Study: Long-Term Antibiotic Use Increases Risk of Dementia

Prolonged antibiotic use has long been associated with side effects that include gut imbalance, oxidative stress, and antibiotic resistance. Now, researchers have added cognitive decline to the list.Creative Commons

While antibiotics are commonly used to treat bacterial infections, long-term use has long been known to cause many side effects. A recent study by South Korean researchers indicates that those side effects may include dementia.

A recent study by Dr. Park Sang-min’s team, at Seoul National University Hospital’s Department of Family Medicine, tracked the incidence of dementia in over 300,000 South Korean adults over age 40, based on the number of days they were prescribed antibiotics. The study period was from 2002 to 2005.