About| News | Archive | Contact | Medicine 101
TVO


Health News

Week of December 4th


There's more evidence those anti-bacterial soaps won't give you a germ-free environment.  In fact, bacteria are developing resistance to them.  The American Medical Association is studying the antibacterial properties of triclosan, the ingredient often found in these super soaps.  Doctors say triclosan would make a good bacteria-fighting drug, but putting it in soap is like washing your hair with penicillin.   Also, doctors had no problem making strains of common bacteria, such as E-coli, that are resistant to triclosan.

 

Besides, germs may help children develop resistance to asthma.  A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that children need the odd cold to develop a healthy immune system….and babies who spent time in daycare or around older siblings, were less likely to develop asthma later in life, probably because of their exposure to germs.

 
And feel free to give your children skim milk and low-fat cheese.  Not only will it protect them from obesity and heart disease, it won’t hamper their brain development.  There was concern that young brains and nervous systems needed fat to develop properly – an assumption based on the irreversible brain damage seen in malnourished children.  But in a Finnish study comparing children who ate a normal diet with children given a diet low in cholesterol and saturated fat, scientists found the neurological development of kids in the lowfat group was at least as good as that of the kids in the control group.

 

 

 


 
 
 

© TVOntario, 2003

Disclaimer

  
 
This website contains general information on the stories featured on Your Health. Although it’s our goal to provide comprehensive information on health and medical issues, please be advised that we cannot provide individual medical advice on specific health problems.
  


© TVOntario, 2000