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On health and hygiene...

Do you obsessively wash your childrens' hands till the poor skin loses one-inch of epidermis? Are you absolutely convinced that the sole mission in a bacteria's life, is to hunt and infect you and your family? Do cleaning and sanitation products take complete priority in your shopping list? Paranoid about dirt-attacks? Have to have those squeaky-clean floors? Ok, i'll stop now because by now, we all know whoever you are. Here goes a new theory that i came across and thought i'll share. Just for you.

Dr. Erika Von Mutius, a health researcher has come up with a new theory to explain why the number of asthma and allergies in children are increasing in the much cleaner West. She dubbed it as "The Hygiene Hypothesis," which states that children who are around numerous other children or animals early in life are exposed to more microbes, and their immune systems develop more tolerance for the irritants that cause asthma. Also, the human immune system has evolved two types of biological defenses. When one defensive system lacks practice fighting bacteria and viruses, perhaps from an overly sanitary lifestyle, the other system becomes too powerful and overreacts as an allergic reaction to harmless substances like pollen. For more info, you can peek into - http://www.hygienehypothesis.com/

So, what we should we do? I can already hear kids woo-hoing out there, but meanwhile, should we parents let go a little? Not maybe mind the dust around? Allow microbes to co-exist in peace?
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