Antibiotics: The Troublemaker for Our Gut Flora
If you google the terms antibiotics + gut, you will not only be confronted with over 3.5 million results, but you will also realize that this topic seems to concern many people, such as Dr. Sofia Förslund from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.
Antibiotics and the Gut Flora– What You Should Know
When we talk about “antibiotics,” we mean medications used to treat bacterial infections. Their function is to inhibit and/or kill “pathogenic” bacteria in the human body.
While antibiotics do not work on fungi and so-called viral diseases such as flu or measles, an antibiotic is often prescribed for bacterial diseases such as scarlet fever or lung/tonsil infections. The crux? Not only the supposedly pathogenic pathogens but also the beneficial bacteria that live on our skin or mucous membranes come into contact with antibiotics. The possible consequences include:
- various side effects
- allergic reactions
- development of resistance
- threatening development of multi-resistant germs
- long-term damage to the microbiome
Negative and Long-term Consequences for the Microbiome
The Swedish researcher at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin investigates the interactions between humans and the microbiome (gut flora) and examines how broad-spectrum antibiotics affect the interplay of gut bacteria. With her international team, she was able to show in a study that the microbiome almost recovers about six months after taking antibiotics, but not completely, because: some of the former bacterial species were missing. The number of resistance genes in the bacteria had also increased as expected, reports Dr. Förslund.
This negative impact on the microbiome was also confirmed by a study from the Marine Biological Laboratory in cooperation with Stanford University (Woods Hole Study; Palo Alto, California). The study revealed that participants had 3,300 to 5,700 different bacterial species in their gut before taking antibiotics. After taking them, the number decreased by a whole third. All other bacterial species changed in quantitative ratio, resulting in a so-called dysbiosis. The balance of the gut flora could not be restored within four or even six weeks, as some bacterial strains did not re-establish themselves.
The Balancing Act for Our Gut
But why is the multitude of bacteria and the balance in our microbiome (= gut flora) so important? To answer this question, one must know that our gut is essentially our second brain. Alone 90% of the visceral nerve is located in the gut and carries this information to our brain, which in turn interprets it as emotions. But the immune system is also largely located in our microbiome: Around 80% of all immune reactions take place there, and about 70% of immune cells are located in our largest organ. Out of (Gut) Balance with Antibiotics
If our gut flora becomes imbalanced, digestive issues, food intolerances, overweight, obesity, autoimmune reactions, a weakened immune system, and even mental disorders can follow. Taking antibiotics often starts a true vicious cycle: Beginning with a weakened immune system, infections or fungal infections often follow within a few weeks, which in turn must be treated with medications.
