Antibiotics, a cornerstone of modern medicine, may be causing lasting harm to the gut microbiome—the complex ecosystem of bacteria essential for health, experts warn. While these drugs save millions of lives by fighting bacterial infections, they also inadvertently destroy beneficial bacteria in the gut, with effects that can be permanent.
James Kinross, a consultant colorectal surgeon at Imperial College London, explains that the gut microbiome plays a crucial role in regulating the immune system and aiding digestion. However, antibiotics are one of the biggest threats to this delicate system. 'Some people are very susceptible to damage in their microbiome from antibiotics, and their ecology will change dramatically and never return to what it was before,' he says.
Global antibiotic use surged by 65% between 2000 and 2015, raising concerns about both microbiome damage and growing bacterial resistance. Gautam Dantas, professor at Washington University School of Medicine, compares the effect to 'carpet-bombing a forest' to eliminate one weed, killing both good and bad bacteria. While diversity often recovers within months, some beneficial bacteria may never return.
Research on infants shows more dramatic effects: lower microbiome diversity and spikes in drug-resistant genes after antibiotic use. The long-term health consequences remain unclear, but scientists warn that crucial microbes lost over hundreds of thousands of years are disappearing at an unprecedented rate.
