Increased use of antibiotics among people eventually diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes was seen as early as 15 years before diagnosis.

"Although we cannot infer causality from this study, the findings raise the possibility that antibiotics could raise the risk of Type 2 diabetes," said Kristian Mikkelsen, a Ph.D. student at the University of Copenhagen who led the research, in a news release. "Another equally compelling explanation may be that people develop Type 2 diabetes over the course of years and face a greater risk of infection during that time."

MedPage Today reports:

"What struck me about this study was there was almost no difference according to the type of antibiotic. To me that's a red flag," George Grunberger, MD, of the Grunberger Diabetes Institute in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, told MedPage Today.