An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
July 18th, 2015
Disrupting the Normal Microbiota Might Make Us Fat, Allergic, Asthmatic, and Lead to Celiac Disease
Over at Open Forum Infectious Diseases, I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Martin Blaser, Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at New York University. He’s also the Director of the Human Microbiome Project, and author of the book, Missing Microbes: How the overuse of antibiotics is fueling our modern plagues.
Marty has been a long-time champion of the concept that our normal bacterial flora strongly influence our health. (He prefers the term “microbiota”, for the record.) He makes a compelling case that the overuse of antibiotics over the years has contributed to several modern health epidemics, including obesity, allergic diseases, asthma, and celiac disease, along with some cancers. [Edit: And now juvenile idiopathic arthritis? The list keeps growing!]
The implications of the research he cites are far reaching, suggesting that the downside of antibiotic overuse could extend way beyond selection of resistant organisms.
Full interview here, transcript here.
Highly recommended!
4 Responses to “Disrupting the Normal Microbiota Might Make Us Fat, Allergic, Asthmatic, and Lead to Celiac Disease”
Paul E. Sax, MD
Contributing Editor
NEJM Journal Watch
Infectious Diseases
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Thanks so much for that, Paul. It was a great read and a timely one for me, as I will soon be lecturing on infections and antibiotics to undergrad nursing students. The idea that disturbing the normal gut microbiota does not always lead us back to “normal” once the antibiotic is stopped is more than a bit frightening. Perhaps every time I write for an antibiotic, I should be thinking, “Which bacteria am I causing to go extinct”? Obviously, we can’t just stop writing for antibiotics. But it makes me wonder what the additive effect is, over a person’s lifetime, of taking antibiotics.
Some very interesting findings here. It definitely makes me think we should look into how often antibiotics are prescribed nowadays – and perhaps find ways to help what issues this may be causing.
I’d be interested in Dr’s. Blaser and Sax’s opinion on administration of “probiotics” eg Saccharomyces boulardii tabs along with an antibiotic which is commonplace for hospitalists here in Arizona for discharge meds in patients admitted with CAP, UTI, diverticulitis, etc. Thank you. CCH
Definitely not. There is a body of research that “probiotic” (which is a simple wine-makers yeast) is extremely contra-indicated in people in hospitals.