It is not a secret for anybody that there is a general tendency in the world among men to grow a beard. Beards are not shy neither by Hollywood actors, nor hipsters, nor even members of the royal family. But the controversy about the danger to health can be a hair bush in the lower part of the face, divided society. With pictures of food stuck and missing in a beard and ridiculously hanging snot scare those who decide to surrender to the fashion trend. In addition, a recent study by scientists in New Mexico revealed traces of intestinal bacteria, which usually live in feces, in randomly selected beard samples.
And so on: the BBC experiment “Believe me, I'm a doctor,” seems to be able to end the debate once and for all. This program found that a beard could potentially contain the next generation of antibiotics.
Dr. Chris van Tuleklen wandered the streets of Camden in search of bearded volunteers. “Are there really huge microbial mats around our mouths, and if so, can they be harmful to us?” He asked. He took beard samples from 20 random men, and then began to study them. Dr. Adam Roberts, a microbologist at University College London, cultivated samples to find out what could grow. He managed to successfully grow more than 100 different bacteria from his beard, most of which are commonly found on the skin.
There were also traces of another bacterium Barnesiella, which can be found in the small intestine. It is not necessary to look for her in feces. In addition, scientists have found that the Staphylococcus epidermis species kills other bacteria. Further tests of this bacterium against partially antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli showed that the bacterium attacks and kills it.
“When you have a competitive environment like a beard in which there are many different bacteria, they fight for food resources and space, so they produce things like anti-bacteria,” he says. And he adds that some bacteria have evolved to produce toxins to kill others, and antibiotics have been made based on these toxins.
Antibiotic-resistant infections kill at least 700,000 people a year, and by 2050 are expected to kill 10 million each. Over the past 30 years, no new antibiotics have been released.
Scientists warn that cleaning up and properly testing a new antibiotic is such an expensive process that has an extremely high failure rate that it is unlikely that the antibiotic will be available soon.
Scientists have compared their curious discovery with what was published in the Journal of Hospital Infection in 2014. A study by American hospitals found that clean-shaven men more often tolerate harmful bacteria on their faces than their bearded friends. Shaved patients were three times more likely to tolerate methicillin-resistant staphylococcus. However, it is unlikely that these studies will be able to say compelling "but" to critics of beards, who blame facial hair for covering up germs and bacteria.
Ron Cutler’s study at Queen Mary’s University of London showed that overgrown men need to regularly wash and comb their beards so that the area under the beard does not suffer from ingrown hairs. Manuel Barbeito, being in the 60s a microbiologist of the American army, suspected that the bacteria spread in the hospital through shoes and outer clothing, and also guessed that there was something in the beard too. Assuming that beards are the ideal breeding ground for germs, he wanted to study whether bacteria and viruses really spread among laboratory workers through facial hair. Therefore, I asked my employees to grow powerful thick beards and sprayed non-contagious bacteria on them. The study showed that the bacteria are perfectly deposited on the beards, and washing the hair does not exempt them from bacteria. Although washing reduces the number of bacteria, enough of them remain to “produce disease when it comes in contact with the wearer,” he said.
Professor Anthony Hilton, head of biological and biomedical sciences at Estonian University, argues that other studies have confirmed that beards can transmit bacteria. In a study published in the journal Anesthesia, it was checked whether the bacteria entered the surgical masks from the surgeons' face and how much the beard affected it.
It turned out that bearded men carry more bacteria than women and shaved men. So, although a beard can actually be dangerous to health, perhaps it will also serve to the benefit of human health.
The article is based on materials .
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