Impact of Antibiotics on The Gut Microbiota and Its Detrimental Effects on Health

The development of antibiotics for treating bacterial infections has indeed lengthened human lifespan. However, excessive and inappropriate use of these useful drugs may cause serious long-term consequences, which not only affect our individual health but may even cause permanent changes particularly to the gut microbiota of our descendants for generations.

Maintaining a proper balance of healthy gut microbiota is crucial as it plays an essential role in metabolism, detoxification, nutrition, development, pathogen resistance, and regulation of immune responses.

Microbiota has been used by scientists to replace the term microflora, which refers to symbiotic and pathogenic microorganisms comprise bacteria, fungi, and archaea.

They colonize …read more