Too Many Antibiotics Might Raise Colon Cancer Risk

THURSDAY, Sept. 2, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Here's different crushed to debar unnecessary usage of antibiotics: Long-term usage of these medications could summation your hazard of colon cancer, researchers say.

"While successful galore cases antibiotic therapy is indispensable and saves lives, successful the lawsuit of little superior ailments that tin beryllium expected to heal anyway, caution should beryllium exercised. Above each to forestall bacteria from processing absorption but, arsenic this survey shows, besides due to the fact that antibiotics whitethorn summation the hazard of aboriginal colon cancer," said survey writer Sophia Harlid, a crab researcher from Umeå University successful Sweden.

However, there's nary crushed to panic, she added.

"There is perfectly nary origin for alarm simply due to the fact that you person taken antibiotics. The summation successful hazard is mean and the effect connected the implicit hazard to the idiosyncratic is reasonably small," Harlid explained successful a assemblage quality release.

This nexus to colon crab mightiness beryllium owed to the interaction that antibiotics person connected the intestinal microbiome, oregon gut bacteria, according to the study.

The researchers analyzed information connected 40,000 patients successful the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry, and compared them with a power radical of 200,000 cancer-free radical successful Sweden's wide population.

Investigators besides examined antibiotic usage information successful Swedish Prescribed Drug Register.

They recovered that some women and men who took antibiotics for implicit six months had a 17% higher hazard of processing crab successful the ascending colon -- the archetypal portion of the colon to beryllium reached by nutrient aft the tiny intestine -- than those who didn't instrumentality antibiotics.

The accrued hazard of colon crab was already evident 5 to 10 years aft taking antibiotics. Even though those who took the astir antibiotics had the top summation successful risk, determination was a tiny but statistically important summation successful the hazard of colon crab aft a azygous people of antibiotics, according to the study.

There was nary nexus betwixt antibiotics and an accrued hazard of crab successful the descending colon oregon an accrued hazard of rectal crab successful men. Women taking antibiotics had a somewhat reduced hazard of rectal cancer, according to the researchers.

The study, published Sept. 1 successful the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, confirms the results of an earlier smaller British study.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has much connected colon cancer.

SOURCE: Umeå University, quality release, Aug. 30, 2021