I've been concerned for some time that we, as a society are in danger of cleaning ourselves to death, by over use of products like bleach and antibacterial soaps.
Should we protect ourselves from harmful bacteria? Absolutely! But the vast majority of bacteria are not dangerous to humans, and in fact many are beneficial to our health. You may even take a pre- or pro-biotic to help some of these beneficial bacteria. Another L. Cassei anyone?
Even the bacteria that aren't actively good for us can help our immune systems by stimulating an immune reaction. This makes it easier to fight off subsequent infections.
For me, the most interesting bit of this article is below, word for word.
What is worse, perhaps the most comprehensive study of the effectiveness of antibiotic and non-antibiotic soaps in the U.S., led by Elaine Larson at Columbia University (with Aiello as a coauthor), found that while for healthy hand washers there was no difference between the effects of the two, for chronically sick patients (those with asthma and diabetes, for example) antibiotic soaps were actually associated with increases in the frequencies of fevers, runny noses and coughs [4]. In other words, antibiotic soaps appeared to have made those patients sicker. Let me say that again: Most people who use antibiotic soap are no healthier than those who use normal soap. AND those individuals who are chronically sick and use antibiotic soap appear to get SICKER.It's a longish article, but it's worth a read. Leave a comment..
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