1 In 4 Drugs Disrupts Your Microbiota
Many common non-antibiotic drugs like omeprazole also harm beneficial bacteria populations.
Several studies suggest that the package inserts of at least one in four drugs should be rewritten to add a new side effect: this drug alters the gut microbiota with unknown consequences.
Until now we knew that antibiotics had a significant impact on the microbiota. It is logical since they are drugs designed to kill pathogenic bacteria, but they inevitably affect beneficial species as well.
Different recent studies have proven that other types of drugs also act unexpectedly on our digestive hosts.
Non-antibiotic drugs also harm the digestive microbiota
Are, for example, drugs inhibiting proton pump (used to reduce gastric juices, such as omeprazole, one of the most prescribed drugs against stomach acidity ), the metformin (indicated in diabetes) or antipsychotics.
The most prominent of these studies has been carried out by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Germany, which studied the effect of 1,000 drugs on the microbiota, 835 of them non-antibiotics.
24% of theoretically non-antibiotic drugs showed antibacterial action against common populations in the gut. Most affected a few strains, but 40 of them affected a minimum of 10 strains.
The microbiota conditions the effect of medications
On the other hand, these studies draw attention to the fact that the type of microbiota can modulate the effect of drugs. It can enhance its effect, reduce its effectiveness or increase its toxicity.
It is known that when a drug is administered, it is not possible to know to what extent it will be effective or if it will produce any of the possible side effects. You have to wait and watch the evolution, which will depend on the complexities of each organism.
One of the factors that determines the action of the drug is the microbiota, something that should be taken into account when evaluating the effects of drugs.
The aforementioned findings justify that during and after receiving a pharmacological treatment, the well-being of the flora is especially taken care of. For this you can resort to fermented foods, prebiotic fiber or probiotic supplements.
