Antibiotics may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes, The Washington Post reported.

Danish researchers found that people who developed Type 2 diabetes tended to take more antibiotics in the years leading up to the diagnosis than people who did not have the condition.

Diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar levels, when the individual cannot produce enough of the hormone insulin or insulin does not work properly to clear sugar from the bloodstream.

"In our research, we found people who have Type 2 diabetes used significantly more antibiotics up to 15 years prior to diagnosis compared to healthy controls," study author Kristian Hallundbæk Mikkelsen said in a statement. "Although we cannot infer causality from this study, the findings raise the possibility that antibiotics could raise the risk of Type 2 diabetes. 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."

For the study, researchers tracked antibiotic prescriptions for more than 170,500 people who had Type 2 diabetes and for 1.3 million people who did not have diabetes, HealthDay reported. The researchers identified the subjects using records from three national health registries in Denmark.

They found that people who had Type 2 diabetes filled 0.8 prescriptions a year, on average. The rate was only 0.5 prescriptions a year among the study's control subjects. Individuals who filled more prescriptions were more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Many types of antibiotics were associated with a higher risk of diabetes, but there was a stronger link with the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics such as penicillin V.

Previous studies have shown that antibiotic treatments can alter the bacteria in an individual's gut. Studies suggest certain gut bacteria may contribute to the impaired ability to metabolize sugar seen in people with diabetes.

"Diabetes is one of the greatest challenges facing modern health care, with a globally increasing incidence," Mikkelsen said. "Further investigation into long-term effect of antibiotic use on sugar metabolism and gut bacteria composition could reveal valuable answers about how to address this public health crisis. Patterns in antibiotic use may offer an opportunity to prevent the development of the disease or to diagnose it early."

The findings are detailed in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.