A Dirty Kid is a Healthy Kid

[GWguy]

I, and others, have said this before: don't over sanitize. Let the body build up immunities to normal bugs.

Dirty kids are healthy kids

My Aunt Lizzy used to say "dirty kids are healthy kids" because prior to the germophobic generation we live in, people had faith in the immune system. Snots were wiped on t-shirts, mud was eaten, and utensils were shared. Children's immune systems were constantly being challenged, kept busy, so that they developed a wide array of tools to defend against recurrent infection.

You see, our bodies are able to fight infection and remember the bacteria and viruses that we are exposed to, so when the same infection comes back around, we are more capable of defending against it. It seems we have a desperate need to keep bacteria away, and in turn we may actually be killing off the good bacteria that help our bodies maintain homeostasis.

Patients will often get upset when doctors refuse to prescribe antibiotics for viral infections. Most of the time, the common cold, sore throat, aches and pain are NOT caused by bacteria and therefore do NOT require a Z-Pak. Though minor viral illness can make you feel majorly ill, the treatment is to not treat. Supportive care such as increasing fluid intake, warm team, Tylenol for fevers will treat the symptoms, but the virus will run its course on its own. Antibiotics in this case will do more harm than good.

 

[vraiblonde]

Good article

 

[libertytyranny]

people drive me crazy. They go to the doc DEMANDING antibiotics for colds, etc. It's annoying. Also annoying are the docs that give you an antibiotic "just in case"..no. Even my ped, who I really like has on more than one occasion written my monster a script for an antiobiotic I had zero intention of giving her. People just have such poor understanding of their own health, its sad. I have friends whose kids are on antiobiotics constantly..and sick constantly despite (or I think, because of) but they also run their kid to the doc every time they get a sniffle or a little fever..that's why healthcare is so expensive and kids are so neurotic. At the ER people bring their kids in constantly because they have "cold symptoms" or a 100 deg fever. Get a grip. tylenol, cool bath, rest, fluids. thats all they are going to tell you. I have nevr taken monster to the er, and shes only ever been on one sick visit. she gets an occasional little cold that lasts a day or two, but theres no reason to freak out and run her to the doc

 

[desertrat]

I, and others, have said this before: don't over sanitize. Let the body build up immunities to normal bugs.

Dirty kids are healthy kids

Yep.

 

[my-thyme]

They gotta consume a bushel of dirt before they are 8 yr old.

I drive my DILs crazy :cleanfreaks:

 

[GWguy]

I was one of those kids that could not stay clean. Mom would dress me up and I would literally fall apart in front of her, covered in dirt. I was clean-challenged.

If you got a cut, we never put creams or lotions on them. A swim in the bacteria-laden salt water of Long Island Sound and a dry-off in the warm sun cleaned and healed it faster than any medicine. Never a scar. Same with poison ivy... jump in the water!

 

[RoseRed]

I was never been a bubble Mom. Girl is now 13 and other than a standard cold & 24 hour stomach bug, she has only had 1 minor ear infection (age 4) and a mild flu (3 days - age 11). I remember a saying from when I was a kid... God made dirt, dirt don't hurt.

 

[desertrat]

I was one of those kids that could not stay clean. Mom would dress me up and I would literally fall apart in front of her, covered in dirt. I was clean-challenged.

If you got a cut, we never put creams or lotions on them. A swim in the bacteria-laden salt water of Long Island Sound and a dry-off in the warm sun cleaned and healed it faster than any medicine. Never a scar. Same with poison ivy... jump in the water!

...

 

[Radiant1]

God made dirt, dirt don't hurt.

That's exactly what I was thinking!

I tell my kids all the time the more colds they get now, the healthier adults they will be. I was sick all the time as a kid, but hardly get sick now.

Over-prescribing of antibiotics is causing a worrisome trend in medicine called anti-microbial resistance. You see, bacteria are smart. They adapt. When they encounter the same medicine time after time, they evolve and develop defenses that will resist the antibiotics' effects. Therefore, infections that were previously well-treated with antibiotics become much harder to treat. Over the last 15 years, fewer drug companies are participating in research to develop new antibiotics and there are few new drugs on the horizon. Since the 1940s, antibiotics have been helping us save lives and prolong the human lifespan. But the time may come where we cannot rely on them as we do now. The threat of antimicrobial resistance is truly a threat to global health.

I became familiar with this issue about 18 years ago when a German biologist whom I corresponded with online pointed it out to me. She constantly fussed about the overuse of antibiotics, which would create superbugs resistant to antibiotics. It turns out she was absolutely right.

 

[GWguy]

...

Yup!

 

[Roman]

Yup!

Triple YUP!!