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Posted 9/24/2012 8:50 PM (GMT 0)
Antibiotics in Childhood May Increase Bowel Disease Risk: Study

"The earlier children take antibiotics and the more they take, the higher the risk of later developing the inflammatory bowel diseases known as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, the researchers found."

"Earlier studies had suggested a link between bowel disease and antibiotics use, but most of those studies had limitations. The new study, published online Sept. 24 in the journal Pediatrics, looked at data on more than 1 million children 17 years old or younger in nearly 500 health practices participating in a United Kingdom health network. The children were followed for two or more years between 1994 and 2009."
health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/09/24/antibiotics-in-childhood-may-increase-bowel-disease-risk-study
Posted 9/24/2012 10:03 PM (GMT 0)
It makes sense to me. We take antibiotics for childhood and adult health problems but doctors do not suggest taking probiotics to re-populate the good bacteria......at least I never knew about them.
Posted 9/24/2012 11:52 PM (GMT 0)
I had strep a ton as a kid and was on abx a lot until I had my tonsils out. So I think it definitely could play a role in my UC. It's a big reason why we were pretty quick to have tubes put in my son's ears when he got ear infections and why I always mega-dose him with probiotics when he's on abx.
Posted 9/25/2012 12:18 AM (GMT 0)
This doesn't apply to me. As a child I was very healthy, hardly got sick and I can count on one hand how many times I was actually on antibiotics. It wasn't until I was a young adult that my immune system went haywire where it caused me to be constantly sick which resulted in multiple courses of antibiotics.

But it might explain the increase of IBD in the general population, kids nowadays just have to sneeze and doctors want to put them on antibiotics.
Posted 9/25/2012 12:19 AM (GMT 0)
Same as red, I never got sick, think my immune system got bored so went after my colon.
Posted 9/25/2012 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
Sherry, I think parents are as much to blame as the doctors, even though docs are the ones who can say no to the script. I have lot of friends with young kiddos, and hear a lot of complaints about a doc not Rx- ing for something that is clearly just a cold! So some docs are standing their ground!
Posted 9/25/2012 12:24 AM (GMT 0)
Same with fruitgirl. Was on and off of antibiotics for a year-and-a-half when I was very young. Tonsillitis kicked my butt. Then on antibiotics none stop whenevere I got sick. I was on one before I got the symptoms.
Posted 9/25/2012 1:25 AM (GMT 0)
Very true FG. I think that parents also push for the antibiotics because they don't like to see their children sick (makes them WANT to do something, anything). I'm glad to hear some docs are standing their ground :) I'm out of the loop with little ones but I do recall that back when my kids were little, the docs just loved to whip out that prescription pad.
Posted 9/25/2012 1:33 AM (GMT 0)
I wasn't on antibiotics much in my life time...still ended up with crohn's....my sisters kids practically grew up on antibiotics, they were both always sick and her doc loved pushing antis on them constantly...they're in their mid/late 20's now and still no signs yet of an IBD and they not only have the risk of IBD on my sisters side, but on their Dad's side as well, one of their cousins on their Dad's side also has crohn's. That alone already increases their risk of developing an IBD, me (their Aunt with CD) their cousin with CD and their Grandma (mine and my sisters mom) having UC....over-use of antis would only be considered a possible trigger for an IBD though, I personally still think you have to predisposed to it and that as research has often pointed out, everyone's trigger(s) likely differ and it's more than likely to be more than one environmental trigger needed to set the disease in motion.
Posted 9/25/2012 2:12 AM (GMT 0)
I think it's become a daycare generation thing.
Many parents can't deal w/ sick kids because they both have to work because they can't live without that BMW, McMansion or the lake house etc etc., The end result is more scripts for antibiotics which may lead to more IBD, a vicious cycle if there ever was one.
Not always the case- but preK & all the pre-pre school stuff is basically free daycare.
Nothing wrong with living simply and raising your kids yourself -the old fashioned way.
Discuss please...
Posted 9/25/2012 2:29 AM (GMT 0)
When I was a kid,yes I got sick,no school until first grade. Back then in the early 1950's when you got antibiotics you got a shot,this is before I ever went to school. I cant remember if they also gave you pills or not. This is when the doc would come to the house with his black bag. I believe that shots were probably easier on your gut,the antibiotics dont go directly into the gut,but it was much harder on your butt cheek.
Anyway my grand daughter was in day care from about 8 weeks old,all kinds of ear infections needed tubes,lots of antibiotics,they are real sewer pit. But that should strengthen the immune sys. But all the antibiotics probably wreck your gut bacteria.
She was given lots of yogurt.
My son who lost his colon did not go to daycare,first mass exposure to kids was kindergarden. He has a brother and sister,and we had a dog at the time,and he should have had a good immune sys,but guess not. Multiple exposure to kids and pets is supposed to strenghten the immune sys.
Old Mike
Posted 9/25/2012 11:02 AM (GMT 0)
     I'm in Old Mike's league, am now 66 yrs old.  I didn't read the article, but the statement doesn't surprise me at all.

     When I was a kid in the 50's my doctor did house calls.  Yes, I sure got my share of needles in the butt.  He never did say what was in those needles but they sure worked.  I suppose some high powered antibiotic.  Later, in my teens, in the late 50's to mid 60's, I still went to the same doctor.  This time he was on an erythromycin kick.  Yep, everything from a hangnail to strep....got a script for erythromycin.  The reason for erythromycin being I had become allergic to penicillin!  My mother never questioned him.  She only had an 8th grade education.  Back then, you never questioned the doctor or the priest.  They were worshiped!!

     In a nutshell, it was probably a combo of those antibiotics AND genetics.  My paternal grandmother died in 1952 from cancer of the rectum.  Found out a few years ago that nana had the same symptoms as I when I suffered with UP.

     I am also wondering if being on that Adkins Diet finally was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

     Whatever did me in did a good job of it!  I am glad I had surgery.  Don't think I would be alive today without it.

Posted 9/25/2012 12:12 PM (GMT 0)
Actually beatUC, when it comes to illness, it doesn't really matter if a kid goes to daycare or not.  If they do go to daycare, they get all the colds and crap at a younger age.  If they don't go to daycare, they get all that when they start elementary school. 

http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=384057

"Conclusions Children contract infections around the time they initiate large structured group activities. Participation in large GCC before 2½ years old, although associated with increased infections at that time, seems to protect against infections during the elementary school years. Physicians may reassure parents that infections during the first child care years do not lead to a higher overall burden of infections."

 

My husband and I both work because we love what we do.  I have a PhD and he has an MS.  We both work in field where if we were to take 5+ years off to "raise our kids" until they were in elementary school, we'd be so far behind we wouldn't be able to get a job again.  And we don't have a BMW or a house on the lake or a McMansion.  We do live comfortably, but we sock a ton of money away each year so that we can retire and not stress constantly about money and so we can send our kids to college and not have them graduate with mountains of debt. 


I was a SAHM for a few months when we first moved to NY from WA, because I didn't have a job at the time.  I was not happy.  I'm a much better mom when I work.  Period. 

And Pre-K and preschool aren't just "free daycare."  I have several friends who are early elementary school teachers, and they ALL say that kids who have been to a quality daycare (and quality is key here) do better in school, both academically and socially. 

 

 

Posted 9/25/2012 12:44 PM (GMT 0)
Not all true fruitgirl, I know for a fact home schooled children do better when they enter school systems and children that attend daycare don't do any better, it's been well documented.
And as I said in my original post, it's not always the case, but most parents who both work are chasing money at the expense of their kids.
I'm a big proponent of not having someone else raise your kids. Common sense has gone out the door it seems exchanged for the lure of greed.
Posted 9/25/2012 1:00 PM (GMT 0)
And there's documentation that says daycare kids do better: http://www.ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Early-Childhood-Education.pdf Early childhood education has received an increasing amount of attention in the last two decades in the United States and in other countries. There is now a   strong consensus on the many benefits of preschool. Studies have shown that   attending a high-quality preschool program not only increases children’s readiness for kindergarten, but also causes positive long-term improvements in participants’ school performance and social outcomes. Among the documented results of preschool education are lower rates of grade retention, increased rates of high school graduation, and less likelihood of being convicted of a crime for both juveniles and adults. Preschools have the greatest impact on children living in poverty and those who do not speak English at home. High-quality preschool programs act like preventative medicine: the initial investment more than pays for itself both financially and socially.     I imagine you could find resources saying the homeschooled kids do better.  What I really bet is that the kids whose parents actually PAY ATTENTION to their children do better.  And while my husband and I both work, we pay a whole lot of attention to our son when we're at home.  We don't do much of the "extra" crap that some do.  We devote our non-work time to family.  We eat dinner together as a family.    And someone else is not raising my son, nor will someone else raise the baby I'm currently expecting.  My husband and I will.  It personally sounds like you have no experience with a quality daycare to understand just how good and positive it can be.   
Posted 9/25/2012 1:38 PM (GMT 0)

beatUC said...
Not all true fruitgirl, I know for a fact home schooled children do better when they enter school systems and children that attend daycare don't do any better, it's been well documented.
And as I said in my original post, it's not always the case, but most parents who both work are chasing money at the expense of their kids.
I'm a big proponent of not having someone else raise your kids. Common sense has gone out the door it seems exchanged for the lure of greed.

I had pills as a kid, not very often though.

My kid just hopped on the bus, she is here every single day, I word downtown but get a lot of work from home so I tend to be here when she gets off the bus. Best straight salary ever so when everyone quit last month due to new CEO hard landing I stayed, small company is flexible, working at a big company would wipe out my WFH and flex time to be here after school. Luckily I can do both chase the money AND not have someone else raise her as long as we keep this company going, just exited a risky rough patch.
Posted 9/25/2012 4:01 PM (GMT 0)

Red_34 said...
Very true FG. I think that parents also push for the antibiotics because they don't like to see their children sick (makes them WANT to do something, anything). I'm glad to hear some docs are standing their ground :) I'm out of the loop with little ones but I do recall that back when my kids were little, the docs just loved to whip out that prescription pad.

I fight the docs every tiem they want to put my kids on antibiotics. I ask them if it is really necessary and tell them the things I've read and learned adn I have refused them once or twice but the docs make you feel like a bad parent when you go against their advice and they try and push them hard. So not all parents push for them, some push against and are ostrocized for it in a way..... I am also against unecessary vaccines. My kids are vaccinated for the big ones that have over 50 years of existance and tiels behind them but new ones, like the chocken pox vaccine, no way no how. I want my kdis to actually get the chocken pox, so much better and healthier for them in the long run. I am also not a big fan of flu shots, never gotten one and my kids don't either. My wife is a hospital nurse and is forced to get them by her emplyer though as it's a requirement for that job....

Posted 9/25/2012 4:15 PM (GMT 0)

beatUC said...
Not all true fruitgirl, I know for a fact home schooled children do better when they enter school systems and children that attend daycare don't do any better, it's been well documented.
And as I said in my original post, it's not always the case, but most parents who both work are chasing money at the expense of their kids.
I'm a big proponent of not having someone else raise your kids. Common sense has gone out the door it seems exchanged for the lure of greed.

Again I think you missed the part about the QUALITY of the place they go. If they just go to some in home daycare where they aren't stimulated and don't do anything then I can agree with you. However, there can be balance as well. My wife is a hospital nurse and I also work. My wife's work hours were such that my kids went to the hospitals onsite "School for children ages 3months to 5 years". They went there roughly 2.5 days per week because of the unique hours hhospital nurses work. All three of my kids are all in school now (ages 7, 10 and 12). All three are at the top of their class academically and every report card their teachers tell us in writing and verbally how well they do socially and how respectful they are of their teachers and others. My middle child was tested and alowed in early entry, she is now in 5th grade (age wise she shold be in 4th grade) and she is in 6th grade math and reading. I believe we as parents get some of the credit but I can tell you categorically that I do not believe for one second that my kids would be doing as well as they do in school had they not attended the "daycare" they attended. There were no TV's in the school, everyday was a new sensation or learning adventure, they had really quality TEACHERS for all the kids. They learned responsibility like cleanign up after themselves after every meal, learning their ABC's, learning sensation things, going to the nearby zoo frequently, doing all kinds of art activities, learnign daily about respecting their friends and their teachers. I beleive my wife and I to be good decent parents but we would not have been capable of teaching some the things they learned in that "daycare" even if one of us was a full tiem stay at home parent. Now my kids were also not in their 8 hours a day 5 days+ a week so maybe it was the balance of having it be just a few days a week there and a the rest with mom and dad so that is tough to say but I can say definitively my kids needed both and got a great deal out of both. As for you knowing for a 'fact' home schooled kids do better, I contest that big time. I'm not syaing some do or don't but to say all do is a complete misnomer. My father in law is a superintendent and my mother in law a grade school teacher and my sister inlaw a grade school teacher and becasue fo that  I know several home schooled kids that have entered "real schools" and they do not do better by a logn shot. They are socially awkward, have no idea how to interact with people, don't understand the teaching methods of the traditional teachers and have seen several fail in many subjects. Again there are many hme schooled kids who do great academcally and I don't deny that but to say it's universal its ridiculous and worong aslo academics are not the ONLY areas of achievement remember and are not the only areas of "success" in life, though they are the ones most focused on (sometime incorrectly) when we discuss schools. As for saying families where both parents work do it just for greed and chasing money, that is beyond insulting and I won't addres sit further than that but the overwhelming majority fo this country has to work to feed itself. Some are selfish but to say a majority are is insulting to ahrdworking people barely making a living everywhere...

Post Edited (butte1) : 9/25/2012 10:22:18 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/25/2012 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
Disturbance of the ecology of the gut microbes is always mentioned right along side genetics and environmental triggers, so it makes a lot of sense that unintended effects of antibiotics could lead to gut microbe disbiosis. It also makes sense that probiotics might mitigate unwanted gut effects. I had massive amounts of several IV antibiotics when I was dying of sepsis and out cold for a week in the ICU. I pulled through. The antibiotics saved my life. But within months I had UC. They gave me a few doses of probiotics at the hospital after they stopped the IV antibiotics, but I don't think they helped a lot because I was on large doses of oral antibiotics for a few more weeks.
Posted 9/25/2012 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with this study to some degree. I have a story that could account for one of these studies. about three years ago I was surfing and cut my leg open pretty bad, the cut turned into MRSA, a staph infection that is resistant to most antibiotics. I was getting extremely sick and had to be put on 10 + different kinds of antibiotics, finally we found one that worked for that strain of MRSA. After my battle with this staph infection and the numerous antibiotics I was put on for such a short amount of time, I started to develop the symptoms of UC. Every year my gut issues got worse until I was diagnosed with moderate-severe ulcerative colitis. Sad , but I would have died if I didn't get the right antibiotics. Modern medicine is tricky and very scary.
Posted 9/25/2012 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
I had ear infections up until my teenage years and this was a little before docs started doing the ear tube thing. antibiotics every time. Of course, I can also blame the junk I used to eat, the stress of an abusive father and a whole host of other things. I just feel that it is an accumulation of things, not just one, that contributes to UC.

And to just put my two cents in ... my kids (13 and 10) did daycare and elementary school but now are in their 3rd year of homeschool. They are busier now than they ever were in public school because we make sure they have plenty of social stimulation through church, scouts, golf and homeschool clubs. They are at least two grades levels ahead of their peers and we eat together as a family at least 5 days a week. It makes me marvel at exactly how much time is wasted in school when my kids can complete their work in 3-4 hours a day! It all boils down to the QUALITY, not necessarily QUANTITY of time spent with our kids that makes a difference.
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