I remember years ago one of my employees had a child that had incessant ear infections. Always on antibiotics, until she reached the age of six, when she finally had an operation to repair the ear issue.
To be honest, it never dawned on me how those antibiotic protocols would affect the child. Now, Dr. Martin Blaser (Rutgers) is attempting to discern the effects of antibiotics on the child’s brain development. He is studying the changes to the gut-brain axis due to antibiotics- plus the affects of altering the gut microbiome due to the antibiotic behavior.
He, and his colleagues (A Volkova, K Ruggles, A Schulfer [these three from NYU], Z Gao [Rutgers], and S D Ginsberg [also NYU]) published their initial findings in iScience. (Effects of early-life Penicillin exposure on the gut microbiome and frontal cortex and amygdala gene expression.)
(Blaser developed this hypothesis developed because he knew that most antibiotics are administered to farm animals, which helps them grow bigger and faster. Why would those same drugs not they have affects on humans?)
It turns out most US kids experience at least three courses of antibiotics by the time they reach the age of 2. And, those kids have higher incidences of asthma, obesity, diabetes, and celiac disease.
The researchers are now in the throes of administering doses of antibiotics to mice, examining the effects on the amygdala, brain cortex, and the gut microbiome. Right now, all they have is preliminary data, nor do they understand how microbiome changes can affect the brain.
I am looking forward to their next publication.
This is interesting. Reading a parenting book back in the mid-90s when preparing for my first son, it reiterated that parents should be cautious about too many antibiotics. I’m glad I followed that advice. For my two sons, I only accepted antibiotics for those bacterial infections where necessary, such as strep throat. Today, they are quite healthy: no allergies, and are still rarely sick with colds and flu.
I’m glad you did, too, Angie!
This is an interesting study that gives great cause for concern if the findings are verified. I believe antibiotics are seriously overused, and this may give doctors an additional reason not to prescribe them.
Antibiotics in infants should be avoided, unless thaá child is at risk.
Wow. Maybe we finally might have a partial answer to why our obesity epidemic (it isn’t always true that obese people are lazy or eat bad. At one time I knew an obese woman who was a triathlete. She taught some of my exercise classes).
That seems to be the story behind GoLo, too, Alana.
Very nice
Thanks so much for the visit and hte comment.