It can. At least, according to a recent study. And this influence of antibiotics on the brain health is not really surprising. Previous studies have already shown that antibiotics’ use can lead to serious disruptions in the gut microbiome health. And, as we know, our gut has a strong connection with our brain.

Researchers of this study used information from the large ongoing Nurses’ Health Study II. They analyzed data from 14.542 women nurses aged 61.7 years (on average) to see whether there is any relation between taking antibiotics and brain health 7 years later. Researchers compared those who took antibiotics over different periods with those who did not. The brain health was tested by computerized playing card tasks to measure thinking speed, attention, learning and memory. Each of the nurses was assigned into 1 of 4 groups depending on their use of antibiotics, from no use to over 2 months of use.

The results of the analysis showed that the nurses who had taken antibiotics for at least 2 months, scored lower on the cognitive tests (taken seven years later) than the nurses who had taken antibiotics for a shorter period of time, or not at all. The researchers estimated that this cognitive decline was approximately equivalent to 3-4 years of aging.

This finding is another confirmation that we need to pay a closer attention to our gut health. Of course, there are situations, when we need to take antibiotics. However, it should be for a short period of time (normally 8 days). What also might help is to take probiotics (2 hours before or after antibiotics) to help restore the gut microbiome, and to maintain the gut balance by eating diverse and healthy food.

Curious? HERE is the source