One of the most basic steps in keeping our bodies clean and healthy is washing our hands. Time and again, hand washing has been part of our society and industries have been built around this simple task that we sometimes neglect or take for granted.

Here in the Philippines, where public health is a complex issue and patients die from common yet curable diseases, hand washing has been promoted by both private and government health agencies as one of the first-line defenses against illnesses. And here’s how soap does this job.

Numerous scientific and medical research have proven this to be true, even our everyday health professional would always remind us to wash our hands regularly especially before meals, handling and preparing food or being in contact with others.

So the soap and water combo is a good pair in keeping us clean and healthy. If you’re not convinced yet on the merits of hand-washing, go get a UV flashlight, wonder around your house and you’ll agree with Alix that these things should come with warning labels and we should all regularly wash our hands.

That’s why capitalists, I mean soap manufacturers have zeroed in on this universall fact and have introduced more money-making innovations in the form of anti-bacterial soaps. Today, soaps do not only come in the different colors the human eye could detect or the plethora of scents we could indentify they now come in various anti-bacterial “fixes” some lying, boasting of 10 hour + more protection.

However, researchers have found out that anti-bacterial soaps are just as effective as plain, ordinary and cheaper soaps. In fact, some have even warned us that because of the prevalence of using anti-bacterial soaps, bacteria may gain resistance to some common antibiotics making them less effective.

In the first known comprehensive analysis of whether antibacterial soaps work better than plain soaps, Allison Aiello of the U-M School of Public Health and her team found that washing hands with an antibacterial soap was no more effective in preventing infectious illness than plain soap. Moreover, antibacterial soaps at formulations sold to the public do not remove any more bacteria from the hands during washing than plain soaps.

Because of the way the main active ingredient—triclosan—in many antibacterial soaps reacts in the cells, it may cause some bacteria to become resistant to commonly used drugs such as amoxicillin, the researchers say. These changes have not been detected at the population level, but e-coli bacteria bugs adapted in lab experiments showed resistance when exposed to as much as 0.1 percent wt/vol triclosan soap.

“What we are saying is that these e-coli could survive in the concentrations that we use in our (consumer formulated) antibacterial soaps,” Aiello said. “What it means for consumers is that we need to be aware of what’s in the products. The soaps containing triclosan used in the community setting are no more effective than plain soap at preventing infectious illness symptoms, as well as reducing bacteria on the hands.”

I just wonder if the same phenomenon has been observed from using those popularized hand-sanitizers?

But this is something we should seriously consider. Something that is similar to the baby formulas those pharmaceuticals are shoving down mothers’ and babies’ throats. More so, we should really re-consider our usage of anti-bacterial soaps since studies about its active ingredient, triclosan have been shown to produce potentially toxic byproducts.

But wait there’s more! According to World Watch:

• Although labeled antibacterial, most germ- fighting soaps are actually antimicrobial, attacking viruses as well as bacteria.
• The global market for soap is projected to reach $6 billion by 2008. Growth is fastest in Asia, where demand for enhanced soap products—including antimicrobials—is rising rapidly.
• Triclosan, the leading germ-fighting compound in antimicrobial soaps, acts by destroying enzymes in bacteria cell walls so they cannot replicate; it targets the same enzyme as the antibiotic isoniazid, used to treat tuberculosis.
• In the United States, 75 percent of liquid soaps and nearly 30 percent of bar soaps now contain triclosan and other germ- fighting compounds, whose prevalence can foster the growth of bacterial resistance.
• A 2002 study by the U.S. Geological Survey found that triclosan and phthalates from antibacterial soaps and other detergents were polluting water bodies across the U.S. in low concentrations through wastewater.

It’s good to pour in some innovation to health-related products but then again, in the name of profit, we could get carried away and in the end, the paying consumers will be the ones to get the ugly end.

Isn’t that right “Captain Safeguardian”?

So which one do you use? The plain soap or the anti-bacterial one?

Stay safe and clean everyone.

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It seems that the dry-spell here in the country is over. A tropical depression is growing near Bicol and tropical storm “Chedeng” continues to move steadily up north towards Taiwan. The good new is, dry-hot days are gone for now. Rains will be repleneshing rivers and lakes and hopefully the country’s power problems would not escalate further.

It may a welcomed cool relief but it is during this changing weathers that we succumb to common illnesses that if taken for granted would lead to more serious ailments that costs us money and time. Somethings we bloggers fear the most.

So how to stay healthy and sickness-free during this cold and rainy days?

• Bring an umbrella – or something to keep you dry. It may be cumbersome, bulky or not ‘fitting-in’ with your daily get up, but an umbrella, a cap, a jacket or even a raincoat will keep you warm, dry and less succeptible to common illnesses like colds and flu.
• Eat well and healthy – stack up on your vitamins, minerals and energy. It will boost your immune system and keep those nasty micro-baddies at bay. You’ll neeed the extra energy to keep warm and alert because during these cold rainy days, our bodies tend to produce more heat to keep us well. Fresh fruits like apples, grapes, oranges, lemon and others rich in vitamin C will do the trick. Besides, they could even be cheaper and more fun to eat than those artificially-synthezised vitamin tablets and capsules.
• Sleep plenty and rest well – Sleeping during this cold rainy nights is a wonderful thing to do. It encourages us to get some well deserved rest and sleep from work, travelling, studying and blogging. Just don’t oversleep that you’ll miss work or school. Don’t forget, a good sleep has always given us that much needed boost that we wake up refreshed and full of energy.
• Bring a hanky or a towel – This comes handy when you leave behind your umbrella at home or somewhere else. More importantly, use it to wipe dry your hands after handling your wet often dirty umbrella especially before eating meals. Most of all, use it to cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze. It’s not only polite, it’s hygienic.

  Tissue paper could also work, blow your nose in it instead of your cloth hanky. It’s much cleaner and safer. Just remember to throw them properly and buy those tissues that are made to be eco-friendly.

• Wash your hands – It is one the most basic tenets of staying healthy but also one the most easily neglected by us. Hand sanitizers make this very convenient but be careful in what you buy, you may be allergic to a particular component of a particular variety. So please read what’s on the bottle first before lining up at the cashier.
• Take a bath regularly – this goes hand to hand with hand washing. Do I need to elaborate on this?
• Visit the doc regularly - Rain or shine, we must give extra effort in staying healthy. Visit our doctors for regular checkups, not just when you get sick or seriously ill.

I hope this tips will help you in staying healthy. Stay safe everyone.

Oh and in case all else fails and you do get sick and you have a blog, ProBlogger Darren Rowse has some tips on what to do your blog when you get sick.

Wishing you a speedy recovery Darren!

*photo taken from Breakfast Blogger

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