The Gut Has It

I have pondered about the possibility/probability of early oral antibiotic use and if it might have something to do with the subsequent development of celiac disease. Well, looky here! At least one study shows it just might be so. Further studies may confirm this preliminary finding. I guess we'll see. I always find it interesting when I'm thinking about something that others also are considering. Like this guy. It occurred to me based on a sample much too small to be statistically valid. Two children. My children. The elder of whom was plagued with inner ear infections for a year or so when he was a toddler. He downed a lot of that bubble gum flavored amoxicillin for that period of time. And it may be strictly a case of correlation, but he was diagnosed with celiac disease several months ago. As for the younger son, he was not prescribed a course of antibiotics until he was five and a half years old, the only time he has taken them. He does not have celiac disease. Certainly the digestive system is more mature at that age than at just a few months old, and perhaps better able to recover from the broad spectrum onslaught of the valuable gut flora that we all host. When I was preschool age and suffering from tonsillitis, I vividly recall the car ride home from the clinic perched crankily on the unassailed butt cheek that had not been poked with a large gauge needle to deliver a shot of penicillin. Not that I would wish more needle pokes on any child, but the much more pleasant oral version may cause more pain down the line.