I'm no advertiser’s dream but a quick scan of my bathroom shelves reveals quite a few hypoallergenic, synergistic, even mystic creams offering daily protection, survival and rejuvenation. I'm not sure I need all that assistance for a trip to Migros, but I lather them on anyway – they smell nice and I don't worry too much about the blurb. However I am a bit worried about a friend of mine who seems to be a little dazzled by the advertising hype that surrounds anti-bacterial cleaning products. Her bathroom has a glut of hand-wash products including two bottles of industrial strength, anti-bacterial liquid soaps (adult and kids variety), which hog the basin backed up by a lethal-looking fluorescent, anti-everything sanitizing gel. She has lavender soap the size of a postage stamp there too but that is for decoration purposes only. It's still in the wrapper. In the name of research I have taken a quick peek in her cabinets and they are full of cleaning products boasting the ability to kill 99% of all germs found in hospitals.

If she is expecting germ warfare any time soon she's well-stocked…if a little paranoid. Other than that I can't see why she has gone so clean crazy. But it turns out it's germs in general, and super bugs, such as MRSA in particular, that have her fleeing to the detergent aisle in the supermarket. Sounding like some bad B-movie soothsayer she is convinced: "We can’t be too careful!"

Germ Free
But, there are an increasing number of medical researchers who think that we are being too careful and that society's obsession with killing every type of micro-organism that exists is making us too clean. These web links discuss how over-vigorous hygiene habits may be negatively affecting our immune systems and those of our children:
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1031002421.html
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20774622/
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no3_supp/levy.htm
http://home.howstuffworks.com/question692.htm

Prevention Is Better Than Cure
Tummy and cold bugs spread quickly and there is nothing worse than the whole family coming down with the same thing at once. Want to reduce the chance of it happening? Good old-fashioned hand washing with soap and warm water (or a mild alcohol-based product) should do the trick according to this first link. But let's face it, simple hand washing is hard to sell (as we have all experienced with our kids at some time!). Maybe this Crawford the Cat video clip can help. Who knew hand washing had its very own set of steps?
www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/daily/2005/04/04-germs.html
http://home.howstuffworks.com/question692.htm
www.familysurvey.org/parent/general/sick/hand_washing.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_yR-oGNMaA&NR=1

Selling the Sizzle
Anti-bacterial products are effective against certain bacteria but not all, and they have to be in contact with the skin long enough to work…. Think Grey's Anatomy doctors scrubbing in - very vigorous. We are constantly targeted by advertisers (these links have some statistics) as are our children. This excellent PBS site is a good place to look at how hard advertising works to sell the gloss and the goods:
www.youngmedia.org.au/mediachildren/03_01_ads_overview.htm
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/24/television.advertising
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/

Keeping Up
Once you have sorted out what is true and what is less so, keeping up with everything is the next challenge. Everyone is publishing something with an angle or an insight and it's easy to miss important stuff. Take, for example, the recommended ban on the sale of 'over-the-counter' (non-prescribed) cold products for babies and young children in the USA because they have never been proven to be effective. This story has been running since last September but I have missed it until now and, as I have given my kids OTC cough medicines in the past, I am interested in how it plays out.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=3665561 (Sept 2007)
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=3672787 (Oct 2007)
www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7233041,00.html (January 2008)
www.caringforkids.cps.ca/whensick/OTC_Drugs.htm

Breasts Built this Beautiful Brain
Breastfeeding is another hot media topic both for those that can and do and those that can't or won't. I'm not getting into that now but this article (which has a few too many abbreviations) has an interesting theme. I really mention it though because I just love the title (which we have used) and the accompanying photo!
www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/news/20071006003054_health_news.shtml