Study links overuse of antibiotics to colorectal cancer risk

After a rise in colorectal cancer rates in adults under 55 years of age, specialists around the world began early work to investigate the causes of this rise. Specialists have identified that the indiscriminate use of antibiotic drugs may be one of the causes for this scenario.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading reason for the early death of these adults, and according to the organization Fight Colon Cancer, the number of deaths from the disease has grown by 90% in the last two decades.

Until then, some studies believed that a sedentary lifestyle would be a major risk factor for the disease. However, even the healthiest and most athletic people are finding colorectal cancer.

Scientists are beginning to link the rise in cases to the overuse of antibiotics. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes that 30% of the 154 million antibiotics prescribed each year are unnecessary and contain ingredients that end up killing important bacteria in the gut.

A study done in the United Kingdom demonstrates that the connection between the use of antibiotics and colorectal cancer is not a coincidence. According to Cynthia L. Sears, oncologist and professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, the fact that cases are reproduced around the world, with different populations, makes them think that this idea is real.

“The use of antibiotics is very common. It is important to say that not everyone who uses it will get cancer. However, while invaluable in medicine, antibiotics should be used properly and only when necessary,” explains Cynthia.

The British study also showed that the use of antibiotics was made a decade before the diagnoses, which suggests that these medications take a long time to show major and serious complications.