A small-scale study conducted by Canadian scientists found that among 36 children who develop ulcerative colitis (ulcerative colitis) or Crohn's disease - two major forms of inflammatory bowel disease - 58 percent of at least one antibiotic was prescribed when the baby is one year old .how to treat an infected ear
how to treat an infected ear piercing. In contrast, only 39 percent of the 360 children not exposed to intestinal inflammation observed in comparison, never get a prescription of antibiotics during the first year of their lives.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, do not prove that early antibiotic use causes inflammation of the intestines in some children. But they support the theory that the factors that affect the balance between the "good" bacteria and "bad" in the gut early in life can lead to inflammation of the colon.
Both colitis and Crohn's disease are characterized by chronic inflammation in the intestines, it can cause symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. This condition is thought to arise from an overreaction of the immune system that actually injure the intestinal tissue in the body, but the reasons underlying this aberrant immune response is still unclear.
There is a genetic component to the case of colitis, because this condition can occur in families. However, experts believe that the environment that can trigger - such as food, infection, or exposure to cigarette smoke - may combine with genetic susceptibility to cause colitis in some people.
The new study appears to be the first to draw a connecting thread between antibiotic use in early life with the appearance of inflammatory bowel disease in childhood, according to the researchers.
However, the study design was not possible withdrawal of any conclusions about cause and effect, said senior researcher, Dr. Charles N. Bernstein, of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
Studies with larger scale and laboratory studies to determine the effect of common antibiotics on different types of intestinal bacteria, are still needed, he said.
In theory, early antibiotic use could create an imbalance of bacteria potentially beneficial and potentially harmful establish residence in the gut during the first year of life. If the composition of the "microflora" is altered gut, the immune system can begin to react abnormally to some bacteria.
For the current study, Bernstein and his colleagues analyzed the medical records of 36 children who were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease between 1996 and 2008, the average age of 8 years. Each child was compared with 10 children who did not have inflammatory bowel by sex, age and area of residence of the same.
The researchers found that children who suffer from colitis are more likely to have prescribed antibiotics during the first year of their life - most commonly given for the case of middle ear infections, but also for respiratory and other infections.
Overall, the use of antibiotics in infants is associated with a threefold increased risk of inflammatory bowel relative to children who are not prescribed antibiotics in the first year of their lives.
Despite the increased relative risk was quite large, but the absolute risk of each child develop colitis due to antibiotic use - if indeed these drugs are blamed to be the culprit, in fact be small, according to Bernstein.
It is still possible that there are factors other than antibiotics alone can explain the link between early use of these drugs with the risk of ulcerative colitis. One alternative, according to Bernstein, is that certain conditions are usually treated with antibiotics - such as middle ear infections - are associated with an increased risk of intestinal inflammation.
However, he added, the biological mechanism underlying this association remains unclear.
For now, Bernstein said that the findings could be a reminder to avoid the indiscriminate use of antibiotics as we can. Parents should be aware that antibiotics are not required to address respiratory infections, which in fact are caused by viruses and do not even respond to antibiotics.
Although cases of middle ear infections so common in infancy, about 80 percent of children actually heal without antibiotics, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. In treatment guidelines, the agency said babies and children without severe symptoms can often wait 48 to 72 hours before the start of the use of antibiotics to see if the infection can be improved by itself.
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