In recent years, certain health conditions, such as asthma or allergic diseases have increased. One of the reasons why this may occur, due to the increased use of some medications, that alter the development of the human microbiome.
Can certain medications, which are administered at an early age, make children more likely to suffer from certain allergic diseases? In a large and recent study, they found that yes there was a relationship between antacids and antibiotics, with the probability of suffering allergies in childhood.
The objective of the study was to determine if this association really existed between the use of antacids and antibiotics during the first six months of the baby's life, and the development of allergic diseases in early childhood.
Allergic diseases are understood as those that include the presence of food allergies, anaphylaxis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and urticaria, among others.
To perform this research, data from 792,130 children were used over more than four years, of which 13,708 received antibiotics, 60,209 received h2 antagonists, and 13,687 received proton pump inhibitors. The last two, h2 antagonists and proton pump inhibitors, are medications that are used in case of gastroesophageal reflux.
It was found that in the case of babies who had received these last two medications, the probability of having a food allergy was double, compared to those who had not received them. The risk was particularly high in the case of cow's milk allergy.
In the case of babies who received only antibiotics, the risk of food allergies increased to 14%, while the risk of anaphylaxis was 51% and the risk of asthma was more than double that of those who had not taken antibiotics. .
The researchers consider this to happen because Both antacids and antibiotics disrupt the normal functioning of the intestinal bacteria, causing this type of allergies to occur.
Some time ago we had shared a couple of studies that were very related to the new results found in this one. One of them found that administering antibiotics during the first three years of life deteriorated the baby's intestinal flora, while another had found that giving antibiotics in the first years of life related to increased risk of allergies.
The conclusion of this study, in addition to analyze and confirm the relationship between antacids and antibiotics with the probability of allergies in childhood, is that we must handle this type of medication carefully, and that they should be used only in cases of real need, where the medical benefit is clear.
