Bacteria share proteins to survive antibiotics - National Institutes of Health (NIH) | (.gov)

Eating sweets while taking antibiotics may worsen the harm done by the drugs to the normal community of bacteria in the gut, a new study found. The work centers on the intestinal microbiome, which harbors bacterial species that co-evolved with humans to live in the digestive tract, help digest food, and support the immune system. Antibiotics, among the most prescribed drugs globally, are known to eliminate helpful bacteria alongside harmful species, in some cases letting harmful ones dominate.

Among cancer patients, the high financial cost of cancer care is a prevalent problem. This financial burden is also associated with potentially harmful behavioral strategies that patients might use to cope with costs, such as delaying or forgoing treatment and skipping medications. Collectively, researchers refer to this impact as financial toxicity.