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Taking Showers Can Be Harmful To Your Health

Posted by timothy on from the healthiest-guy-alive dept.

TheClockworkSoul writes "According to both the BBC and NewScientist, showering may be bad for your health. Apparently, dirty shower heads can be an ideal breeding ground for Mycobacterium avium, a bug responsible for a type of pulmonary disease more prevalent than tuberculosis in developed countries, cases of which have risen in parallel with the rise in showering. Tests revealed nearly a third of devices harbor significant levels of the critter."

3 of 431 comments (clear)

  1. Sensationalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Taking showers 'can make you ill'
    Showering may be bad for your health, say US scientists

    OMG! OMG! Wait, the article goes on to say:

    "These bacteria [â¦] rarely cause disease in healthy people. Further work will need to look at whether finding these organisms is associated with any increased risk of infection."

    Thanks, BBC.

    1. Re:Sensationalism by Quothz · · Score: 5, Informative

      and the article glosses over that MOST water supplies in the USA are so heavily chlorinated, that the chance of this happening are nearly ZERO.

      Au contraire. Truth is not arrived at by listening to the voices in your head,* but by rigorous scientific study. For example, let's have a look at Chlorine Susceptibility of Mycobacterium avium and Effect of Growth in Biofilms on Chlorine Susceptibility of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare, two entirely independent studies.

      It would appear that those published, peer-reviewed studies disagree with you. In particular, a quote from the former:

      . . . M. avium has been isolated from a variety of sources, including municipal drinking water systems . . .

      Whether M. avium is worth any worry is up for debate. Whether it exists in our water supplies is not. It probably isn't a great cause for concern, although it's nice to know that it's being looked into with more thoroughness than someone waving vaguely and going "naaaaah".

      * Which I assume also whisper to you that the best way to denote emphasis is by capitalizing words in their entirety. They're wrong about that, too.

  2. Re:Nothing to see here, move along... by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Informative

    Arguably people get staph infections in hospitals because hospitals put so much effort into sterilizing every little thing. It leaves the hardiest, and fastest spreading bacteria and viruses to fill the vacuum rather than the millions of common germs that our body knows how to deal with. They've done studies which show a less rigorous sterilization regiment can actually reduce the rate of infections but the whole 'germs are evil' mindset prevents hospitals from actually changing their behavior.