It's a weird world !

Debate rages over the vaccination of children to prevent childhood diseases, but science has been puzzled by the increasing rate of kids developing asthma, eczema and nut allergies.   In an age of fast medical development, this is running against the grain.

Some science people think that our fastidious insistence on cleanliness may actually be the cause of these increases.   For decades, a lot of time and effort has gone into conditioning people to wash their hands regularly, be very careful preparing food - and live in homes that are squeaky clean.   It has become a matter of pride that many families carry this to the limit.

We may actually be preventing our kids getting exposure to the microbes that stir their defences to naturally train their immune systems to counter such invasions.   It seems to be a case of " too clean " being a health hazard that we should avoid.

One interesting study compared the habits of families who allow their little kids to use a " pacifier " - or what some people call a " dummy ".    When this gets dropped on the floor, some people insist on cleaning it carefully with detergent before it is returned to the baby's mouth.   Others simply put it in their own mouth before handing it back to the child.

Surprisingly, the ones who put that dummy in their own mouth were much less likely to have a child with asthma, eczema or who developed nut allergies.    Most likely the parents were passing the microbes necessary to get their offspring's defences working.   Most people have the residual debris of their own childhood allergy defences still present in their saliva.

It seems that cleanliness can be carried to extreme.   Some people boil all water before it is used for human consumption.  This eliminates the natural bugs that enhance immune stimulation, and the more " sterile " our environment, the less chance that we can develop the defences that come from exposure.

It looks like we are heading into an increasingly unhealthy world.    Hand wash products are replacing soap and most new detergents claim to kill 99% of germs.    It seems that those dreaded " germs " are sometimes necessary friends !