BigRedBuster Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 HAAAAA!!!!! I have suspected this for a long time. Now, someone actually agrees with me. Is being too clean making us sick? Over the past few decades, doctors have arrived at a counterintuitive hypothesis about our modern, ultra-sanitized world. Too much cleanliness may be causing us to develop allergies, asthma, inflammatory bowel diseases, and other autoimmune disorders. Link to comment
Junior Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I've been preaching this for at least a decade. Among other things, don't buy soap with extra antibacterial stuff added. It's a huge contributor to our antimicrobial resistance problem. Soap itself is antibacterial. Link to comment
sd'sker Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 i avoid antibiotics for this reason. and i scoff at parents who are freaks at making sure their children never touch anything that has not recently been sanitized. unfortunately, it is a lot like vaccines. everyone has to be on the same page or it will not matter much. Link to comment
carlfense Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Too many kids didn't spend every summer wading through waist-deep mud while running setlines down at the creek. Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Too many kids didn't spend every summer wading through waist-deep mud while running setlines down at the creek. Bingo!!! Link to comment
NUinID Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Everyone needs a little dirt in their lives. You have to build up some immunities to things in the world. When I used to teach school, when they renovated our building, they put hand sanitizer machines in everyone's room. Mine got missed for some reason and I never told anyone, because I don't believe in using it. I used to have kids that would freak out because I didn't have a hand sanitizer machine. I just told them that if it didn't kill them it would make them stronger. My wife and I have never used the sanitizer stuff and let our kids get dirty. They don't get sick nearly as much as some kids I know who's parents are fanatical about cleanliness. Link to comment
Creighton Duke Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 My philosophy for years (although I tone the disgusting parts at the end down a little bit...) Link to comment
knapplc Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Carlin is gold. Louis CK is the closest we have to him today, but we lost something essential when we lost George Carlin. Two things he said in that quote happened to me in the last 24 hours. Last night making dinner, a slice of shallot fell off my counter onto the floor. I picked it up and put it on my salad, because you can't have too many shallots in your salad. The wife thought that was gross. "Ewwww! Throw that away!" I ate the salad, and I'm here to tell the tale the day after. Also last night, whilst opening the wine, I (somehow???) gashed my left index finger with the corkscrew. Deep gash, right on the tip of the finger where band-aids don't stick so well. So I covered it with masking tape and went on with my life. Co-worker today asks what I did to my finger, I tell her, and she half freaks out on me because masking tape isn't sanitary. I told her most people in the world don't have access to band-aids, and they're all still OK. Everyone needs a little dirt in their lives. I got some dirt on carlfense I'll sell you for $20. carlfense - I'll keep it quiet for $50. Link to comment
Count 'Bility Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Now this is a great topic. And I 100% agree. I gotta a guy I work with that scoffs at me all the time for being "dirty". I dont wash my hands enough and this and that (plumbing wholesale. Greasy parts. Handled by many folks). My only response is, "when you miss only 1 day of work a year compared to your average 5, then we'll talk". And this is no joke. I have not had the flu in 12 years. Never a flu shot. I get my cold every fall and every spring and my sore throats as well when the weather suddenly changes. Other than that, I'm an awfully healthy person. Those who have met me in person know I'm a bigger guy. Would you believe I have perfect blood pressure and cholesterol? And I'll agree I'm probably a "dirty" person. I come in with greasy hands after workin on a car or something, and I make and eat me a sandwich without washin my hands. Mainly cuz I'm hungry and in a hurry. So yeah, I do think society is becoming "too clean". You have to let your body battle and develop immunities to things. Personally, I always thought this was common sense. Link to comment
strigori Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I'm also in agreement with this. I spend work days around the public, and I touch my face, and eat, without 'scrubbing in' beforehand. I also have a large dog at home, there is no such thing as 'sterile living' with a big dog in the house. And I think I have missed 2 days of work in the last 5 years. And related is the overuse of antibiotics might be the single greatest threat to mankind at the moment. As big pharma does not see value in trying to create new ones. Link to comment
zoogs Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I'd probably have used a band-aid. I'm not sure how safe or unsafe masking tape is, but an infection is something I wouldn't want to risk. That could get complicated and messy. If food drops somewhere though, I'll usually eat it. Because food is good and I usually can't help myself. The World Health Organization has a page on antimicrobial resistance. People can help tackle resistance by: -using antibiotics only when they are prescribed by a certified health professional; -completing the full treatment course, even if they feel better; -never sharing antibiotics with others or using leftover prescriptions. However, this doesn't necessarily apply to hand sanitizers. Q: Will over-use of alcohol-based handrubs result in resistance? A: Unlike other antiseptics and antibiotics, there is no reported or likely resistance to alcohol-based handrubs. Indeed, the more it is appropriately used, the less antibiotic-resistant bacteria are able to spread. http://www.who.int/gpsc/tools/faqs/abhr2/en/ My high school biology teacher was really against them. Now I'm thinking she may have been a little misinformed. Link to comment
Scratchtown Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I can't stand the paranoia about germs these days. I very rarely use hand sanitizer. I don't wash my hands after coming in from outside. My family thinks I'm weird that I'll handle a worm and take fish off the hook and when I wipe my hand on my pants I grab for some licorice or whatever munchies we have on the boat. My sister runs around disinfecting everything in fear that my 2 year old nephew will get sick if she doesn't. I always tell her that she's just setting him up for getting it worse later on in life. Link to comment
tschu Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Let's take it down juuuust a notch... I agree that being outdoors, playing in the dirt, swimming in the local pond, doing things like that as a kid (or even an adult!) is a net positive on our health and immune system. Don't baby your kids! However, let's make a distinction between that and basic public human cleanliness...don't skip the hand soap after using the airport bathroom (and similar examples) because this is how outbreaks and pandemics start. Cleanliness is important too! Link to comment
sd'sker Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Let's take it down juuuust a notch... I agree that being outdoors, playing in the dirt, swimming in the local pond, doing things like that as a kid (or even an adult!) is a net positive on our health and immune system. Don't baby your kids! However, let's make a distinction between that and basic public human cleanliness...don't skip the hand soap after using the airport bathroom (and similar examples) because this is how outbreaks and pandemics start. Cleanliness is important too! i was going to make the comment about how it was funny to see this become a bit of a pissing contest. "i've never wash my hands" "i eat food off the ground" "well i prepare my ramen with toilet water" "yeah, i eat dog sh#t smoothies" 'so, i have a festering sore i treat by keeping it wrapped in damp parchment paper i found disregarded in the garbage behind the butcher's" 1 Link to comment
tschu Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Let's take it down juuuust a notch... I agree that being outdoors, playing in the dirt, swimming in the local pond, doing things like that as a kid (or even an adult!) is a net positive on our health and immune system. Don't baby your kids! However, let's make a distinction between that and basic public human cleanliness...don't skip the hand soap after using the airport bathroom (and similar examples) because this is how outbreaks and pandemics start. Cleanliness is important too! i was going to make the comment about how it was funny to see this become a bit of a pissing contest. "i've never wash my hands" "i eat food off the ground" "well i prepare my ramen with toilet water" "yeah, i eat dog sh#t smoothies" 'so, i have a festering sore i treat by keeping it wrapped in damp parchment paper i found disregarded in the garbage behind the butcher's" I HAVENT WORN DEODORANT IN 8 YEARS wait, dogshit smoothie? Link to comment
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