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at last, Common sense.....

Scientists say: Dirt can be good for kids
by Emma Cossey Nov 23rd 2009

Categories: Development

Scientists are advising parents that a bit of dirt can be good for children.

The US team of scientists discovered that being 'too clean' can lead to the skin having problems with healing.

Normal bacteria living on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when a child gets hurt. The bugs can reduce the body's natural overactive immune system, which can make cuts and grazes to swell.

The findings further back the theory of 'hygiene hypothesis', where the exposure to germs early on in life can actually lead to the body being better prepared for allergies.

With the steady increase of allergies in the UK and other countries, it would seem that our obsession with keeping everything 100% clean is having a negative effect on the health of our children. Allergy rates have tripled in this decade alone, with one in three people now having an allergy of some form.

The bacteria found on most bodies who do not over-clean are considered to be 'good' bacteria. Staphylococci are the bacteria that aid the body in healing the skin.

The scientists looked at mice and human cells, and discovered that the harmless bacteria did this by making a molecule called lipoteichoic acid (LTA), which acted on keratinocytes - the main cell types found in the outer layer of the skin.

The LTA keeps the keratinocytes in line, halting them from creating an aggressive inflammatory response.

What do you think of the findings? Are you very conscious of keeping everything very clean, or do you prefer to let your kid get a little messy?

Source BBC
Comments (23)

puts the hoover away it can wait another day
see how healthy i am being

Lol Joy......................i'll join you...................:-)

When I used to help OH on the allotment, the high -light of the day was the bacon butty fried on the camping stove and the mug of steaming hot tea to accompany it, all prepared and eaten with hands that had not been washed. Helped to enhance the taste. Just sitting there, both in hand, listening to nature, and the local shoot, well some people would pay thousands for that feeling of contentment. Tasted alot better than the same prepared in the kitchen with all hygene conditions intact.LOLOL
Julia in Drbyshire

and More..........



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Officers who are "handcuffed to the rulebook" should be set free from official diktats and left to exercise their professional judgment, the Home Office-commissioned report said.

Its author, former Police Federation chairman Jan Berry, pointed to slow progress in efforts by ministers to cut red tape. Sticking to rules and systems has become more important than getting results, the report added.

Miss Berry said forces in England and Wales suffered from "dysfunctional" structures and had "confused" lines of accountability.

IT systems across the criminal justice system were "disjointed" and ministers should introduce electronic court case files and wider use of hand held computers to give officers more time on the beat, she said.

"People join the police to do the right thing and make a positive difference, but somehow the system manages to put obstacles and hurdles in their way," she said. "You cannot write rules for every situation. Officers need to gain experience applying common sense and professional judgment, rather than being burdened with reams of rigid rules."

The report, Bureaucracy in Policing, is published as ministers prepare to launch a new blueprint for reforms to policing.

In a White Paper due to be published, the Home Office will set out policies it says will improve police accountability, increase public confidence in officers and help tackle anti-social behaviour. The document, entitled Protecting the Public: Supporting the Police to Succeed, will include proposed cost-cutting measures such as making police forces work more closely together.

The Home Office is expected to accept many of the recommendations in Miss Berry's report.

Policing minister David Hanson said: "We are committed to freeing up police time to concentrate on the things that matter most to people in the community - cutting crime, tackling anti-social behaviour and increasing the confidence that people have in the police to deal with local priorities."

In that case, I think I'll get rid of my Char Lady. She's fired!

hides duster down the sofa cushion
thats off the menu to


might do the dishwasher might not

When my son was about two I recall him appearing from the back garden with a teaspoon and a mouth full of dirt..............lol............I still shudder when I remember trying to wipe all the gritty mess of his lovely little white teeth . He was also the one who loved to suck lumps of coal ......strange lad........but.......a healthy strapping young man now.

I've let all four of my kids get as dirty as they liked and we have always had pets ..........I am a great believer in too much cleaning being detrimental to health.

My mum told me for years..kids need a bit of dirt. She was never the best housewife on earth lol but she was right.

I hardly missed a day off school,and I think it was probably due to playing outside a lot..including on farms.
Picking tatties then eating your 'pieces' without washing your hands. which would be after going in bushes...to powder your nose lol.

I always wash my hands now and I dont go tattie picking lol.

Marion

I was a dirty, scruffy kid. Always outside playing marbles in the gutter.

I was animal mad; loved to feed the milkman's horse with an apple, kept snails to 'race' them and picked up the neighbour's many cats and kittens.

I hated washing and having my hair brushed!

Poor mum, I was her only, long for daughter.

We were all as fit as fleas and I don't remember any of the family members being ill except for the odd cold.

Birdi

You had a bath on a Sunday in a tin bath in front of the fire...whether you needed it or not lol

What annoys me, is the fact that these scientists have been payed a fortune to teach us grandmothers how to suck eggs.

We mothers have always known that a mucky child is a happy child.

LOL once upon a time there was a beach at the tower of london yep real sand....

one day I was at woolwich, near the ferry,and went fer a swim came out covered in gawd knows what, probably diesel oil or summat......

Bob

Daughter went to Uni with a lovely girl who comes from Peckham.
She used to swim in the Thames - daughter asked how she could - it was filthy until recently.
Her friend replied:
It's not too bad - lots of dead rats - but I only saw one dead human!! LOL

I still only bath once a week and I nver get colds and seldom tummy upsets. I wash top and tail as we used to call it, twice a day. If its very hot in summer will sometimes have an extra shower. Kids must get mucky, not be covered in antiseptic whenever they turn round.

throws the soap at mac

Apparently - the best thing to do when you get a cut is to get a dog to lick it - their saliva is very antiseptic.
Human mouths are very dirty compared to those of dogs & cats.

Just realised the above might sound a little gross - but when I was a child, my cat would always lick my scratches - half the time the little c*w created them!!
Viscious she was!

Ive looked but I havent seen Cat or Dog toilet tissue in tesco's!!LOl