Dirty women!

[cyclist.ca]

I knew it...

Linky

Women lead in bacteria, hands down, study says

Updated Mon. Nov. 3 2008 9:50 PM ET

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Wash your hands, folks, especially you ladies.

A new study found that women have a greater variety of bacteria on their hands than men do.

And everybody has more types of bacteria than the researchers expected to find.

"One thing that really is astonishing is the variability between individuals, and also between hands on the same individual," said University of Colorado biochemistry assistant professor Rob Knight, a co-author of the paper.

"The sheer number of bacteria species detected on the hands of the study participants was a big surprise, and so was the greater diversity of bacteria we found on the hands of women," added lead researcher Noah Fierer, an assistant professor in Colorado's department of ecology and evolutionary biology.

The researchers aren't sure why women harboured a greater variety of bacteria than men, but Fierer suggested it may have to do with the acidity of the skin. Knight said men generally have more acidic skin than women.

Other possibilities are differences in sweat and oil gland production between men and women, the frequency of moisturizer or cosmetics applications, skin thickness or hormone production, he said.

Women also may have more bacteria living under the surface of the skin where they are not accessible to washing, Knight added.

Asked if guys should worry about holding hands with girls, Knight said: "I guess it depends on which girl."

He stressed that "the vast majority of the bacteria we have on our body are either harmless or beneficial ... the pathogens are a small minority."

The researchers took samples from the palms of 51 college students -- that's 102 hands -- and tested the samples using a new, highly detailed system for detecting bacteria DNA.

They identified 4,742 species of bacteria overall, only five of which were on every hand, they report on Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The average hand harboured 150 species of bacteria.

Not only did individuals have few types of bacteria in common, the left and right hands of the same individual shared only about 17 per cent of the same bacteria types, the researchers found.

The differences between dominant and non-dominant hands were probably due to environmental conditions like oil production, salinity, moisture or variable environmental surfaces touched by either hand of an individual, Fierer said.

Knight said the researchers hope to repeat the experiment in other countries where different hands are assigned specific tasks.

While the researchers stressed the importance of regular hand washing, they also noted that washing did not eliminate bacteria.

"Either the bacterial colonies rapidly re-establish after hand washing, or washing (as practised by the students included in this study) does not remove the majority of bacteria taxa found on the skin surface," the researchers said in their report.

While the tests could determine how many different types of bacteria were present, they could not count the total amount of bacteria on each hand.

The research was funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

[Heatmizer]

I was hoping for bewbs

[rewoga]

Originally Posted by Heatmizer

I was hoping for bewbs

OK

[Heatmizer]

and the thread is saved.

[biggles604]

That germ fear-mongering crap is pissing me off.
Let people get dirty, expose them to stuff, it makes them stronger. Constant disinfecting just makes your immune system weaker.

[Heatmizer]

Originally Posted by biggles604

That germ fear-mongering crap is pissing me off.
Let people get dirty, expose them to stuff, it makes them stronger. Constant disinfecting just makes your immune system weaker.

I do my best to stay dirty all the time. Only negative side effect are the occasional red hand print on my face.

[Mic]

Heat....just for you.







Two of the best things in life......

[shoredad]

Originally Posted by biggles604

That germ fear-mongering crap is pissing me off.
Let people get dirty, expose them to stuff, it makes them stronger. Constant disinfecting just makes your immune system weaker.

Exactly!
I see people at work that open the washroom door with their hand wrapped on their shirt, a paper towel, whatever..
.. and those are the ones that are always sick with a flu or something.. lol

[biggles604]

Originally Posted by Mic

Two of the best things in life......

Water and sunglasses?

[loopsrider]

Originally Posted by Mic

Heat....just for you.







Two of the best things in life......

The poor girl in the first pic looks like her back is sore the way she is holding that tree.... Perhaps I could give her a hand with that heavy load she is carrying...

Lying on her back would take that weight off also.....

[Mic]

Originally Posted by biggles604

Water and sunglasses?

No. A nice beach and mountains.

[biggles604]

Originally Posted by Mic

No. A nice beach and mountains.

That was my next guess.

[Gimp Pimp]

too big

[Heatmizer]

Originally Posted by Gimp Pimp

too big

So's yer paycheque. Hand it over I'll take care of the excess.

[GeoffG]

said University of Colorado biochemistry assistant professor Rob Knight, a co-author of the paper ... lead researcher Noah Fierer, an assistant professor in Colorado's department of ecology and evolutionary biology.

/not listening. Neither one of them are microbiologists.