We’ve known for years that antibiotics can disrupt the gut microbiome. A new Nature Medicine study suggests those effects may be detectable for much longer than we thought.
Researchers combined prescription records with stool microbiome data from about 15,000 adults and reviewed antibiotic use over the previous eight years. The most significant microbiome changes were from antibiotics taken in the past year. But researchers also found substantial changes linked to antibiotics taken as long as four to eight years earlier.
Even people who had taken just one course of antibiotics could still have lower microbial diversity several years later.
Does This Mean the Microbiome Never Recovers?
Not necessarily.
The study showed evidence of recovery, especially during the first two years after antibiotic exposure. But recovery appeared to slow after that, and some differences remained detectable years later.
This was an observational study. It shows an association between past antibiotic use and later microbiome composition, but it cannot prove that a specific antibiotic permanently changed a person’s microbiome or caused disease.
Bottom Line
Antibiotics can be lifesaving and should be used when they’re necessary; the problem is using them when they’re not. Antibiotics don’t just target the bacteria causing an infection; they also affect the ones in your gut that are doing important work for your health.
Avoid taking antibiotics “just in case,” and if you have a virus, remember, antibiotics only work for bacterial infections. If you do find yourself needing one, check out Dr. Chutkan’s Things To Do If You’ve Recently Taken an Antibiotic.
A minor infection may be gone in a week. Your microbiome may remember for much longer.
