The human body has billions of bacteria inside itself and around itself. Some of them are pathogenic, cause disease, while others are considered beneficial to the body, and even live symbiotically with us. When we take antibiotics, we eradicate the good bacteria along with the bad bacteria, which can cause more disease than it helps.
The common practice of overusing antibiotics may be fueling the dramatic rise in inflammatory conditions, including type 1 diabetes, obesity, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, and asthma. Many of these diseases have more than doubled over the years, according to experts.
Humans are considered “meta organisms,” which means we have a great many microbial organisms living on the various aspects of our body and within the body, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract.
There is good evidence to suggest that these healthy microbes help us. They help us get energy from complex carbohydrates we can’t break down and help us gain access to beneficial nutrients, including vitamin K. They help us fight off various infections and may protect us from autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.
Antibiotics and Their Consequences
There is no question that antibiotics are miracle medications. They are part of the reason why we have an extended life expectancy—from age 63 in 1940 to 78 in those living today in the US. One big problem with the overuse of antibiotics is that they select out drug-resistant organisms. A second big problem is that they change the microbial contents of those living on our body, which can adversely affect the immune system.
One study showed how the gut bacteria were affected by two courses of ciprofloxacin, a commonly used antibiotic. Using the antibiotic resulted in profound and rapid changes in the population of microbes in the gut that never really fully recovered to be in their original state. Other studies have shown that changes in the gut bacteria, including the presence of antibiotic resistant organisms, can last up to 3 years or more.
Studies showed that the bacterium in our guts, known as Helicobacter pylori, is related to inflammation of the stomach, stomach ulcers, and stomach cancer. This bacterium has been around in our guts forever, and is rapidly disappearing from the guts so that only 6 percent of kids in Europe and in the US had the microbe in their system.
Helicobacter pylori seems to protect the esophagus form injury; its absence has led to fewer cases of stomach ulcers and stomach cancer but has led to an increase in acid reflux and esophageal cancer. There appears to be an inverse relationship between esophageal diseases and the absence of Helicobacter pylori.
People who have had antibiotics to eradicate Helicobacter pylori are also more prone to developing hay fever, asthma, and skin allergies while they are children.
Immune Signaling Systems
While it is clear that these beneficial bacteria help our health, scientists still don’t know how they affect the biological systems of immunity and metabolism. Antibiotics can cause the bacterium known as Clostridium difficile, which can be seen in healthy people, can cause severe infections that result in inflammation of the colon and infections of the colon because the other bacteria can be killed off.
In studies of germ-free mice, for example, it was found that these mice are more susceptible to getting infections by food poisoning bacteria, such as Salmonella, when compared to those who have normal amounts of bacteria in their guts.
Research reveals that having microbes in our body is a complicated system and that it is this system that keeps us healthy. Certain gut bacteria are known to stimulate T cells, which are a type of white blood cell that can reduce or promote inflammation as part of the immune response. The gut flora, when healthy and not decimated by antibiotics, keeps the pro-inflammatory T cells and the anti-inflammatory T cells balanced. An imbalance can cause susceptibility to immune diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis.
Restoring Molecules
Experts in immunity say that we need to more judiciously use antibiotics and develop drugs that target only specific bacteria, leaving the healthy bacteria unharmed. We need to understand more about probiotics and how they can help the immune system by building up healthy bacteria after the use of antibiotics. It may be that probiotics will one day be used right along with antibiotics to help maintain healthy bodily flora.
