Antibiotics = asthma?
Speaking of antibiotic resistance, here's an interesting finding: children who have one or more courses of antibiotics before their first birthdays are almost twice as likely to develop asthma before age 18. Even one course of antibiotics impacted the risk, but the association climbed with each additional prescription during the first year of life.
This ties in with the "hygiene hypothesis," which proposes that the overuse of antibiotics and antibacterial products prevents children's immune systems from developing properly, predisposing them to asthma and allergies. Not everyone agree with this, but no one can deny that rates of childhood asthma and allergies are climbing steadily.
This study follows other recent research showing that antibiotics are usually worthless for treating common childhood complaints like bronchitis, sinusitis and ear infections. In most cases, rest and fluids will take care of these complaints within a week without antibiotics - and without the risk of future asthma, allergies or antibiotic resistance.
