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57 Comments
- zclip, on 10/12/2007, -6/+54I agree with this article 100% percent. Of all the people I know, it's always the ones who are all on sorts of medication that are always sick or at least always complaining about something. It's never anything serious, but it's always something and no matter what they take they're always claiming to be sick. People need to quit being a bunch of pussies and quit taking loads of antibiotics for every damn sniffle. I'm not suggesting you try to walk off a bad case of pneumonia, but in most instances a bit of rest and lots of fluids would do wonders.
- eccentric4, on 10/12/2007, -3/+36The common cold lasts an average of 7 days. With medication and treatment, you'll be over it in a week.
- AKBryant54, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29100%%?
- kensai111, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22I've since devoted myself a la george carlin style. You have an immune system, its purpose is to fight germs. Doesn't do a damn bit of good though if you're always being a cleaning nazi.
- gonerogue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18@leanenstreet
There is no cure for the common cold. - DietMountainDew, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Only on Digg would you see "Hacking your body...".
- jokerthief, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14"100%%?"
I think that means he only agrees 1%. - tyler1175, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18im in ur bacteria, killin ur cellz
- LeanenStreet, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I like my normal flora, they are my lil' homies.
- teamparadox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I've been saying we are overdoing it since everything from plastic to handsoap became anti-bacterial. Humans lived for millions of years with Bacteria...people today are just germphobes and it drives me crazy!
- msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9You don't need to shower daily unless you do something that causes you to need to shower, like many manual labor jobs, or if you exercise daily. Sitting in a climate controlled office all day, driving home in an air conditioned car only to arrive at your climate controled home doesn't really get you dirty in a way that is bad for your hygiene. Obviously it's different for different people, but to make a blanket statement that everyone should shower daily is exactly what this article is about...false senses of hygiene. For me, with my skin type and my local water supply, showering daily actually dries out my skin/scalp and is quite uncomfortable. It strips your skin of natural oils and good bacteria as well.
- gonerogue, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9@ chamaniac
You should read a paper from 2001 titled "Antibacterial Household Products: Cause for Concern" by Stuart Levy at Tufts School of Medicine. In part of the paper, he analyzes the use of triclosan (common in anti-microbial soaps) and the resulting cross-resistance it gives some dangerous microbes. Overuse of anti-microbials (yes, they do add biocides to soap) can contribute to superbugs, which in turn can allow for a greater chance to contract a disease.
Anti-bacterial soap is not just a clever marketing ploy, please do not spread that misinformation. - crazybrit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Ugh... people need to stop using the word "hacking" in such lame ways.
- tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@leanenestreet
He's humorously showing the ineffectiveness of antibiotics on rhinoviruses. - tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@msgyrd
I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. - knulpm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8"Its called hygiene"
Actually, that's exactly the problem. Hence, why the theory about why we're seeing so many more autoimmune conditions being referred to as the "Hygiene Hypothesis". Basically, if we don't allow our immune system to come in contact with the occasional invading virus or bacterium, they get bored and start attacking ourselves instead (I know that's extremely anthropomorphic, but that's an easy way to think of it without talking about Th1 and Th2 skewing and such).
And excessive washing of your hands can remove the normal flaura of your hands. Your skin has nice, friendly bacteria that live on it that are perfectly intent to live on the surface of your skin, which is much easier than for other nasty species like a Pseudomonas or a Staph Aureus. Heck, they even secrete their own natural antibiotic substances to kill invaders. If you obsessively wash your hands, though, you'll wash off these good guys and your chapped and broken skin will be a welcome place for nasty bugs.
And there's a difference between conventional soap and those with added in antimicrobials. You are right though, nothing beats a nice bar of conventional soap (or even a squirt soap, which I prefer). You don't need any of that extra stuff.
Obviously, you should wash your hands after you use the bathroom or before you make a meal. That's healthy. Nice glob of normal soap, wash about the length of "happy birthday". And if you get a cut, by all means put a nice neosporin/triple antibiotic cream on the wound. But don't go out using handwipes after you shake everyone's hand. Don't wash your hands for minutes at a time. But if you're a parent, LET your kids play in the dirt. LET your kids crawl around on the floor if it hasn't been vacuumed. LET your kids be kids. You may be saving them for a hellacious battle with Inflammatory Bowel Disease or Lupus later in their life. - vornan19, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I agree.
My apartment has dust bunnies with teeth. I have a cat with long hair. I have long hair. I can pick up big fluffy balls of it of the carpet.
I never buy antibacterial soap. My reasoning is there are bacterial and other flora living on us that are there to help. If I wash my hands with antibacterial soap I am killing these helpful buggers.
Won't someone please think of the little buggers!! - DigitalCorpus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6There are 200+ virus' that cause the common cold. So first you'll never be immune to a cold and second, antibiotics will do absolutely nothing for a cold.
- msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I know it's just another story, but I have a nephew who's mother is a germaphobe. He's going on 3 years old and has had a runny nose his entire life, and I don't think he's ever really played outside. All the Lysol and antibiotics in the world aren't keeping him healthy. Myself on the other hand, grew up playing in the dirt with hotwheels, carrying frogs around, playing with the dog and cat (who liked to bury "surprises" in my sandbox)...only to go get a snack and not wash before eating it. I firmly believe in letting a kid get exposed to things so they can develop an immune system. This attitude trend of sheltering your children like they're made of porcelain is ridiculous. Kids can get sick, they can fall down, they can cut and bruise themselves. They may need your help to recover, but they don't need a safety bubble around them.
- Y0tsuya, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Next time my wife asks me to clean the bathroom, I'll just use this as an excuse. Hey what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?
- SultanTravi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Taking too many antibiotics is bad, true. I don't take them unless it's very obvious that I have a bacterial infection; the vast majority of illnesses are just viruses that go away.
But I'm going to keep washing my hands with plenty of soap and hot water and I'm definitely not going to start touching the doorknob in my dorm bathroom after my hands are clean. - gonerogue, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6For all the germaphobes out there: the number of bacterial cells in a normal human (normal microflora) outnumbers the number of cells in the human body (minus microbes, of course) 10-fold (10^13 vs 10^14 cells).
Also, overuse of antibiotics and antiseptics causes a ton of problems. Think MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus), nosocomial (hospital borne) infections, and cross-resistance (e.g. triclosan causing resistance in microbes to common antibiotics). - osbjmg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I don't kill bacteria, I just use soap - which doesn't necessarily kill them. I could care less if they are dead or not, just don't stick to me :)
On a side-note, the word hack just reached a whole new level or ridiculousness. When will it end? - Kazbaeden, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Seriously, I'm getting sick of it. Life-hacking, social-hacking, and now body-hacking? Please stop. Please.
- Y0tsuya, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@msgyrd
Everybody has different skin conditions. My scalp gets oily and smelly in a day. My body on the other hand can go for a few days without showering with no noticeable odor. But since my butthole gets smelly after every poop, I wash everyday anyway. When you work with people in a typical office environment, it's impolite to reek of either B.O. or cologne. You can skip daily showers, but only if you don't stink. - msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Did I say I didn't wash my hands? No. I said I don't shower daily unless there is a need for it. Every other day is much better for me personally because of my skin. My body odor is mild even at it's worst, so combine that with my dry skin, that I don't sweat easily, a sedentary daily routine, and that I don't wear hair products, and I guarantee you that you can't tell the difference between my shower days and my non-shower days. Like I said, it's different for different people.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3or just hacking our bodies: http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Extreme_Body_Piercing_Guy_Pierces_tongue_with_1_4_inch_drill_bit_and_drill
- LeanenStreet, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4What can I say its friday. Thanks for the explanation.
- sallos, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Agreed! I was just about to post the same comment..
- furo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My mother always kicked me outside to play. She didn't mind when I came home muddy, as long as I didn't track it through the house. Dog licks my face and she smiles right along with me... who can resist watching the joy of an 8 year old and his dog - unless you're one of "those" parents. I used to (and still do sometimes) swim in Iowa's rather green lakes with little concern over the general cleanliness, though I'm not about to volunteer for a paddle around the East River anytime soon.
Today, I don't get infections, pick up a cold or flu as little as every 2-3 years and tend to heal quickly. As far as I'm concerned, I owe my boisterous and unsterile, though not disgusting, childhood play for the relative strength of my immune system. It just makes sense from a scientific standpoint. And it does indeed seem like the overly-protected children forced to live in pristine conditions that are the same ones getting most of the simple infections and the most allergies as they age. - DivineMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I recently watched an american version of wife swap and this hotshot lawyer or something had to move in with a family of "raw meat eating, non handwashing farmers". I thought they were crazy at first, but it does make sense. They were a little ott though and psychotic...
My cleanliness days are over! I'm gonna live forever and be smelly! :-D - knulpm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3There are far more bacteria cells on and in our body than all of our "human" cells.
Not surprising the little guys are kinda important - derder89, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Hacking your body......lame
- olddirtycr, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Notice all the plagues in history? I'd like to venture and say being a germaphobe was not the reason anti-biotics were created.
Please tell me you at least shower every day >_>? - tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Personally, I think the problems come when the bacteria adapt resistance to the antibiotics more than our overuse of them, but I guess that's like saying, "it's not the fall that kills you, it's the landing". Personally, I'd wonder if we could phase out antibiotics in favor of phage treatment when possible, getting the bacteria resistant to phages instead of antibiotics. Then we could reuse the antibiotics on populations that would mostly be resistant to phages. It wouldn't work perfectly, because some bacteria would develop a resistance to both phages and antibiotics, but it's better than what we're currently doing.
- NoTiG, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5this would be something i would donate my computer cycles too... something i believe in.
- DivineMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I wonder if this is microsofts philosophy too? Leave the bacteria on the machine, it's good for it! :-D
- snuffulupagus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Not really, boing boing has done this all the time, to my horror - calling veganism a form of "body hacking". Ugh.
- jasonk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This article does not seem to be focusing too much on the whole using soap and antibacterial, but it focuses on the use of alternative medicine to cure modern ailments. I've been doing a lot of research lately on the subject of using Probiotics, and have found a lot of very useful information from curezone.com .. Some products that sound interesting are Threelac as an example to fight off Candida issues.
- tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2How about phage treatments?
- haveacigar, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Isnt that the point in yakult?
- jer2eydevil88, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2http://www.dropline.net/cats/kitty/wheels
- NoctemSaiyaku, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I can't afford to wait hours in the hospital for the doctor to give me some tylenol and walk it off. I just stay home.
- Birdoftruth, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6Every scientist has his own damn opinion with some statistic to back it up, than another scientist will come along with a statistic that says otherwise, than everyone forgets about the previous claim and now listens to the latest "study".
- quotato, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1To the tune of Thin Lizzy Song "The Boys Are Back In Town"
The bugs are back in town
The bugs are back in town
And if the bugs want to fight
You better let them - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I think it's true, but not for 100% It depends on type of the skin and soap.
- fun4stuff, on 10/12/2007, -7/+6@zclip, althought i do not totally disagree with you, but a lot of times the people who are on a lot of medications are on medications because they are sick... they aren't sick because they are on medications. With that said, people in general are overdoing it as this article states. The real worry is the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. A little bit of fluid and rest is the best medicine a lot of times.
- tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I agree that you don't want to overuse antibiotics or anti-bacterial soap, but some things do require antibiotics, like whooping cough, also known as pertussis. If you're not treated, it could spread and it's usually fatal to non-immunized infants.
- cmiller1, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4alright zclip, so you've observed that hypochondriacs exist, what does that have to do with this?
- lintmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1@ dietmountaindew
Not true. I just saw it on Wired.com, too. -
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