Getting dirty could help mental health

[Richard]

by Nick Foley

PEOPLE who suffer from depression could benefit from getting "dirty", according to new research published today.

A "friendly" bacteria found in soil has the same uplifting effects as those produced by anti-depressant drugs, the study found.

A study of mice found they altered their behaviour and appeared more relaxed after they were treated with the Mycobacterium vaccae bacteria.

Scientists at Bristol University and University College London found the bacteria stimulated the immune system and activated a group of neurons in the brain which produce the mood-enhancing chemical seratonin, a lack of which has been linked to depression.

Dr Chris Lowry, of Bristol University, the lead author on the paper, said: "These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health.

"They also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all spend more time playing in the dirt. This soil that carries the bacteria is found almost anywhere.

"But we now need to find a way of getting it in our system, which we haven't done yet."

The study appears to support the "hygiene hypothesis" which argues that a rise in conditions such as asthma and allergies could be linked to a lack of exposure to various micro-organisms.

The emphasis on cleaning and hygiene, particularly in urban western environments, could be adversely affecting people's immune systems, according to the theory.

The findings, published in the journal Neuroscience, support the idea that increasing the release of seratonin in parts of the brain regulates mood.

Further studies are now planned to see if the bacteria stimulates this process.

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=506592007

[Astrojewels]

Good article Richard,
Totally agree, so many children do not play outside and parents do not want them getting dirty, they would rather them be inside getting pulsed with an X-box. Living rural my children always have played outside with the dogs, climbing trees or just doing what kids do, it helps them to ground.
Do you think that many of today’s teenagers can not ground because they were brought up in a sterilized environment?

[Richard]

It makes sense that in today’s modern sterilized world that more people are having problems with depression. So I guess everyone needs to get naked, roll around in the dirt, and quit taking showers. icon_anmachen 

[Astrojewels]

we have dirt for miles, not much water, so that could work here richard!

[Reader]

Thanks Richard for the suggestion - I really laughed out aloud - we have lots of dirt here too on t'other side from Karen. Maybe we'll make like chooks and "dust-bath"

[Richard]

Glad you got a laugh out of that Reader. It’s interesting the dirt makes people happier. I use to wonder about times in history when people rarely bathed and I see now they were actually happier than we are today. It reminds me about The Romans and how they didn’t use water when they bathed. They would wipe olive oil on them and then scrape it off. I thought that was an odd practice. What’s even more odd is they would sell the scraped off olive oil from gladiators to women who wanted it.

[Get Boldened]

I can only offer two explanations for women wanting the scrapped off olive oil from gladiators:

1) Olive oil had religious or cultural significance so women considered the gladiators' as a prized possession - pretty much like a car.

2) And I am just wildly guessing here: Olive oil captures and enhances pheromones. Coupled with gladiators sweating while in combat which releases tremendous amounts of male pheromones, the scrapped off oil becomes an olfactory pornography for women. Or they are at least subconsciously attracted to it.

[DreamTime]

Eww...yuuk! I am SO glad I don't live in those times.

[Richard]

GB, your explanations are correct. They talked about it on the History Channel and that’s what they said. The gladiators were heroes like today’s sports heroes and women would put the oil on to smell the pheromones of their hero. Kind of like today’s women that want to wear the shirts of their lovers.

[Get Boldened]

:) Yep. I was right.