Too Much Antibacterial?

     A child sneezes and the camera zooms in on something that appears to be flying out of their face.  Past the mucus level the camera travels, eventually switching to special effects showing bacteria coming out of them.  They appear as a dreaded evil.  Next the mother of the child runs to the closet, the day is saved!  She busts out her ample supply of Lysol brand aerosol and sprays around the room.  Now this commercial can exist in various forms and does.  Instead of a sneeze it could be raw chicken thrown onto the counter or something of the like.  In fact this morning I saw a commercial that had kids whispering terrible things to each other.  "I sneeze on my hands."  "Bacteria can't hurt me."  Seriously mind as well have put in there, "I don't wash my hands when I use the restroom."

     The following DOES contain some extreme viewpoints, for illustrative purposes, for some humor, and to get my point across.  The way these commercials advertise their products, they deserve this kind of feedback.  I was furious after seeing aforementioned commercial, so let's just say I need to fight lysol with fire.  Caution, may combust..  Okay and as you read this I need you to keep some things in mind:

-I do not feel these products are useless.  They have their use.

-I am not a filthy person.  I believe proper hygiene is beneficial for everyone and those they come in contact with.

So what's the problem here? Well my first issue is I can't stand products that have to sell themselves on scare tactics. Actually I hate everything that uses scare tactics (that's aimed at you Fox News). These commercials attempt to scare you so badly that you buy their sprays and wipes and all sorts of antibacterial crap, for fear your family will get black plague and die a horrible death. They're aimed at moms for sure, there's always a mom in the commercial. Do you want to be responsible for anthrax killing off your family? I didn't think so, so I guess you should go with the products. But let's get real here, these products advertised as they are now haven't been around forever. People vastly underestimate the power of their own bodies.

     The truth of the matter is, just like 50 years ago, if you never had these products in your home, YOU WOULD GET SICK NO MORE OFTEN THAN IF YOU USED THEM REGULARLY!  Now this may not be true anymore, as we have become dependant on them.  Now here's something most people know:  The body builds it's own antibacterial fighters from EXPOSURE to bacteria and viruses around them.  I'm not saying you need to go play in raw sewage here, but a normal amount of bacterial exposure is healthy for our bodies.  Did you here that in the back of your head?  EXPOSURE TO BACTERIA!? OH MY GOODNESS NOOOO!!!  But it's not your fault, these commercials and the media have made you feel this way.  You've been conditioned to fear.  My point.  Even with Lysol or something of the sort your body is exposed to bacteria everyday, may it be work or school or the grocery store.  Anywhere humans can live on this planet, you will find SOME bacteria.  So technically you're never truly completely safe from infection where you may travel.  So can this Lysol we use at home really defend us?  No it can't, because in fact by not allowing normal exposure in our homelife, when we leave our bacteria "bubble" we are exposed to bacteria we have no defense against.  Even if you are the crazy person who has wipes to bring to the office and cans of spray and hand sanitizer, your body will eventually become vastly weakened against the bacteria you are exposed to in the meantime.  No exposure = no immunity.

There is another danger as well. Ever notice with all the antibacterial products out there, bacteria haven't died off altogether? Life is much smarter than anything we could come up with, it will continue. And even with the simplest life forms, they will change and adapt. America (other countries call us the septic nation) is part of a worldwide problem. Antibiotic resistance. Wikipedia says the following:

"Antibiotic resistance is the ability of a microorganism to withstand the effects of an antibiotic. It is a specific type of drug resistance. Antibiotic resistance evolves naturally via natural selection through random mutation, but it could also be engineered by applying an evolutionary stress on a population. Once such a gene is generated, bacteria can then transfer the genetic information in a horizontal fashion (between individuals) by plasmid exchange. If a bacterium carries several resistance genes, it is called multiresistant or, informally, a superbug."

No joke is it? The fact of the matter is, the more we use these products, the sooner we bring about the bacterial messiah. The One. They are immune to these chemicals and agents. If we continue on the course we are now, it will happen. When it does happen I suppose is up to us.

      I have no problem with being clean, soap in the shower, shampoo in the hair, it's all a wonderful thing.  What I don't like is the complete sanitization of our environments.  It also breeds annoying individuals that cover couches in plastic.  It honestly makes me wonder when people will start living in bubbles, and start having virtual reality sex like in Demolition Man cause they're too afraid to touch one another.  In some environments, it is necessary to keep everything as sanitary as possible, like in hospitals and places where one last bacteria could push someone off this mortal coil.
    I'd rather not see a superbug in my lifetime.  Let's try to take it easy on the Lysol, you'll find yourself sick less often.  They never even had the stuff thoughout the last millenias of human history, and they apparently survived.