Cleanliness is next to godliness? Not if it’s hyper-cleanliness!

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Do you remember the 3 second rule? I certainly do.

That rule let kids know it was OK to pick something up off the floor and eat it- as long as it wasn’t there for 3 seconds or more. Oh, stop making those noises! There probably is more right with that rule than you think.

You see, our immune system “doesn’t run on all 8 cylinders”, unless it is challenged. (Hey, look, if I am citing old rules, I will reference old vehicles, too!) Without learning how to attack germs, our immune system can’t develop the antibodies it will need (and know how to do so) when offending agents actually are present.

Dr. David Strachen first voiced this concern in 1989. He published in the British Medical Journal results from his study of some 17414 children. He discerned that those children who had more siblings (and, therefore, more potential exposure to germs) were less likely to develop allergies or eczema. His “hygiene hypothesis” presumes that we need to expose our children early- and to the right microbes- to insure the immune system does not become hypersensitive. Without that exposure, the body’s reactions to pollen, dander, and similar materials become over-reactive- hence the high levels of such reactions in today’s children.

I remember my mom making me visit friends who were sick- with the measles, the mumps, the chicken pox (that never worked- I got it at least four times), etc.- so I would either get the disease when it was convenient for her and my doctor- and treat it- or for me to develop an immunity. (That might have happened with the mumps; I even slept with my brother when he had it- and I never did contract the mumps.)

Dr. Kathleen Barnes (Johns Hopkins) and Erika von Mutius (University Children’s Hospital, Munich) presented a workshop in 2009, updating this hygiene hypothesis and setting out new study parameters for the future. As the workshop notes (published in the Evolution and Medicine Review  state, they described the fact that without exposure to microbes, autoimmune disorders, asthma, and allergies are far more prevalent in children. Admittedly, the effects of viral loading is unknown, as well as the effects of this exposure on the gut microorganisms. And, the effect of genetic makeup of children also plays a critical part.

This tendency is supposedly one of the reasons why children who are raised on farms are less likely to develop allergies or immune-system disorders. (See, Amy? You’re doing OK by your family.) But, which part of the farm environment is critical? That, we don’t know.

For example, Drs. Mark Holbreich and Jennifer Appleyard presented results for Amish and Swiss farm children (March 4, 2012, Orlando, Florida) at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy. Their data described that farm kids have much lower asthma, eczema, and hayfever ,than those who don’t live on farms. (This difference was attributed to exposing these farm children to the microbes that are associated with livestock, the drinking of raw milk (which has microbes that are destroyed by pasteurization), and the tendency of farm children to be from larger families.)

Purell
Purell (Photo credit: aarontait)

So, consider what you are doing…All those anti-bacterial wipes, the Purell solutions, and those other antimicrobial lotions you slop on your kids hands, arms, and faces are insuring that are kids will get sicker. Because our kids need that ‘dirt’ to help them stay healthier in the long run.

 

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10 thoughts on “Cleanliness is next to godliness? Not if it’s hyper-cleanliness!”

  1. Um, Roy, so sweet of you to mention us . .. I think . .. I guess . . . even if it was in the context that we doing okay by being exposed to plenty of dirty and manure! ha! This is all quite fascinating to me. I’ve never been the type of mom who slathers anti-bac all over the kids’ hands (you might have guessed that already) and it’s interesting to hear that “a little dirt is good for you” is perhaps a mainstream idea? I heard two people on the radio, one introducing the “revolutionary” idea that if you drop a pacifier on the floor, that you shouldn’t wash it (or sterilize it, or throw it away!) but just pop it back into the baby’s mouth, because the germs are necessary for good immune development. The other person, of course, was aghast in her horror!
    Amy recently posted..First day of school: the way we do it

  2. Thank goodness for me I licked enough public water fountains as a kid I was sick constantly 😛 I wish that was a joke, but yeah it’s not…
    What confounds me in the post though…is how you managed to get chicken pox 4 times? That’s supposed to be a one and done kind of thing…
    Lisa recently posted..Of Paradise by Lisa Brandel

    1. My pediatrician was pretty exasperated when I came in the third time with my sudden bout of acne (yes, that’s what I thought it was, given that I had already suffered through Chicken Pox twice) that developed on the third day of my college career. (Don’t ask. I met the criteria for pediatrician visit…)
      And, it’s why my buddy (who is now my primary physician) demanded I run- not walk- to get the Shingles vaccine the first day I was eligible to get it. (One can only hope that vaccine works better than previously contracting Chicken Pox provides one immunity…)

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