Dr. Song on Children & Antibiotics
During a recent Teach-In for my Clinic Immersion participants, Dr. Song shared a fascinating study published in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers observed approximately 800,000 children from birth to around 4-5 years old. The purpose of the study was to understand the implications, if any, of giving children antibiotics or antacids during the first 6 months of life. Researchers discovered that children who received antibiotics or acid-suppressing medication were twice as likely to have food allergies than those who didn’t. Antibiotics and anti-acids administered during the first 6 months of life significantly increased risk for allergic disease.
Dr. Song emphasized an important point. The first is that antibiotics are often necessary and can even be life-saving for our children. That said, we can’t underestimate their consequences. As functional medicine practitioners, we must educate parents on how to help restore their child’s microbiome to a healthy state.
Reference:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29610864