Each course of antibiotics during young adulthood was associated with a 2-4% increase in risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the results of a new analysis.
Using data from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS) and the national FINRISK study, investigators determined each additional exposure to an antibiotic course was associated with increased risk of subset type 2 diabetes in both studies, with exposure to 5 or more courses associated with a potential doubling in risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.
“The results of this study show that prior exposure to systemic antibiotics was associated with increased risk of incident type 2 diabetes in more than 25,000 participants. Furthermore, prior exposure to antibiotics was also associated with overweight/obesity. The observed risks persisted even after adjustment for numerous potential confounding factors, including BMI at baseline,” wrote investigators.
This study, “Use of antibiotics and risk of type 2 diabetes, overweight and obesity: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study and the national FINRISK study,” was published in BMC Endocrine Disorders.
