrum antibiotics, which are effective against specific families of bacteria.

“In our research, we found people who have type 2 diabetes used significantly more antibiotics up to 15 years prior to diagnosis compared to healthy volunteers,” said Dr. Kristian Hallundbaek Mikkelsen, one of the researchers from Gentofe Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark.

Past research has shown that antibiotic treatments can alter bacteria in an individual’s gut and that certain gut bacteria may lead to impaired ability to metabolize sugar seen in people with diabetes. This may explain why higher rates of antibiotic use is linked with the development of type 2 diabetes but more research is needed to explain the findings, Dr. Mikkelsen told the reporters.

Antibiotics kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria, are the main stay of treating infections for more than six decades. Diabetes Mellitus type two (DM-II) is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia and it is the most common form of the condition, accounting for about 90 % of all cases. It occurs when body is unable to use the hormone insulin effectively, causing high blood glucose levels. IMAGE/mirror.co.uk

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