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Women are taking more antibiotics
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A research team at the Eberhard-Karls-University in Tübingen, Germany, found that women take antibiotics more often than men. The study found that women aged 35 to 54 were prescribed antibiotics 40% more often, while those aged 16 to 34 were prescribed them 36%.
Scientists wanted to find out how often doctors prescribe antibiotics to their patients, and whether there are differences in prescriptions by gender. The studies were conducted in several countries and as a result, the scientists' assumptions were confirmed - women are forced to take antibacterial drugs more often than men. But scientists decided not to stop there and found out what this is connected with.
Researchers have found that young men are less likely to visit doctors in case of any illness, and antibiotics, as is known, must be taken for various infections - respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary system. Both men and women are equally susceptible to infectious diseases, but the fair half of humanity is much more concerned about their own health, so girls and women more often visit doctors and undergo medical examination, and, therefore, doctors, in case of detection of any infection, prescribe antibacterial drugs to their patients.
Experts considered it their duty to remind once again that antibiotics not only destroy pathogenic microorganisms, but can also cause significant harm to health, for example, cause dysbacteriosis, reduce immunity. In addition, bacteria have the ability to develop resistance to drugs, and this leads to ineffective treatment.
It is worth noting that the results of the research by German specialists are a kind of generalization of the results of previous studies that were conducted by scientists from different countries.
As for antibacterial resistance, experts from different countries are seriously concerned about this problem. There is every reason to believe that bacteria are becoming more resistant to treatment every year, and in 10-15 years, antibacterial drugs will completely lose their effectiveness and people will be defenseless against a huge number of viruses and bacteria.
According to scientists, this is primarily due to the inappropriate use of antibacterial drugs (when there is no need for such treatment). As a result, this has led to the bacteria adapting to drugs that simply cannot cope with the source of infection in the body.
Many researchers note that for a common cold, doctors often prescribe antibiotics (to be on the safe side), which are not only unnecessary in such cases, but also disrupt the functioning of the immune system.
Scientists are confident that if the situation does not change, infections that modern medicine successfully copes with will become deadly for people in a few years (according to the results of recent studies, antibacterial resistance continues to increase, and quite rapidly).
According to scientists, antibacterial resistance is already affecting the health of people, who today are sick longer and often more severely, while there is a high risk of complications.