--- description: A new study finds that people who develop type-2 diabetes also used significantly more antibiotics—even 15 years before they were diagnosed title: Antibiotics Are Linked To Type-2 Diabetes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [diabetes](/tag/diabetes/) ## diabetes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Antibiotics Are Linked To Type-2 Diabetes  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 27, 2015 5:00 PM CUT  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 27, 2015 5:00 PM CUT A new [study](http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2015-2696 "undefined") published in the _Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism_ finds that people who develop type-2 diabetes used significantly more antibiotics—even 15 years before they were diagnosed—than people without the disease. The researchers used data from citizens of Denmark, since the country has a single-payer national health insurance system with detailed health and pharmacy records. Using national health registries, the researchers looked at 170,504 people who had type-2 diabetes and tracked their prescriptions for antibiotics. They matched those people with 1.3 million other Danish citizens of the same age and sex who did not have diabetes and compared data from the two groups. People with type-2 diabetes were more likely to receive more courses of antibiotics (0.8 prescriptions per year) than those who didn’t have the disease (0.5 prescriptions per year). An increased use of antibiotics was detected up to 15 years before people with type-2 diabetes were even diagnosed; an increased usage was also found after diagnosis. **MORE**: [How This Common Drug Can Have Lasting Effects On Kids](http://time.com/3941418/antibiotics-children-health-risks/ "undefined") The study wasn’t designed to be able to determine a cause, but the authors point out two interpretations of the results. One is that people who go on to develop type-2 diabetes are more vulnerable to infections years before they’re diagnosed, so it would make sense for them to take more antibiotics. The other theory is that antibiotics raise the risk of type-2 diabetes. This second theory is derived largely from research in rodents, and it’s the one that compels [Dr. Martin Blaser](http://time.com/3822950/martin-blaser-2015-time-100/ "undefined"), professor of medicine and microbiology at New York University Langone Medical Center and a longtime researcher of the effects of antibiotics. (Blaser was not involved with this study but is familiar with the research.) “When you take antibiotics,” he says, “you change the composition of the microbiota”—your personal collection of bacteria in the body that communicates with human cells. Blaser has a hypothesis for how this might work in children who develop type-1 diabetes: the change in composition from taking antibiotics also alters metabolism, possibly making people more likely to become diabetic. “This work coming out that antibiotics might be affecting adults in a similar fashion is a little surprising to me, but in no way shocking,” he says. “I thought by the time you’re adult things are pretty much fixed, but maybe they’re not.” The results of the study are not conclusive. But Blaser says they add to the body of research about the potential risks of antibiotics. “It’s evidence consistent with the idea that antibiotics have cost—not just monetary cost, but a biological cost in terms of potentially causing long-term effects,” he says. “As we’re studying it more and more, it suggests that things may bounce back, but it may not be the same normal, and it may predispose to other diseases—including important diseases, common diseases, like type-2 diabetes.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4013398/antibiotics-diabetes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4013398/antibiotics-diabetes/"},"headline":"Antibiotics Are Linked To Type-2 Diabetes","datePublished":"2015-08-27T17:00:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:30:02.371Z","description":"Antibiotic use is associated with type-2 diabetes diagnoses, the latest research reveals","url":"https://time.com/4013398/antibiotics-diabetes/","keywords":["diabetes","Research","Denmark","type 2 diabetes","antibiotics","antibiotic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/diabetes/","name":"diabetes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4013398/antibiotics-diabetes/","name":"Antibiotics Are Linked To Type-2 Diabetes"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Competing in the Olympics with Type-1 Diabetes","description":"Kris Freeman is in his third Winter Olympics on a U.S. cross-country skiing team, defying the doctors who told him he'd never be able to compete with diabetes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KPOeLGMG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-02-22T20:57:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KPOeLGMG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4013398/antibiotics-diabetes/","duration":"PT6M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4013398/antibiotics-diabetes/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```