EJE article: The effect of past antibiotic exposure on diabetes risk

Repeated use of some types of antibiotics may put people at increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes, possibly by altering their gut bacteria, according to a large observational study published yesterday in theEuropean Journal of Endocrinology. The findings emphasise the need to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions.

A team from the Departments of Gastroenterology and Medical Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania (Ben Boursi et al.) looked at the number of antibiotic prescriptions given to over 200,000 diabetics at least one year before they were diagnosed with the disease, and compared this to the number given to 800,000 non-diabetic patients of the same age and sex.

Read the full paper (link:http://dx.doi.org/10.1530/EJE-14-1163)