Gee, my great grandmother knew that with her 9th grade edumashun.
Calling Captain Obvious ....
Algore says we're all gonna' die anyway.
Hmmmmmm . . . . . the mind wonders - did we have a book burning that I slept through in which all of this knowledge was lost??? As a kid growing up, we knew that there were good and bad germs but that, overall, germs help strengthen or develop the immune system.
One of the biggest complaints from doctors today is about anti-bacterial soaps and how they are preventing the body's immune system from developing antibodies against common germs. I notice that almost every small cut I get requires neosporin to fight the infection that invariably follows an untreated cut.
Use to be that when I got a minor cut, I could just put a bandage on it and go about my business. Not so today. I like the anti-bacterial soaps, but I agree that they are, ultimately, causing more harm than good by not allowing our immune systems to work properly.
i know that there are other examples, that just the biggest one that I have noticed.
This is a frustrating argument. To start with, *some* microorganisms are good for you, but *some* are not.
People are “walking bags” full of microorganisms, that actually outweigh the “human” cells in you. In Obama numbers, the human body has about 10 trillion cells, and there are 100 trillion microorganisms in your intestines alone, and they are 60% of the dry mass of feces.
There are between 300 and 1000 different species of microorganisms in the gut, and each person has a markedly different blend, as distinct as their fingerprints. 90% of those bacteria are “just” from 30 or 40 different species. There is also a huge amount of viruses, and some fungi and protozoa.
These bacteria also produce some vitamins and hormones that we use, aid in digestion, and continually joust with each other for space.
In any event, in about the first two weeks of life, an infant’s immune system is not fully functional, so this is when they develop the gut flora that they will keep for the duration of their lives. Some mothers are now “sharing” breast feeding during this time, to give their children a larger diversity of intestinal flora. Though only time will tell if this is a good idea or not.
There are a number of pathogenic organisms that children should *never* be intentionally exposed to, especially if there is a safe vaccine available. This is because if they develop the disease, while it may be less harmful to them as children, we are now learning that they have severe and painful secondary effects when the disease reemerges in adulthood, after sitting idle for many years.
This includes measles, mumps, chickenpox, and a host of others.
Importantly, eating dirt should be discouraged, because dirt is a major repository for protozoa. And while we have a little bit of protozoa in our guts, it is very easy to get too much of it, that can make you very, very sick. In some cases it is also very difficult to treat.
Microorganisms on the skin have their own rules, somewhat different from those of the gut. To start with, pathogenic microorganisms are concentrated in the “coliform zone”, the skin, front and back, from about the knees to about the navel, and the palms of the hands. Just touching this skin is the real reason why everyone is supposed to wash their hands after going to the restroom. These microorganisms are thoroughly integrated into the skin, so it is useless to try to eliminate them by sanitizing this part of the body.
Often, when a female has sex for the first time, she develops a “yeast infection”, because of the across the board introduction of dozens or even hundreds of different microorganisms to her native culture. The male also gets a vast number of microorganisms, but they mostly integrate into his coliform zone culture, and only slowly enter his body.
People who have sex with a large group of other people can develop a super-culture of microorganisms on their skin, making it much more likely they will cause a mild to serious infection in their partners.
Finally, exposure to radiation, some types of illness, and taking strong antibiotics, can neutralize much of your body’s bacteria. But in the gut it is so important, that to prevent GI problems, these people are given a “fecal chocolate shake”. A “healthy” piece of feces from another person, is blended with a chocolate shake, which reintroduces a good blend of bacteria.
YES!!!
Finally - a parenting article that goes in my favor.
whooo hoo!
George Carlin, may he rest in peace, said that he and his friends were never sick because they swam in raw sewage in the East river.