Women who use antibiotics for more than two months at a time are at increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, research suggests.
Experts believe the long-term use of the drugs wipes out healthy bacteria in the gut - creating an imbalance that increases inflammation, narrows blood vessels and ends up damaging the heart.
They think this creates a cumulative effect, so the more frequently a woman uses antibiotics during her lifetime, the greater the eventual risk.
The researchers, who tracked 36,500 women in the US, found over-60s who used antibiotics for more than two months were 32 per cent more likely to develop heart disease in the next eight years than those not taking the drugs.
