Something different appears to be going on when an older adult develops inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and now researchers offer more evidence that antibiotics could be playing a role.
Most studies to date have assessed a link between antibiotics and IBD in younger patients, lead researcher Adam S. Faye, MD, said during a media briefing that previewed select research for Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2022.
The impact of antibiotic use on the incidence of IBD in older adults is really unknown, he added.
In contrast to younger people with IBD, who tend to have a strong family history or genetic predisposition to developing Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, the cause is likely different in older populations.
"There's clearly something in the environment that's driving this new older-onset IBD," said Faye, who is an assistant professor of medicine and population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City.
Antibiotics as a Contributing Link
Faye and his colleagues took a closer look at antibiotics as contributing to this link. They studied 2.3 million patient records in Denmark's national medical registry from 2000 to 2018. They identified people aged 60 years and older who were newly diagnosed with IBD, and they then assessed the number, frequency, and timing of any antibiotic prescriptions.
