THE VALUE OF HANDWASHING
Water has great value in helping our body stay clean on the inside. It also has specific value in helping us wash our body and hands.
The Centers for Disease Control tells us:
- researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands, a million deaths a year could be prevented.
- handwashing can reduce the risk of respiratory infections by 16%
The Cochrane Review concludes that effective hand washing can reduce rates of diarrhea by 30%. This is a huge accomplishment when one realizes that diarrhea is the second leading cause of death, world wide, for children under the age of 5 years old.
Pakistan researchers reported even more astounding results. The researchers gave children 9 months of hand washing promotion and supplied their families with soap for hand washing stations.
They found that the hand washing intervention reduced childhood diarrhea by 50%.
Yet, the good news for that hand washing project had just begun. The researchers returned 6 years later to find children in the families who received hand washing intervention reached critical developmental milestones (like talking and walking) 6 months earlier than the those who had not received the hand washing promotion.
Who would guess such a simple intervention would make such a difference!
When the benefits of cleanliness are considered, hand washing makes sense. But do we do it?
In 2006, the Minnesota Department of Health reported a research done at a state fairground. 1,175 people were discretely observed for hand washing after using the bathroom. Only 68% of the women washed their hands. The men faired even worse, only 40% washed their hands.
So lets just take time for a simple review.
Hand washing should be done using soap and water. Lather up and work to dislodge those unseen germs and viruses. Pay special attention to the areas beneath your fingernails. If you don't want to be a unsuspecting germ transporter, keep your nails trimmed short.
Keep in mind that the purpose of soap is to loosen up dirt and germs.
Antimicrobial soaps have come under some scrutiny as people try to avoid creating resistance by exposing our normal flora to antibiotic chemicals day in and day out.
Many people prefer liquid soaps as the idea of touching a soggy bar other dirty hands have massaged seems like a step in the wrong direction. In fact, "in use" bar soaps have been found to harbor all sorts of microbes, including fungal cells. But, as early as 1960's research done by Bannan and Judge, showed that the microbes, found in bar soap, were not picked up by the people using the soap.
That likely means soap works as a surfactant (meaning something that allows water to work better) rather than directly killing microbes. So don't be afraid of bar soaps with all their lovely colors, scents and designs. They have been proven to do their job well without bad effects.
But it does make the rinse part of the hand washing procedure all the more important. Dislodge the dirt and bugs and send them, along with the soap, down the drain with plenty of water.
If you are in an area you can't get running water, hand sanitizing gels are a good option. One I like is "the honest hand sanitizer" by The Honest Co.
Keep in mind that hand sanitizers work in a pinch by killing the bugs on your skin. But if you don't like the idea of carrying the dead bugs around, it is generally best to wash them and any dirt off your skin as soon as you can get to some clean water.
Hands should be washed:
1. Before preparing food or eating,
2. After using the restroom or changing a babies diaper,
3. After coughing or sneezing,
4. After touching animals and
5. Any time you may have picked up some microbes you don't want to transport or share.
So treasure water for it's ability to help reduce disease. But remember, it has to be used in order to work!
Water is more valuable than diamonds in it's ability to help your body stay healthy. Click here to read an article about how water benefits your body, inside.