Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

studyfinds.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 57 posts

Re: Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

#21

Post by steve_adams_86 »

I once had to take antibiotics like crazy for a long time because I had some pain in the ass strep that wouldn’t go away. It was quite the experience.

Afterwards, my breath was bizarre smelling, I had these horrible sulphuric burps for months, and I couldn’t digest ANYTHING properly. It was misery. I had such painful gas from indigestion so frequently that eating totally lost its appeal.

This stacks up right in my experience. I stay far from antibiotics as a rule, but if you need them, you need them. I hope I never need them again.

Re: Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

#23

Post by joshgel »

ng12 wrote: post #13

I cannot wait until we discover a basic understand of the human microbiome. As a practice, gastroenterology is very good at diagnosing and dealing with cancer and very bad at dealing with anything else. IBS/IBD is basically a blanket diagnosis handed out when your doctor has no idea what's wrong with you.

IBD is very different from IBS. IBD is an autoimmune disease with a pathologic diagnosis (ie requires a biopsy and microscopic evaluation for diagnosis). It’s treated as almost autoimmune diseases are.

IBS is a syndrome (the S in the name) which usually implies a constellation of findings, but not a specific disease process. From the name you can know that the disease process hasn’t been clearly elucidated.

Re: Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

#25

Post by cellularmitosis »

55555 wrote: post #16

How solid is the evidence that accutane causes IBD? Because most people who took accutane would have first taken antibiotics, which is a more common treatment for acne. It's strange that these two drugs, with two different mechanisms of action, would both increase risk of IBD. I took both and I have IBD. Stay away from this stuff unless you really need it.

I can raise your anecdata to two: I took lots of antibiotics as a kid for ear infections, then lots more as a prelude to acutane, and 15 years later I have proctitis.

Re: Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

#26

Post by godzillabrennus »

azinman2 wrote: post #2

Makes a lot of sense. We know so little about the trillions of bacteria inside of us, and taking a nuke to them all is going to have consequences. There are probiotics tuned for IBD on the market, and one can only imagine the complexities of the ecological dynamics. I personally believe that in 100 years there will be a real bacterial awakening in science understanding how much our microbiome affects so much about ou…

We are already looking at the stomach in ways we never imagined.

Think about how powerful it is over our body. It controls mood, directs our behavior through pain, and is an amazing organ at capturing energy and nutrients from the world around us.

Re: Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

#27

Post by blix »

joshgel wrote: post #23
ng12 wrote: post #13

I cannot wait until we discover a basic understand of the human microbiome. As a practice, gastroenterology is very good at diagnosing and dealing with cancer and very bad at dealing with anything else. IBS/IBD is basically a blanket diagnosis handed out when your doctor has no idea what's wrong with you.

IBD is very different from IBS. IBD is an autoimmune disease with a pathologic diagnosis (ie requires a biopsy and microscopic evaluation for diagnosis). It’s treated as almost autoimmune diseases are. IBS is a syndrome (the S in the name) which usually implies a constellation of findings, but not a specific disease process. From the name you can know that the disease process hasn’t been clearly elucidated.

IBD is a catch-all for several different diseases, which are all poorly understood. There is still a debate over whether or not their cause is physical or psychological. There's a big gap between observing inflammation or related markers and actually understanding the disease. Even within the same subdiagnosis, people respond vastly differently to treatments, which more or less can all be described as intentionally crippling the immune system to stop inflammation. It's not uncommon for people with IBD to have tried a roulette of medications with questionable efficacy and dangerous side effects. If you talk to three different doctors you will get three different treatments and/or lifestyle change recommendations. I know several people who have quit all medications after this experience and turned to and alternative/holistic approach.

IBD shares this lack of understanding and heavy handed approach with many other autoimmune diseases. Being in this category is not a good thing. It's not unfair to lump IBD/IBS together; people who have these conditions share a lot of the same issues and struggles.

Re: Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

#28

Post by dboreham »

CarbyAu wrote: post #15
ng12 wrote: post #13

I cannot wait until we discover a basic understand of the human microbiome. As a practice, gastroenterology is very good at diagnosing and dealing with cancer and very bad at dealing with anything else. IBS/IBD is basically a blanket diagnosis handed out when your doctor has no idea what's wrong with you.

I am not sure but it seems to me like: -Medical establishment shrugs shoulders "Dunno. [Description-of-symptoms] Syndrome?" then later: -Medical establishment knowing look "Yeah we know that one. It is Name-of-cause/discoverer-of-cause disease." Is this how it works?

Yes, except frequently they don't even have a name for the syndrome and won't believe it's real.

Re: Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

#29

Post by xzel »

bitexploder wrote: post #11
autisticcurio wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many antibiotics dont actually kill gram negative/positive bacteria, they merely prevent them from reproducing. Now if you want to kill bacteria, look to Russian phages, or swallow some sea water where a 1ml sample will contain billions of phages but its pot luck if any of them are right one's you need for your bacterial infection. One other little know fact about antibiotics, is the penicillin based one's get metabo…

The standard advice I have seen regarding Creatine as a fitness supplement is to basically just take 5g / day. I have never seen guidance to use it for a few weeks only. Creatine helps replace things that get used up during hard workouts and supports the cellular energy cycle. It wouldn't make sense to just take it for a few weeks because it doesn't do a one-time effect.

Creatine cycling has been a thing since I started lifting more seriously, at least 15+ years ago. There was often a loading period, where you would take more, and a maintenance period, both normally given as a g/kg or mg/kg value of creatine to body weight. I believe the idea was either your body became less responsive to the increase creatine in your system of time or your stores become saturated. I'm not sure what research now shows or how seriously cycling/loading not taken these as I'm not a trainer nor a nutritionist, but it something I did when I first started lifting and that's what I remember learning about taking it.

Re: Antibiotics nearly double risk of developing IBD, doctors warn

#30

Post by dehrmann »

55555 wrote: post #16

How solid is the evidence that accutane causes IBD? Because most people who took accutane would have first taken antibiotics, which is a more common treatment for acne. It's strange that these two drugs, with two different mechanisms of action, would both increase risk of IBD. I took both and I have IBD. Stay away from this stuff unless you really need it.

For minor acne, doctors tend to prescribe topical antibiotics, and those are a lot less likely to interfere with the digestive tract than oral antibiotics. But you said accutane, and that's for severe acne.
Post reply on HN