E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSAttention, germaphobes. Exposure to the microscopic bugs is crucial for keeping kids healthy, according to new research in the prestigious journal Science. The study strongly supports a growing body of evidence that you need to put away the disinfectant and expose children to the real world of germs and microbes.
Getty Images stock
We're meant to encounter some microbes and dirt when we're young. It's how we build our immune systems.
Scientists Richard S. Blumberg and Dennis L. Kasper and a team of researchers at Harvard Medical School showed that in mice exposure to germs in early life helped reduce the body’s inventory of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells. These cells help protect us against diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and asthma. But, if there are too many of them with too much time on their hands, they can actually cause these conditions. By exposing young mice to common microbes the scientists saw that the animals were protected from accumulating T cells -- and were healthier than those who were not.
The scientists reached an admittedly geeky conclusion: “These results indicate that age-sensitive contact with commensal microbes is critical for establishing mucosal iNKT cell tolerance to later environmental exposures,” they wrote in the journal Science. In other words, exposing baby mice to common germs got their immune systems appropriately busy and able to not over-react when encountering nasty bugs and other biological stuff later in life.
This is a big deal.
The rapid rise in food allergies, asthma and other immunological diseases is due, at least in part, to our modern obsession with cleanliness, scientists increasingly believe. The 'hygiene hypothesis', first advanced in 1989 by the British epidemiologist David Strachan, contends that these diseases are becoming more common because young children are not exposed to them at an early age. We spend so effort trying to prevent exposure to germs with antibiotics, antibacterials and soaps that letting kids get dirty seems like a violation of basic parental duty.
Parents are constantly being told to make their kitchens spotless, to kill 99.9 per cent of the germs lurking in their bathrooms and to wash themselves and their babies all the time.
This world of purity sounds good but it does not fit how we are designed. We are meant to encounter some microbes and dirt when we are young. It is how we built our immune systems. We need a certain amount of grunginess as kids to be healthy adults.
As the Harvard study shows, filth can be good -- at least in tiny amounts when you are very young.
Arthur Caplan, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania
Leave a Comment:
This is not the first study on this, and this same conclusion has been reached hundreds of times before. Didn't MSNBC run the article on the studies they did when the two Germany's came together, and they saw how those kids living in the more polluted East German towns were so much healthier and had much lower asthma rates, even with all the smog/pollution?
Common sense, expose your kids early and often.
That's very true, but it seems to be a subject that needs constant reiteration as parents still don't seem to want to accept that this is the case. Much like repeated studies that have shown that there is no link between vaccines and autism.
That's ridiculous. Exposing your kids to ILLNESS will not make them healthier.
The reason why kids are sicker is because 1) Parents are sicker and less healthy thus leading to less healthy kids (GENES MATTER) 2) Diets are very poor in fruits and veggies and 3) Kids are fat and sedentary.
All these factors are increasing the rates of asthma and other auto-immune disorders
I think George Carlin said it best. To paraphrase, the immune system needs practice. It needs germs to practice on. Otherwise when some super bug comes around, it'll turn your organs into liquid sh*t.
@ journal journal:
Nowhere did they say that we should expose our kids to ILLNESS! They DID say that it's a healthier approach to let the kids be exposed to the normal everyday forms of bacteria, microbes, etc. that populate our environment. In doing so, these kids have far fewer illnesses in their lives...
BIG DIFFERENCE!!
@duuug
You don't get to choose which bacteria and microbes to expose to your child.
They could get something that won't hurt them... or they could get necrotising fascitis, staph, salmonella or e.coli and die.
This is terrible advice. The worst part by far is the disdain for a clean kitchen. We have some of the dirtiest food in the modern world. Cutting corners on hygiene is the last thing parents should be doing.
@journaljournal, your strawman argument does not hold water. For your child to contract necrotizing fasciitis, he or she would need to have a cut that is directly exposed to one of the several viruses that cause the condition. Since all modern studies suggest cleaning any cuts or abrasions this argument is bunk.
Since most cases of staph are contracted (and passed) within healthcare settings, avoiding constantly washing your children's hands is also highly unlikely to result in higher rates of staph. You make the assumption that all the other children and objects in contact with your children are exposing them constantly to MRSA level viruses and bacteria.
Your salmonella and e. coli worries are again unfounded. If you have just finished preparing chicken or another raw meat in your kitchen, then, yes, you should disinfect the counters in order to lower the risk of spread; however, that does not mean your kitchen needs to go through continual disinfection just for the sake of disinfecting.
The human immune system gains greater immunity by fighting off various illnesses. This improved response has been shown through the successful use of immunizations in the modern world. Trying to eliminate any possible negative viral or bacterial attacks on your children is simply not intelligent, you are setting your children up for weakened immune responses in their adult lives.
Not just weaker responses, but aberrant immune responses. Inflammatory conditions and allergies are largely caused by poor regulation of innate immune function. Low level exposure to everyday microbes engenders the development of strong and robust regulatory and inhibitory functions within the immune system. Those inhibitory functions are necessary to tell the immune system when to stand down and when to fight. The whole system is designed as antagonistic feedback loops - one side ramping up the response and one side ramping it down. Without both sides you have immune dysfunction. Lose the ramping up side and you have immunodeficiency. Lose the ramping down side and you have inflammatory disease and allergies.
journal journal, you are simply misinformed and wrong. Only the smallest percentage of microbes actually cause disease and of those a vanishingly small percentage cause serious illness. The rest are as much a part of our world as the grass under our feet. What's more, many normal bacteria out-compete the harmful ones, not just in our bodies but on our counters and floors as well. If your counter is sanitary some salmonella from raw chicken will spread faster than if there are some bugs already living there.
Necrotising Fascitis is a BACTERIAL infection.
You're never going to kill ALL the germs in your house. It's impossible to do that. That's what makes this article so stupid and wrong.
This isn't a "We're too clean" problem. This is a dietary and exercise problem. Improper nutrition and improper lifestyle is far more inflammatory than having too few germs in your life.
Thank you Mr. Dictionary. Everyone already knows that. What we're arguing about is the idea is the idea of whether or not letting your child eat off the floor or drink the milk that smells funny is healthy or not, which is ridiculous.
If you expose your child to microbes you expose them to ALL the microbes and risk serious illness. You can risk your kids. Not me.
I'll come back to this article during flu season. It's like people have amnesia when it comes to communicable diseases.
Umm...that's Dr. Dictionary and the point about poor regulation of immune function is one that you apparently don't fully appreciate, although you recognize it as true. Our immune system is regulated through CONTACT with NORMAL bacteria. So yes, having too few germs in your life leads to a dysregulation of the immune system.
No one is arguing that healthy diet and exercise do not contribute to healthy immune function, we are arguing that a healthy exposure to normal bacteria is an important part as well.
For the record, smelly milk that is simply sour won't kill you. If it's putrefied it might, but the most common bugs found in milk pose no problem for you. They are only interested in the lactose. Sour = cheese. Not saying it's tasty, but the risk is overblown.
I don't think you are comprehending the main points here. Illness causing bacteria are not found everywhere and normal bacteria keeps their numbers in check - but only when normal bacteria are present. The normal bacteria are constantly eliminating the nasty ones for free, without chemicals, and they stabilize your immune system as well.
Now of course if you are in an environment that you know is compromised, such as a hospital or a house with an ill person - clean away! But for everyday, spotless is unnecessary and may be harmful to proper immune function.
Journal Journal-
I grew up in very dirty environments, from the shelly beaches of Florida, to the kelpy beaches of Alaska. I climbed all sort of trees with all sorts of weird things growing on them. I ate all sorts of berries that grew in the woods, and would wash them in a nearby creek (wild blackberries and salmonberries are the best!). I would catch bugs and lizards and other little critters. I had two dogs to wrestle with. I would play by a little creek and pretend to build a dam (I was successful once and managed to make a small puddle in the woods overfill into a 20ft deep pond that a bunch of tractors had to come unclog...). I climbed mountains, inspected the scat left behind animals, gathered firewood, collected bird feathers, picked up shells from the beach, gutted fish, this, that, etc. I got my hands dirty a lot.
And guess what. I'm VERY healthy. The only time I got really "sick" was because of a panic disorder. I did that to myself. I've never had a serious illness. The trick is a healthy diet, being active, and rinsing/washing your hands every so often and before you eat.
I believe that you need to get a little dirty to train your immune system and make it stronger. Yes, clean your kitchen, it'd be stupid not to. But you can't baby-proof the world. The world is full of microbes, but you're more in danger of worrying yourself to death over them, than actually dying from them.
Sorry 'bout the wall of text.
@journaljournal, you are correct that necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection, I should have caught my error during the edit period. That being said, my point regarding how the infection is contracted stands. I wish you did not present such ridiculously extreme strawmen arguments, because they completely detract from the points you are making. You are absolutely right in saying that we as a society need to focus on better exercise and eating habits; however, this is lost when you make the absurd claims that this argument is about letting children eat off the floor and drink sour milk.
You are also correct in that not all bacteria within a home can be killed, however your assertion that the rise in allergies and decrease in immunity has nothing to do with over-cleanliness is false. A number of studies have directly correlated increased use of antibacterials with worsening allergies and decreased immune responses in children. Are you saying that all of these studies are wrong, that the vast amount of peer-reviewed data analysis on this matter, which supports the findings above, is insignificant in comparison to your own personal research?
In regards to coming back during flu season, once again you are making a strawman argument. Strict personal hygiene during flu season can certainly improve your chances of staying healthy; however, flu season is exactly what its name implies, a season, what is your reasoning for the rest of the year?
CollaredCrow--Your post almost brought a tear to my eye! I grew up similarly, including splashing around the swamps and algae-covered creeks in Alaska with my dog. I've swallowed seawater, chewed on the spongy stalks of catttails, and eaten berries from the woods. I've climbed sap-covered trees, swam in leech-infested lakes, explored poison ivy covered forests. After all of that, I and my siblings, all grew up with nothing more than the occasional sniffle or cough (..maybe a broken bone..) and are now all healthy 40 and 50 year olds!
I wonder if this generation of kids and teens and all their allergies (including food allergies) reached their tipping point via hand sanitizer!
have been caring for kid for 30 yrs notice a big change in last ten or so around huge increase in allergies (as noted by all) and the cleanliness...one main thing most recently is the hand sanitizer and hand wipes. Also, I think most kids don't play outside in the dirt as much as kids in the past....lots of germs in dirt for immune systems to learn to fight off.
Sure excersize/activity is down to. So, in fact, are vitamin D levels...the vitamin we get from sunshine on skin WiTHOUT SUNCREEN. More than half of American adults are have deficiency in Vit D as measured in blood levels. I am sure kids --with less outdoor play and more video games, less safe neighborhoods (and world) where kids roam free outdoors for hours like we did, and advent of sunscreen daily use--are also often Vit D deficient. Vit D has the action of a hormone and effects on multiple body systems including the immune system. It is an immune booster and studies have shown that Influenza epidemics may happen when they do (winter) because Vit D levels are lowest...Vit D looks like it keeps flu at bay.
love your post, Jim. I grew up in suburbia but with woods all around. No leeches...but lots of wading in brooks and eating wild berries and chewing on chickweed (I think it's called...sour clover). Dogs ran free outside and were our friends.
Aww, leave poor Journaljournal alone. I'm sure he or she is a researcher that is published in peer reviewed journals and has evidence from his or her studies that prove this study and all the other studies wrong. Tell them, Journaljournal, tell them what your references are and we will all say we are sorry.
I really don't think that the increase in allergies and asthma is related to living in an over-sterlized environment and using too much hand sanitizer, I think it is more likely to be related to children not spending enough time outside in natural environments. I think people who clean and clean and clean are also the sort of people who don't spend as much time taking their kids out and exploring nature. I remember several studies published a while back showed that children raised on farms had dramatically lower rates of asthmas and allergies than children raised in urban environments. It said nothing about the cleanliness of those farm kitchens or how often their parents put hand sanitizer on their childrens' hands.
But what do I know?! I'm certainly no expert, it's just a hunch of mine. Sorry, flame me if you want but I'm still going to spray lysol on the shopping cart before I plunk my kids into it-- I am SOOOOO sick of dealing with colds. I have three kids under 5 and once one gets it they all do as do I--husband is deployed, exhausting doesn't even begin to descibe my life and whatever I can do to minimize the number of colds our house gets I'm gonna do.
there are good and bad bacteria, trying to do away with all bacteria is a recipe for disaster. there are more bacteria in your intestines than cells in your body, try to understand that one. without bacteria we cannot function or interact with our environment and we cannot break down foods and some people want to mandate irradiation of all foods! I never use anti-bacterial soaps/hand lotions, kill all the bacteria on your hands and you are more vulnerable to infection because good bacteria protect you. I suspect there are many reasons why kids who stay inside all the time are less healthier than active peers but lack of exposure to all that our world has to offer in the "germ" kingdom when you are young and strong is definitely going to serve you in a bad way throughout your life.
@Jim-
Haha, I'm glad to see you've had an adventurous life too! A few other things I did that I didn't list was: drinking icy cold creekwater from dried pushkey stalks (improvised water bottle), dissecting a salmon shark (biology field trips in Alaska are the best!), resting on beds of moss, and even interacting with a wild but friendly fox that I named Limp (he was hurt from being hit by a car). See, I think life should be more about going out there and enjoying, appreciating, and learning from it rather than huddling up in your home all day. Alaska was the best place I have ever lived and I am deeply saddened that I no longer live there. I hope to at least visit again and finally climb the mountains I promised I would!
When a parent is afraid to let their kid outside to play in the mud and in the world in general, then you are doing your child a BIG disservice. We had no hand-sanitizer growing up, just some lye soap or homemade soap. I roamed the hills at my grandfather's farm; I got in with the pigs and helped with slaughter. I tromped thru chicken sh*t and gathered eggs and I helped milk the cow and hand churned butter. I also used a 2-holer outhouse.
I'm perfectly fine, just as I and a lot of other kids were then as well. When you try and shield your kids you end up hurting them.
Hmmmm. I though this was common sense for the last hundred years or so... Modern society is full of phobias of the most ridiculous levels. I used to ride my bike with out a helmet, ate some pretty hard pavement a few times, but I'm still here, successful, happy, and healthy. I was exposed to lead based paint. No nervous system disorders present. I still don't wash my hands before every meal, or before touching my face. No problems yet, and it's been that way for more than three decades. I let me dogs give me kisses, wipe my greasy, dirty hands off on my pants when working on my old cars, and still have no problem grabbing up a sandwich and eating it. Point it, that the scientists are correct, the immune system grows, and learns through germ contact. That's why we were all exposed during entrance into the military, that is why our kids get immunized. It is to help build our immune system.
We are taught to drive a vehicle, it doesn't come naturally. We are taught to rid e abike, it doesn't come naturally. We are taught to read, speak, and write. We are taught to tie our shoes, cook our food, wash our clothes, all things that aren't not known naturally. Our immune system doesn't know how to defend against everything naturally, and it learns as it gets older, just like everything else. It adapts, and learn. Eating healthy helps, as does exercise, but they are not the whole answer.
Exposure to the environment is essential to building a strong immune system.
Put away the hand sanitizer. Put away the Lysol.
Let your kids get a little dirty when they're outside.
It's actually good for them.
.
I'm only 25 and I don't understand how this is new news... my parents have said the same things my whole life and i've never been over-anxious about "germs" for my own kids either... Is this like the whole "let them get chicken pox when they're kids cuz it's deadly for adults" thing? Why is this article so hard to grasp for some people? It makes complete sense... I don't understand where the versus thought process of sheltering kids from all germs started
@journal journal ~ I suppose the reason why some kids are still getting childhood diseases is because of all the kids not getting immunized. Well, that is not true since there was an outbreak of whooping cough and most of the kids that got it had been immunized. this happened in Brewer, Maine around December 2011. did you know that older people are more likely to suffer from shingles because children are given a vaccine for chicken pox? Immunities are built when in contact with germs and diseases. Because there are so few children getting chicken pox, older people are not able to build their immunity to shingles.
As for kids being around germs. My parents used to say "You will eat a peck of dirt before you die." I have made it 53 years! Germs made me stronger and they didn't kill my boys either. My house is clean but not disinfected daily. Kids should play in the dirt and mud and parents should take a chill pill. Their children will be healthier for it.
The late 19th and 20th century outbreaks of "infantile paralysis," otherwise known as polio, have been traced to advances in hygene. Granted, improvements were needed to stem the spread of disease among dense populations. However, as usual, we tend to go overboard. The emergence of so-called super bugs is directly attributable to the widespread use of antiseptics in cleaning products and the profilactic use of antibiotics in animal feeds. The development of natural resistance and a healthy immune system requires exposure to the very germs that can make us ill and threaten our lives. The earliest vacinations were based on this concept and promoted the body developing its own immunities. Nowadays, the vaccines simply inject the antibodies to provide protection. Smallpox innoculation was so successful that the WHO declared the disease irradicated from the general population. Now, the fear is that since we no longer innoculate against it, it could be unleashed as a weapon.
So I shouldn't let my kid eat dirt? well dang it. He loves mud pies. :/ how irresponsible of me.
Wait...he's never had anything more than a common cold. I guess we're good.
My children were born in 1994 and 1996. I had been raised by Christian Science parents, and we never feared germs, so neither did I as a parent. My kids got dirty, and ate stuff off the floor, and I gave them baths two or three times a week, not every day. In prescoold, they each had chronic but mild runny noses, but no illnesses. They were never out of school with colds or flu, or any "common" childhood ailments. My friends had wipes, and disinfectants, and gave their kids daily baths. One friend would not let her daughter play with my kids because she was sure they gave her child a bad cold. They are teens now, and except for one bout with a flu in 8th grade, they are healthy. I agree. Stop it with the overprotection and the disinfectant.
Daily baths for kids are not necessary at all. My son is 11 now & showers about three times/week. He's still very clean, smells good, and healthy.
PS I shower daily!
Renee R - totally agree. My kids were born in 2005 and 2007 (now 5 and almost 7), and neither has EVER had: ear infection, flu, strep throat, cavities, allergies, any childhood disease/rash (other than diaper rash & poison ivy once, as they play outside all the time). They get colds maybe twice a year, a fever once a year. The only time they're at the doctor is annual physical. Also, both are on the very low end of weights for height, as they are always running/fidgeting. I'm not being self-righteous--I consider us very lucky...but I like to think my hatred of vacuuming, baths only 3 x/week (except in summer), dust everywhere except when company's coming, and 2 indoor cats also have something to do with "improving" their resistance! Their clothes are clean, house is clean & tidy enough but not "sterile", diet balanced but not rigid --they have candy a few times a week & McD's once or twice a month.
I have my whole life to have an immaculate house. Right now, while they love my company, I'd rather spend my time playing with them, doing crafts, taking them to parks & playgrounds, and supplementing their schooling than cleaning, I guess.
Great, Ivana! My kids are 16 & 13. the older one had frequent ear infection (any time even the slighest sniffle...) chalk it up to eustacian tube dysfunction - now outgrown, they've had just about everything -except the flu. it happens when we interact with others and are social. But they have rarely been sick since about the age of 5-6ish. I, like you, believe in getting them outside, skip the antibacterial crap..my mottos been a little dirt won't hurt, and I've always believed that we can be "too clean", which i've always thought could be harmful. Keep the balance in your life. All the cleanliness products and antibacterial junk is just a money maker anyway. Count your blessings and thank God for your healthy kids every day
This line of thought supports another documented view that suggests that kids growing up with two, or more pets, tend to have far, far fewer allergy problems in adulthood.
All things considered, I'm not at all surprised by this medial view....
I've always had 5 or more pets and I'm not allergic to anything, I don't have asthma, etc etc etc. Likewise, my son is not allergic to anything nor does he have asthma. I consider us pretty lucky.
I need to wash my hands after reading this article.
At close to 72 I believe I am an example of this. I was raised in a rural enviroment and had my share of illness in my early chidhood. I still get colds but they don't last long and show mild lung problens. I self medicate and avoid over medication. I smoke(pipes) but mostly for flavor. I know I should eat healthier but its easier not to. So all of you that over protect their kids, get over it.
My (healthy)grown up kids thank me all the time for not being super clean and letting them get a bit dirty. They are very healthy and see their friends with all kinds of ailments/
i think that it is safe to say that this article is NOT promoting kids to play in contaminated sandboxes or having a disgusting kitchen by leaving chicken or meat blood on the counter or under cooking meats to expose children to bacteria and viruses to "help" activate their immune systems, it is just saying that the over zealous use of wipes, antiseptic sanitizers and super cleanliness at a very early age can SOMETIMES lead to an immune system being under exposed to BASIC viruses and bacterias and it CAN be more likely that that under exposure will cause those kids to get a little more sicker when finally exposed....every child is different...it may or may not happen...but the point is that sooner or later after all the sanitizing and disenfecting and sterilizing the kid will get sick! if you as a parent cant handle it then put the kid in a bubble, but there is no escaping it.....not allowing kids to play with other kids who are deemed " always playing in dirt or getting too dirty", is a waste of a childhood...they are kids!!! as long as they are not playing in body fluids or raw meats, they will be fine!!! god, where did the whole "let kids be kids" life go!?!?!
I agree, but they are saying that so many kids have allergies now because their immune systems have been under utilized.
I keep my house very clean, but we have pets (a cat & dog). Also, I've always taken my son out & about from an early age, including to parks a few times per week when he was really young. He doesn't have any allergies and has only been mildly sick twice in 11 years (knock on wood). He has never had antibiotics. I would never ask for them and they would only be used as a very last resort if needed.
My father in law, an old German gentleman said that all kids growing up has to eat a "pound of dirt" figuratively to grow healthy. He had something right because my wife is practically bullet proof. I raised my kid the same way and she hardly ever gets sick or have any allergies.
I think we all coddle our kids too much because of advertisers trying to sell hand cleansers and handy wipes, etc. As a result they advertise how important to have a spotless clean house but in the end our kids have more allergies.
I avoid any soap that has triclosan in it. That's the active ingredient in all antibacterial soaps. Wipes and gels use alcohol which kills bugs outright. Triclosan is a mild antibacterial agent and IS A WASTE OF MONEY. It interferes with the bacteria's ability to make cell membrane components. What this means is that by the time it begins to work you have already washed up, toweled off and gone about your business. Triclosan kills slowly. All triclosan is doing in our products is generating hardy, triclosan resistant bacteria in our sewers and septic tanks. It is the soap that is removing bacteria from your hands and it has been working effectively for thousands of years just fine. You do not need to kill the bacteria to clean your hands. Adding triclosan is a gimmick. In fact, any residual triclosan on your hands is too little to prevent new growth of bacteria after washing and all this will do is potentially engender resistance in the bugs on your skin as well.
Save money, use soap.
This view that we must be sanitary is spread by our over-hyped media as well. How many stupid stories are there every year where somebody says that the remote control is full of germs? Of course it is! It should be! The report says something dumb like: over 1 million germs were living there! So? 1 million germs is not that many. The real question is what kind of germs and how many of each? Chances are a "healthy remote" will have high numbers of normal friendly bacteria from your body - the ones that should be there - and exceptionally low numbers of disease causing bacteria. But you won't see the details in a news story, just the hype about 1 million bacteria.
Exactly.
The media likes to scare people.
And so do companies that have products to sell.
There are germs and then there are germs, as almost every other poster has pointed out. In the hospital enviornment, I can't imagine being "too clean" because of the antibiotic-induced and deadly "superbugs". At home, antibacterial wipes ought to be saved for food-preparation surfaces and antibacterial soaps for impetigo-prone rugrats. Any kid who attends daycare is probably innoculated against many cold viruses through his/her teens, at least.
I think that the fact that MRSA is a product of our supposedly sterile hospitals, says it all. Lack of contact with microbes sets the stage for an under-developed immune system and illness. My grandma taught me that "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt". Keep it simple, everything in moderation, including dirt.
MRSA is a product of overuse of antibiotics, not sterile hospital environments.
WOW! Fantastic discovery! Let's see, if I exercise, I build up my muscles and heart, if I sit and play videos, I become a fat hyperactive child with no attention span. Sooo - if I exercise my immune system, it becomes more flexible and adept, if I rely on antibiotics and a bubble environment, I become hypersensitive and have no immunities - who'da thunk it? Now I understand how come I enjoyed grubbing in the dirt and woods and then wolfing a sandwich when I was a little kid - I was building my immunity! Maybe that's how come raccoons, possums and buzzards never die of food poisoning!
It is amazing how far the ignorant will go to discredit good science. Anyone with an eduction in the life sciences already knew this, but it's good to get it out in public.
This idea...the so-called "Hygiene Hypothesis"... is nothing new, it was raised at least 10-15 years ago. The data is solid.....kids raised on farms get far less allergies than kids who live in spotless homes. The idea to date is that by being exposed when young kids far more often to innocuous infections that do us little harm we shift our antibodies to IgG and away from the IgE responses that give us the violent allergic response. This new data seems to suggest that too many iNKT cells are involved in this, which is interesting.
FINALLY!! I have always wondered how the human race has survived for thousands of years without Purell....
Bubble parents just annoy me at this point. They are so paranoid of letting their kids play in a natural environment that they've forgot that humans have been on this plan for hundreds of years and the only way to evolve our immune system is to actually use it. Much like bacteria builds a resistance to antibiotics. It's not rocket science to know.
I read an article once that talked about new mothers who got upset when anyone touched their baby because of germs.
I can only hope that they eventually got over this lunacy.
My mom said that with the oldest she would sterilize the bottles religiously, but by the time the rest came along she would just swish them in soapy water.
I've worked for years in both hospital and school environments and overall the healthiest kids are farm kids. Got to be from all the exposure to dirt, dung, bugs and hay and the like. What a great childhood!
It's funny how many of my 'privileged' friends when I was growing up lived in hyper-sanitary conditions and they all had a large list of allergies and auto-immune disorders; always taking mountains of medications for as long as I can remember.
I always thought this was something rich people just sort made-up to get more attention, or maybe that they're just a bunch of whiners. Turns out their immune systems really are compromised, or at least that seems to be the case.
I agree and i personally know many people who are examples of this. First is my husbands nephew who washed his hands obsessively as a child who developed irritable bowl syndrome as a young teen. As an adult he is constantly sick with some thing or another and constantly popping cold medications. Then theres the young hip middle class moms i've run across who have a list a mile long of all the things that will harm your child...ie.. non organic foods, fast food, playing in the dirt, not disinfecting kids toys everyday, this meat that meat!! They wont bring their kids near yours if they so much as sneeze or fart even if your children dont have a fever. Amazingly their kids arent any less sick then your's... oh no its always that their kids have allergies or they are "sensitive" Whatever that means!! lol...
Having four children ranging in age from three to twenty four i've seen many changes in how things are done in the doctors office. Doctors no longer throw antibiotics at you like they are candy because they now know this causes antibiotic resistant germs. Doctors also are discouraging the use of cold medications saying that you may actually make the childs cold worse by using the products. As parents we need to practice moderation and not lose our common sense based on sensationalized articles which make it seem like killer bugs are everywhere!! This article simply states that its okay for our kids to recieve some exposure which helps build our immune system.
IBS may not be caused by super hygeine, I grew up rural and other than the IBS never get sick but I have other family of varying age that have it too
I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY. I think all these cleanliness freaks are just that. Freaks. Not to mention reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics by only killing 99.9 percent of the normal bacterial strains that surround us. Guess what happens to the .09% that aren't killed off? YEAH....they survive and get stronger....it's called survival of the fittest.
I don't advocate living in filth but lets get real people. Constant hand washing and use of sterilizing agents outside of the Hospital and food environments is too much. Unfortunately common sense seems to have gone from this society.