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Could Getting Dirty and Being Exposed to Germs Boost Your Health?
U.S. News ^ | 10/19/2019 | Ruben Castaneda and Michael O. Schroeder

Posted on 06/15/2020 1:46:08 PM PDT by Jan_Sobieski

IT'S COMMONPLACE TODAY for people to clean their hands with antibacterial or antimicrobial soap, spray their bathrooms and kitchens with bleach and other sanitizers and wash their dishes and clothes at "germ-killing" settings. No doubt, it's an effective weapon for keeping germs at bay.

But that doesn't mean we should aim to have our families, including kids whose immune systems are still developing, avoid all germs – if there were even a way to do that. That's because a growing body of research is showing that microbes – microscopic organisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses – and dirt are crucial for our well-being. Research indicates that early exposures to a variety of microbes may help lower the risk of developing conditions like asthma and allergies.

With the advent of the modern toilets and sewage systems in the early 1900s and subsequent widespread use of antibacterial soaps and other strong cleaning products, living conditions today are much more hygienic than they've ever been before. And that's a problem, some germ experts say.

According to the hygiene hypothesis, people who grow up in areas with high levels of sanitation lack normal evolutionary exposure to microbes, pollen and other microscopic things in the environment. The lack of that exposure negatively affects the development of their immune system, according to the hypothesis.

Too Sterile

"I'm a sound believer that we're too clean of a society," says Dr. Christopher Carpenter, section head of infectious diseases and international medicine at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. "Our fear of germs has pushed us too far into trying to keep everything safe and sterile. That extreme is harming us more than it’s helping us..."

(Excerpt) Read more at health.usnews.com ...


TOPICS: Conspiracy; Education; Health/Medicine; History
KEYWORDS: covid19; germs; hygienehypothosis; virus
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To: SamAdams76

“Just like a well-drilled army, your immunity system needs to be drilled as well to keep it in peak fighting shape.”

Great way to put it. I have a friend who gets sick on purpose once a year or so and says its for pretty much that reason. He also won’t take antibiotics. He says if we are too clean or too dependent on things like antibiotics our body becomes trained to that level and adjusts down its production of natural antibodies.


21 posted on 06/15/2020 2:09:01 PM PDT by LeoTDB69
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To: Jan_Sobieski
This was noted back during the Civil War, that farm raised men were healthier than city raised recruits. They had fewer diseases, were physically stronger, and less likely to suffer work injuries.

The birth of the "pasty faced Yankee clerks" meme.

Mind, now, that Germ Theory was still in the future. Disease was spread by "bad air".

22 posted on 06/15/2020 2:14:52 PM PDT by jonascord (First rule of the Dunning-Kruger Club is that you do not know you are in the Dunning-Kruger club.)
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To: Jan_Sobieski

“Could Getting Dirty and Being Exposed to Germs Boost Your Health?”

Well, duh. How else does a person strengthen his immune system? We used to laugh at the over protective parents in our church when their kids were constantly sick. Those of us making mud pies and living life almost never got sick.


23 posted on 06/15/2020 2:22:12 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam (Nothing happens to a Christian that God does not allow to happen.)
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To: LeoTDB69
Before he goes TOO far with the antibiotic thing, would like to offer this story.

Last January, a day after New Years, developed what I thought was a pulled muscle in the right side of my tummy. Wouldn't go away, and got worse. Finally went to the ER, altho I was condemning myself for wimping out.

The appendix had burst. Some kind of silver bullet antibiotics, and a pus drain, into a bag, for six weeks. Then Covid hit, and I STILL haven't had it out.
Maybe this summer...

Just saying.

24 posted on 06/15/2020 2:22:42 PM PDT by jonascord (First rule of the Dunning-Kruger Club is that you do not know you are in the Dunning-Kruger club.)
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To: Jan_Sobieski

As a kid growing up in the 1950s I can tell you young boys stayed dirty. We played in vacant lots, and roamed the slews, we discovered we could fit into the sewers and explored them. Almost all our playtime was in dirt (no manicured lawns for us).

Add that to the list of things kids of the 1950s survived.

Riding in the back of pick up trucks
No bike helmets.
No seat belts.
Second hand smoke (it seems every adult smoked, and cigarette machines were everywhere).
Spend all day with no adult supervision.
Every boy had a pocket knife (even at school)
Boy Scouts we had hatchets.
Our games were tough as well, “red rover red rover, let *** come over. Or dodge ball.

...and the list goes on.

Trying to make the world safe has just made some weak.


25 posted on 06/15/2020 2:23:09 PM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (I am not an expert in anything, and my opinion is just that, an opinion. I may be wrong.)
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To: CIB-173RDABN

26 posted on 06/15/2020 2:23:47 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: llevrok

WARNING ... super gross:

I heard a doc say that kids who ate their boogers usually had kick-ass immune systems. Self inoculation.


27 posted on 06/15/2020 2:25:25 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam (Nothing happens to a Christian that God does not allow to happen.)
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To: Jan_Sobieski

I think that getting exposed to germs even helps prevent cancer. An invasion of germs causes the bodies defense to increase. That in turn helps discover cancerous cells that would have gone unnoticed otherwise.


28 posted on 06/15/2020 2:40:12 PM PDT by Nateman (If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong.)
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To: billorites

You win the award for “Stupid response of the day.”


29 posted on 06/15/2020 2:43:49 PM PDT by Data Miner
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To: Jan_Sobieski

When we lived in Wisconsin, steak tartare aka `cannibal sandwich’ was in buffets & on the menu.

Been eatin’ ‘em ever since. Hardly ever get sick. Zee French say steak tartare is good for the immune system which needs regular exercise.

My favorite: fresh ground-at-home beef on pumpernickel rye with horseradish on one slice, hot sauce on the other.

Lights up my sinuses, but mmm-mm good.


30 posted on 06/15/2020 2:48:35 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("Pres. Trump doesn't wear glasses. That's because he's got 2020.")
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To: Jan_Sobieski

I’ve always said the 5 second rule is legitimate. If something lands on the floor and it’s there for 5 seconds or less, you’re good to go to pick it back up, brush it off, and eat it if you want to. My exception is public places like the Jamaica train station in NY, or maybe most train stations in NY but especially that one. In that one, you should disinfect your shoes when you get home from your travels. And definitely wash your hands as soon as you can!


31 posted on 06/15/2020 2:53:57 PM PDT by FamiliarFace
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To: Jan_Sobieski

When I was a boy I lived in Mexico for two summers, with Mexicans. I drank water from some pretty sketchy sources, and swam in some pretty sketchy rivers. I lived.


32 posted on 06/15/2020 3:05:56 PM PDT by Romulus
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To: shelterguy

As a teen, I had a girlfriend who was allergic to peanuts, and it was no joke. Not just a silly notion. At age 12 she almost died after eating fries at a Burger King. These allergies are real and can be deadly.


33 posted on 06/15/2020 3:10:36 PM PDT by Romulus
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To: Romulus

Whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.


34 posted on 06/15/2020 3:14:14 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Romulus

Yes, peanut allergies are deadly.

But when I was a kid nobody was allergic to peanuts. Now they have peanut free zones in the school cafeterias. Why such a dramatic increase?


35 posted on 06/15/2020 3:22:33 PM PDT by shelterguy
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To: Jan_Sobieski

They’ve known this for decades.

This is NOT new information.


36 posted on 06/15/2020 3:24:18 PM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.....)
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To: Jan_Sobieski

My wife calls me the “guy that never washes is hands”. I do, but I don’t get sick too often. I go to the doctor about every 6-8 years. I shouldn’t brag but I don’t get the common cold, flu, etc. And I have not worn a damn mask.


37 posted on 06/15/2020 3:26:07 PM PDT by caver
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To: Data Miner

It’s a joke. Or maybe you already knew that?


38 posted on 06/15/2020 3:28:36 PM PDT by caver
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To: shelterguy

Because nobody is dying from “choking to death on a peanut” anymore, which in all likelihood was actually an anaphylactic reaction that they didn’t know was one.


39 posted on 06/15/2020 3:30:32 PM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.....)
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To: Harpotoo

Where did you live in Miami?
I was born and raised in Hialeah.
My dad was born and raised in Alappatta.


40 posted on 06/15/2020 3:32:50 PM PDT by Keyhopper (Indians had bad immigration laws)
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