A new threat posed by antibiotics has been identified

Ilya Vedmedenko, Naked Science

Scientists have found that the use of antibiotics at an early age dramatically increases the chances of getting allergic diseases in the future.

The results of the new study can be found in EurekAlert! (Early life exposure to antibiotics is related to increased risk of allergies later in life). Within its framework, scientists analyzed 22 scientific papers made during the period 1966-2015. These studies focused on how the use of antibiotics in the first few years of a person's life is associated with the risk of developing diseases in the future. Researchers, in particular, were interested in diseases such as dermatitis and pollinosis, also known as hay fever. The first is an inflammatory skin lesion that occurs as a result of exposure to damaging factors that have a chemical, physical or biological nature. As for pollinosis, it is a seasonal disease caused by an allergic reaction of the body to plant pollen.

The risks of dermatitis were studied on the example of 395 thousand people, and pollinosis – on the example of more than 257 thousand. Scientists also examined 65 thousand people suffering from both diseases. As it turned out, taking antibiotics at an early age increased the chances of dermatitis by 15-41%. In the case of hay fever, the risks increased by 14-56%.

As the cause of allergic diseases, scientists call the death of microorganisms living in the intestine, which is caused by taking antibiotics. This leads to suppression of the human immune system, which makes it more vulnerable to allergies.

An antibiotic is a substance that can suppress the growth of a number of microorganisms or destroy them. Antibiotics are used as medicines, causing relatively little damage to the cells of the macroorganism. Such substances may be of microbial, animal or plant origin.

Earlier, another group of researchers concluded that the use of antibiotics in childhood can cause asthma and obesity. The reason for this is their negative impact on the intestinal microflora.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  08.09.2016