Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Save the Bacteria! Get a Dog!

There are at least 100 trillion of them in our bodies. In fact, according to the National Institute of Health, they make up 90% of our bodies.
 http://mpkb.org/home/pathogenesis/microbiota

We can't live without them. They enable us to digest our food, make vitamins, and fight off disease. They may even protect us from autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis. http://www.actionbioscience.org/biodiversity/wassenaar.html
http://www.livescience.com/15740-helpful-bacteria-antibiotics.html

In spite of which, we keep trying to kill them. We've invented well over 100 different antibiotics and a deluge of antibacterial products from hand soaps to chopsticks in our efforts to wipe out bacteria while wiping off our counter tops. In attempting to kill the "bad" ones, we're killing the "good" ones as well--and creating all sorts of problems for ourselves in the process.

We should all get dogs instead.

Kids who have dogs don't get anywhere near as many colds, coughs, and ear infections as kids who don't.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57468598-10391704/babies-with-dogs-less-likely-to-develop-colds-ear-infections-as-infants/

Or need to take as many antibiotics.

We don't need more antibacterial toothbrushes.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2631814/pdf/11485643.pdf

We need more dogs.









http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57398949-10391704/who-antibiotic-overuse-so-prevalent-scraped-knee-could-be-deadly/


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