a question already raised in medical circles some years ago. the widespread use of antibiotics, and the post-war obsession with cleanliness and sterility, created and fed by advertisers' pogrom against evil "germs" has brought about a generation with reduced natural resistance to bacteria. So, a few years ago, enterprising and concerned doctors started shooting little kids with what was, essentially, dirt.

my mother was pathetically obsessed with comabtting dirt and germs and would beat us soundly if we so much as got a mark on our clothes, naturally i go beaten a lot as I would regularly get covered in dirt/sand/paint whatever.

wasnt that maybe because she had to clean the clothes?

Meh - my flat is dedicated to enhancing my immune system.

rofl I gotta remember that one for when someone tels me that my place is dirty

Our pediatrician says that the highly sterilized environment currently being promoted in advertising, etc., appears to have a correlation with an increase in the rate of both asthma and allergies among kids today.

In fact there was a study that showed, in highly developled nations, that kids who are being raised in households in which two or more pets reside or who are being raised on farms have a radically less likelihood of developing allergies and asthma than kids who don't.

<Correction>

They attribute it to the over emphasis and practice of householders to use these new highly antiseptic or antibiotic household cleansers, soaps and detergents.

Edited by - Indy11 on 10/1/2004 1:47:19 PM

I thought the Asthma side of things was about pollution from cars?

I think its Fairy Liquid that advertises that it beats e-coli and such. This is something the body can't immune itself to, so being clean like washing your hands after touching food is the best way to avoid it.

the absense of germs and the like isn't the only "problem" youngsters have, no offense to those who have or haven't done it, but we can also see a decline in breastfeeding children, this is done for various reasons and im not going to question those reasons, but Milk like juices from the mother contain vital antibodies,needed to sustain the infants immune system, and by any means, strengthen it.

I work in the not so clean evironments every day of my working life, Dust is everywhere, as well as Grease, mudd and the likes, I work with Garbidge every time of the day (sometimes literally!!)

today, children who have a little wound, are literally bombarded to death with Paracetamol, Betadine, iodine and the likes, as for me??, if the wound isn't too gaping (I have managed to cut myself several times severely with a knife I use at work, which I sharpened many a time and sometimes a little bit too sharp) ill just wait till the bleeding stops (with me, thats about 30 seconds at max, it used to be around 15 seconds before I took up smoking) and just go on, to hell with the dust and the likes, the wound has stopped bleeding so its stopped.

One time I slipped at a railway platform, a stone left a deep puncture in my left knee, I could see the muscle tendons moving when I put the flesh aside, I fixed it wth a few bits of toilet paper and a rag, my hand was brazed down to the bone, wait till the bleeding stops and spit in it, let the spit dry and just go on, spit contains enzymes that clean the wound, so betadine is just useless.

Also, a problem of today is, mothers (no offense) keep their children in too much, they protect them with all hell, so they don't see much of the outside air, where they should be.

these were all examples of my own body's workings, I wouldn't dare to encourage anyone else to do the same without proper training in anatomy and the likes, it helps if you know your body.

The next generation is going to be the weakest yet, a simple cut will be thought of as life threatening.

My aunty, who has 3 kids, a 5 year old and 3 year old twins, is obsessed with cleanliness and childproofing. I gre up in a house where i could have killed myself. Luckily my parents taught me that certain things kill me, but always i would run into things, repeaditivly bashing my head (theres a possible explination...), cutting myself, falling on cobblestones, burning myself with matches etc... And im still here, with scarred knees and some spongy bits on my torso. Next generation kids (no offence to anyone) will just either a) stay inside using a computer. b) go outside and be told off for leaving the super sterile environment of the house, risking their lives (supposedly).

Now back to my aunty.

One has an allergy to peanuts. it happens every now and then, I cant stop it. however, istead of telling the kid that peanuts are evil and could kill him, all the peanuts -have- to be removed from the house. even in the cupboards! Now i had some peanuts in my room, eating them with a mate at my folks anniversary party whilst watching End of Evangelion. I hit pause when the little dude walked in, turning the TV off (Asuka had just had her eye poked out and the blood was a bit much for a 3 year old IMO) and immediatley he went straight for the peanuts. I had made up a story about peanuts being evil and how they could kill him. He had never been told that peanuts could kill him. the peanuts had just disappeared from around him when it was discovered. Long story short, I got in deep s*** for a) watching a violent around a 3 year old, and b) possesing peanuts on the same property as my little cousin.

Now if he were born 10 years ago, he would know that peanuts could kill him, and leave well alone. (The parents are kinda nuts too)

But the lack of things to adapt to will eventually end up in the eradication of all diseases, but if something comes back, then kiss humanity goodbye.

=:=
Vi

Don't forget about antibiotic resistant superbugs.

*shudders*

Edited by - CODENAME on 10/2/2004 12:02:24 AM

The worst thing is that you are highly unlikely to be infected with MRSA if the hospital cleaning is done correctly. In hospitals that cleaned religiously, properly, with vast detail etc - the superbug that killed 20000 last year in the UK didn't get ONE victim.

Other hospitals (majority at this point) are not as clean as you would wish, and people are dying every day that shouldn't.

Strange how if one person dies at the hands or a terrorist we can spend hundreds of million on national security, but when simple cleanliness in our hospitals kills 20,000 it barely breaks the news............

Worst is that its contract cleaners who do the job, and the reason they don't do it properly is because they are lazy. 20,000 a year die so someone saves minutes on their job.

Staphylococcus Aureus is naturally found on the skin surface around the nose and mouth and areas down below. It doesn't cause any problems until it manages to reach an open wound, something that there are plenty of in a hospital with operations regularly taking place. It's difficult to make everything completely sterile; what's to stop someone from putting his hands to his mouth at some point and then later touching the wound. No cleaner can stop that sort of thing occuring.
Unfortunately the immediate response of doctors was to use antibiotics, but unless they're used properly at the right intervals by the patient, all it manages to do is allow more of the resistant bacteria to continue to breed. Hence we get Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus or MRSA.

They have been saying that for a while now. The problem is, as already mentioned, that people will of course become more susceptible to more common maladies. Either you don't use cleaning products and you get sick, or you use them and risk getting even sicker from exposure to "superbugs". You can't win, eh?

*Goes back to disinfecting keyboard and mouse*

Erm, does anybody else do that or is it just me?

my guess would be that its only you

no i do it too. 3 times a week religiously.