The relationship between antibiotics and inflammatory bowel disease

A recent study has warned that people over the age of 40 who regularly take antibiotics are more susceptible to developing inflammatory bowel disease.

Researchers from New York Langone Health University stated that the risk appears to be cumulative and reaches its peak after one to two years of antibiotic use.

Approximately 7 million people worldwide suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, and the study linked an increased likelihood of younger individuals (under 40 years old) developing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis to the use of antibiotics.

The study included data from over 6 million individuals, slightly more than half of whom were female.

During the study period from 2000 to 2018, doctors diagnosed over 36,000 new cases of ulcerative colitis and over 16,800 new cases of Crohn's disease.

However, the researchers ultimately called for further experiments, as their study relied solely on observational data without pinpointing the exact underlying cause.