A new study has claimed that taking antibiotics may increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
In the study, researchers at the Gentofte Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark traced antibiotic prescriptions for 170,504 people who were suffering from Type 2 diabetes and compared them with 1.3 million people who did not, the Washington Post reported.
According to a team of researchers, the people with Type 2 diabetes used more antibiotics. People with diabetes filled 0.8 prescriptions a year, on average, compared to 0.5 prescriptions a year among the healthy counterparts.
Author Kristian Hallundbaek Mikkelson of the Gentofte Hospital said that this study did not tell them which interpretation was the right one, adding that both interpretations were possible and both were supported by other research.
Mikkelson said that more research was needed with randomised studies to determine whether there was a direct cause and effect between increased antibiotic use and the development of diabetes.