Talk:Hygiene
From Academic Kids
regarding the antibacterial issue -- i don't know but is germ resistance really an issue here like it is with antibiotics? I thought antibacterial agents differ from antibiotics in that they are used externally and are physically destructive to microogranisms so they can not evolve a resitance to them... whereas antibiotics, being used internally, are more mild and target specific features unique to bacteria. Triptych
I think it is. The interesting finding that children from excessively clean homes were more susceptible to asthma - the source of which I haven't yet traced - The British Medical Journal of 24 October 1998 - indicates that it is not just antibiotic resistance that is an issue here. Stan 21:37, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)
The hygiene article needs a bit of beefing up as it is a very wide subject and I don't think adequately covered here. Stan 21:37, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)
I'm also interested in children's seemingly natural aversion to allowing their mouths to come into contact with articles that have been in contact with other people's mouths. Is this universal, i.e. non-learnt, and therefore can be considered instinctive, or it is something learnt? From my own experience it seems such a ubiquitous phenomenon that I wonder whether it isn't instinctive, borne of an evolutionary advantage to children who do not allow themselves to risk infection from others. Stan 19:56, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)
A couple of things: as a sufferer of asthma, I have always found the frequency of attacks to be related to the amount of dust or plant material in the air. As far as I was aware the condition itself is not directly affected by ambient bacteria, but of course if those bacteria lead to respiratory infection it's a different story. Is there more info somewhere?
More importantly, the "Cultural/commercial aspects" section (and attendant heading) strike me as POV. Before I flex my "be bold" fingertips here, I'd like to know what other people think? Am I just reading too much into it? It seems like a thinly-veiled prop for the "back to nature" group. The problem is compounded by the brevity of the current article. Comments? Jeeves 05:59, 13 Jul 2004 (UTC)
