Is the beard an antibiotic?
Scientists have recognized a beard useful for health
Vyacheslav Golovanov, GeekTimes The study of American doctors serves as an outlet for us bearded people – in a sea of information about how facial hair harms hygiene.
They refute the popular belief that this vegetation is a breeding ground for bacteria. The work of Wakeam et al. Bacterial ecology of hospital workers' facial hair: a cross-sectional study was published in the Journal of Hospital Infection.
The researchers studied the issue of the spread of bacteria carried by employees of hospitals – institutions whose biological purity is simply necessary to monitor. The probability of transmission of pathogens by clean-shaven hospital workers was three times higher than that of their bearded colleagues.
Among the monitored infections was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) – Staphylococcus aureus, which causes difficult-to-treat diseases in humans, such as sepsis, pneumonia. Most often, nosocomial infections are associated with it. In hospitals, patients with open wounds and a weakened immune system are at greater risk of infection than other patients. Hospital staff who do not follow proper sanitary rules can transmit bacteria from patient to patient.
The study involved 408 hospital workers, from whom the researchers took samples in 2013. In general, it turned out that there may be more pathogenic bacteria in shaved workers, and not dangerous to health – about the same amount as in bearded ones. The researchers explain their results by the fact that shaving causes microtrauma to the skin, which can support the development of bacterial colonies on the skin of the face.
In any case, the myth of the beard as a breeding ground for bacteria has not been confirmed. Recently, there have been claims in the media that beards can be so dirty that they contain the same bacteria as in feces – however, the source of this news was not scientific work, but a broadcast from one of the Mexican TV channels.
Other serious researchers generally believe that beards are even able to fight infections. British scientist Adam Roberts from University College London, refuting the myths about dirty beards, grew colonies of 100 different bacteria in Petri dishes, adding beard hair to them. It turned out that many bacteria, including pathogens, died in the presence of beard hair (see the note on the BBC Are beards good for your health? and a bunch of reprints in the news media).
Although a large-scale study of the causes of the antibacterial properties of the beard has not been conducted, Roberts made a preliminary conclusion that microorganisms of the Staphylococcus epidermidis family are to blame for these properties. They were able to kill even the antibiotic-resistant variety of Escherichia coli. This discovery could potentially lead to the creation of new drugs.
The comic band The Beards dedicates all their songs
problems of bearded people
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
28.01.2015