Antbacterial soap is BAD FOR YOU!!!

I have decided that because I am both long-winded and extremely busy that I will start posting short and sweet posts more often and then hitting my big ones once a week or so.  I may also start posting in parts.  I know I have several people waiting patiently for me to post about cholesterol and cancer.  I don't ever want to post half way, so I will hit those when I have done enough research to give you all the details you need. 

For tonight, I will talk about antibacterial products and why they are dangerous, and very rarely a good idea.  For those of you who listen to Vitality Radio, you have already heard my rant about this.  For the rest of you, here goes.

There are two groups that I very rarely agree with,  the AMA and FDA.  Today is a banner day because I can officially say that I agree with these guys on at least one subject.  They, along with the CDC, have determined that there is literally ZERO evidence that antibacterial soap has any health benefit.  However there is mounting evidence that they contribute to a very dangerous problem. 

Bacteria transfer genes to one another through plasmid exchanges, providing them the ability to mutate very quickly.  (This may be the only way to explain the X-Men).  The combination on the rapidly multiplying nature of bacteria (they can double every 20 minutes) and their ability to mutate allows them to evolve very quickly.

We first started seeing antibiotic resistant bacteria back in the 1940's when penicillin first  became widely used.  Today though we are seeing stronger and stronger antibiotics that cannot kill the super bugs that our obsession with antibacterial products and antibiotics are creating.  It is a vicious cycle.  But I will get back to that in a minute. 

Lets step back, like I am prone to do, and look at how we were created.  When we are born it isn't long before we have learned how to place our dirty little fingers in our noses, mouths and all kinds of other places.  Then about 6 months after that, we are mobile and we can put our hands everywhere.  As children we play in dirt, and we love it!  We poop on ourselves and sometimes, like in the case of my little nephew Max, we put that poop all over our face.  We live in germs, we get sick, we get better and then, we get sick again.  Our little immune systems our just building and building so that one day we don't have to get sick every time a germ enters our atmosphere.  At least that is how it used to be.

Now days we go to the grocery store and there are "courtesy" antibacterial wipes to use on the shopping cart.  We don't want to jump on the exercise bike at the gym without wiping the last guys sweat off of it.  We spray Lysol and and wipe our kitchen counters with a tub full of handy wipes we bought at the wholesale club.  We carry around a little bottle of Purell in our handbacgs or on our keychains. 

Come on people.  Bacteria are our friend.  And they get a little ticked off when we are constantly trying to kill them.  Remember what happened when the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor?  It didn't end well for them.  Bacteria can't help that they are everywhere and on everything.  But I remember one of my favorite quotes from World War II, Admiral Yamamoto said, "We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve."  Are we awakening a sleeping giant ourselves?  Are these little old germs that might cause a stomach ache turning into big bad germs that might KILL US?

Read this story and see what you think.

During shoulder surgery at the hospital, my father became infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Doctors prescribed vancomycin, an antibiotic so powerful they had to thread a line through a vein in his arm and into a large vein near the heart where a small dose could be injected over the course of a half-hour, dilluting it into the blood stream so as not to destroy the vein. He was on this prescription, currently the last line of defense in antibiotics, for six weeks. If he had been infected with a vancomycin-resistant Staph aureus, he would be dead now.

The answer in my mind is YES.  And if you still aren't convinced let me hit you with a few more facts:

• In a study, published in 2004, people who used antibacterial soaps and cleansers developed  cough, sore throat, runny nose, fever, vomitting, diarreah and other symptoms just as often as people who used products that did not contain antibacterial ingredients.  The researchers pointed out that most of the symptoms experienced in by the study participants are typically caused by viruses, which antibacterials don't protect against. 
• In a recent hospital study it was discovered that antibacterial wipes may actually spread bacteria if not used correctly. 
• The CDC says that 70% of the bacterial infections acquired in hospitals are resistant to at least one antibiotic commonly used to treat them.  These infections lead to 90,000 deaths a year.

So, please help me stop the over use of these bacteria killers.  We don't want these little bugs to get any bigger and nastier than they already are.  If it already takes an antibiotic toxic enough to destroy your veins, to kill MRSA, what kind of mutated bacteria is lurking around the corner?  Let the sleeping giant rest.  Wash him down the drain with natural soap and water.  It works just as well and they don't seem to get so angry and try to kill us if we just wash them away.  Can't we all just get along?

Comments

[Tricia]

Amen. I have been corrected by some of my Natural Mom friends, and now use lemon, vinegar, or just hot water to wipe down hard surfaces. This post kind of relates to vaccinations and OTC medications, if you ask me.

Patiently waiting,
Tricia

[Joan]

Hmm...not only is this argument fascinating to me it is quite convincing. And that is saying a lot, my friend b/c Purell and I are best friends. Thank you for making me think (once again) about a topic I would have otherwise not considered.

[Claudia]

Great article. i am already trying to cut back in anti-bacterial cleaners at home. I will continue to eliminate the use of those items and teach my kids about it.

[Tirshatha Murray]

Not only are anti-bacterial agents in soap increasing the risk of super bugs but the triclorosan used in the anti-bacterial agents shuts down the thyroid function.Which can be life threatening in and of itself. Thankyou for providing a forum like this.Tirshatha Murray

[Tirshatha Murray]

That should have been spelled triclosan. Sorry for the mispelling.