Are we too clean for our own good?

Filed in archive Living with Allergies on June 22, 2006

In the past few years, I've developed cough variant asthma and a host of allergies. At this point, my asthma isn't too troublesome, though the allergies can be quite annoying at certain times of the year. Like many Americans, I thought I was helping myself stay healthy whenever I practiced good hygiene, especially when I used antibacterial detergents. As it turns out, though, keeping too clean can be bad for your health.

In conjunction with WebMD, FoxNews.com reports that researchers have found that people who live in squeaky clean environments may be more likely to suffer from allergies or other autoimmune disorders. The reason? It's because our bodies are designed to deal with germs and when we constantly kill them with high powered cleaners, our immune systems don't get challenged by everyday microbes.

Researchers have found that wild rodents tend to have higher levels of two antibodies that were found to trigger allergic reactions in laboratory animals. But in the wild rats and mice, the antibodies were shown to have a protective effect instead of allergic one. The antibodies helped protect the wild rodents from getting sick. This observation correlates to the fact that people who live in industrialized societies tend to suffer more from allergies than those who live in less developed environments.

Next time I feel guilty about not having an extremely clean house, I'm going to remember this study! Perhaps if more people lived in less clean environments, there would be less coughing, sneezing, and itching due to allergies.

About the author: In her spare time, knotheadus writes for Epinions.com and maintains her own Web site, knot-heads.com.