Antibiotics may increase risk of type-1 diabetes in kids
Parents will hopefully stop pressurizing their doctors to prescribe antibiotics especially to their kids after reading this article as a commonly prescribed drug can significantly increase the risk of type-1 diabetes.
The immune system mistakenly destroys the islet cells in the pancreas that produce insulin in type-1 diabetes; and without insulin, blood sugar rises to levels that can damage nerves and blood vessels.
Although the study was conducted on mice, Martin Blaser, Professor at New York University in the US says, ‘Our study begins to clarify the mechanisms by which antibiotic-driven changes in gut microbiomes may increase risk for Type 1 diabetes.’
In the study, the team examined the effects of exposure to either continuous low-dose antibiotics or pulsed antibiotic therapy, which mimics the doses used to treat many infections in children.
‘This is the first study of its kind suggesting that antibiotic use can alter the microbiota and have lasting effects on immunological and metabolic development, resulting in autoimmunity,’ said Jessica Dunne, Director at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) which is a US-based research organisation.
The paper published in the journal Nature Microbiology, mentions that while the children’s exposure to microbe-killing antibiotics has increased in recent decades, the incidence of autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes has more than doubled.
Judicious use of antibiotic is not only necessary to prevent resistance to the organism but to prevent diabetes in kids!
