Antibiotics can save lives, but sometimes they can work too well.
Most antibiotics can't tell the difference between good and bad bacteria. That means the medicines kill helpful bacteria in your gut while they're obliterating the bacteria making you sick.
The helpful bacteria make up what's known as your microbiome. Damaging the microbiome can cause a number of health problems, including making people more vulnerable to infections from other bacteria such as Clostridium difficile, which can cause debilitating diarrhea and be difficult to treat.
Researchers are working on an antibiotic that targets specific, harmful bacteria while sparing the microbiome.
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