Don't Kill Good Bacteria in Your Stomach

Light antibiotics may severely disrupt the balance of microbes living in the gut, with unforeseen health consequences.

An intimate study of three women given ciprofloxacin showed the drug suppressed entire populations of beneficial bacteria, and at least one woman took months to recover.

The study supports the common wisdom that antibiotics can damage the "good" germs living in the body.

More and more studies support the idea that humans and other animals have a symbiotic relationship with germs. Microbes in the intestines help digest food and "good" germs can take up space and keep bad germs away.

The human distal gut is one of the most complex ecosystems on the planet. Gut microbes can affect obesity and may play a role in allergy. Lactobacillus reuteri, found in breast milk, may protect against rotavirus infections.

Several recent studies have found that certain bacteria cause inflammation that can affect appetite as well as inflammatory bowel conditions like Crohn's disease and colitis.

Regularly wiping out the body's bacterial population could also be helping drive the rapid spread of drug-resistant superbugs.