pillI grew up in the waning Golden Age of antibiotics. They had swept onto the medical scene decades before, rescuing lives from previously hopeless infections. Then they entered more everyday life of strep throats and bladder infections, bringing relief and comfort to many common illnesses. However, the power and wonder began to wane as resistance began to emerge in many bacteria (causing them to fail in killing bacteria), but new antibiotics replaced the past superheroes and kept us relatively safer than before.
Today we live in an age of returning anxiety, a time where bacteria are overcoming antibiotics seemingly faster than the drug companies can develop new ones. This would be enough to cause some alarm, yet there are other revelations about antibiotic effects on our health which hint at their dark side. Just like the famed character Dr. Jekyl who was also Mr. Hyde, antibiotics both heal and harm. As evidence of such a double nature, a recent study by medical researchers found an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in patients who had previously taken multiple courses of certain antibiotics.
The European Journal of Endocrinology is publishing the report. I have not read the entire article yet, but the summary is intriguing. They took over 200,000 diabetic patients and looked at the number of antibiotic courses they had taken at least one year prior to their diagnosis. These were all type 2 diabetics, the type which usually begins in adults and can often be treated with medications by mouth rather than insulin shots. They compared these patients to over 800,000 non diabetics. People who had taken antibiotics had an increased risk of developing diabetes for penicillins, cephalosporins (class includes cephalexin, ceftriaxone, omnicef and many others), macrolides (like Z Packs), and quinolones (cipro, levaquin and others). The more courses of antibiotics lead to higher risks. People who had taken over 5 courses of quinolone antibiotics had a 37% increase risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
What could explain this connection? The developing field of the gut microbiome might be the answer. We have trillions of bacteria in our intestinal tract, more in number than the number of cells in our body. God really did make us from the dust of the earth and this may be a left over fingerprint of that work. In these trillions, we have good and bad bacteria. The bad ones can either cause infections like diarrhea or ulcers while the good ones can help digest our food and produce vitamins for us to use. We are learning more about how these bacteria also change our immune, nervous, and hormonal systems, making us more or less susceptible to various diseases. Changes in the concentrations of the good and bad bacteria occur when we take antibiotics. We are just touching on the tip of the iceberg in regards to understanding the effects of these bacteria on our health.
Should you slap your doctor the next time they offer a prescription for antibiotics? No, you simply need to consider the risk – benefit of taking that medicine. If you are suffering severely or are in danger from an infection, antibiotics can literally be a life saver. On the other hand, if you only have a runny nose or mild cough, maybe you should reconsider taking that antibiotic when you would get better soon anyway. You need a doctor who takes the time to help you make an informed and wise decision for your best health interests. Ultimately, you can avoid health anxieties, not by trusting medicine or even a good doctor, but by looking to God who made them and who made you. With wisdom and this trust in God, you can make wise decisions about medications for your health.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
