{"id":53198,"date":"2025-09-05T21:36:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T16:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=53198"},"modified":"2025-09-22T14:47:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T09:17:55","slug":"antibiotics-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/05-09-2025\/antibiotics-mental-health","title":{"rendered":"Excessive Use of Antibiotics Impacts Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus :GS2\/Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to recent studies, the unchecked use of antibiotics poses a hidden threat in\u00a0 India by disrupting the <strong>gut-brain axis,<\/strong> a critical link between gut microbiota and mental health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Antibiotics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They\u00a0 are medicines used to treat bacterial infections by killing bacteria or inhibiting their growth.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They can be taken orally, topically, or through injections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India ranks among the <strong>highest consumers of antibiotics globally<\/strong>. Several systemic and behavioral factors drive this trend.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Causes of Antibiotic Overuse in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Over-the-counter availability:<\/strong> Antibiotics are often sold without prescriptions, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Self-medication culture:<\/strong> A lack of awareness and reliance on quick fixes leads to indiscriminate use.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unregulated pharmacies:<\/strong> Many operate outside legal frameworks, dispensing potent drugs without oversight.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic incentives:<\/strong> Fee-for-service models may encourage over-prescription to satisfy patient expectations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Impacts on Mental Health<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Misuse of antibiotics contributes to <strong>antimicrobial resistance (AMR) <\/strong>and disrupts the<strong> gut-brain axis<\/strong>, leading to <strong>gut microbiota imbalance (dysbiosis).<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This disruption is increasingly linked to mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Neuroinflammation: <\/strong>The gut microbiome helps produce key neurotransmitters (e.g., serotonin, dopamine), and its disturbance affects brain function through inflammation, immune changes, and reduced beneficial metabolites.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Research from NIMHANS and AIIMS further supports this gut-mental health connection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion and Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The growing field of <strong>psychobiotics <\/strong>highlights the mental health benefits of probiotics and prebiotics, yet public awareness, especially in rural India, remains low amidst widespread antibiotic misuse.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Psychobiotics <\/strong>are defined as probiotics that confer mental health benefits to the host when ingested in a particular quantity through interaction with commensal gut bacteria<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Therefore , a multi-pronged strategy is essential\u2014focusing on public education, policy reform, clinical integration of gut health, promotion of traditional fermented foods, and investment in local microbiome research.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source :<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/146805\/OPS\/G4UEQS759.1+G50ERUH14.1.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">According to recent studies, the unchecked use of antibiotics poses a hidden threat in\u00a0 India by disrupting the gut-brain axis, a critical link between gut microbiota and mental health.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Antibiotics<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">They\u00a0 are medicines used to treat bacterial infections by killing bacteria or inhibiting their growth.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">They can be taken orally, topically, or through injections.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India ranks among the highest consumers of antibiotics globally. Several systemic and behavioral factors drive this trend.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/05-09-2025\/antibiotics-mental-health\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53198"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53211,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53198\/revisions\/53211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}