In a rather atypical study, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have found that a woman’s hands are more likely to be tainted by germs, compared to those of men.
The findings published in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may help experts begin a new phase in understanding microorganisms and diagnosing diseases more precisely.
To examine the growth thriving on the human skin, researchers swabbed palms of 51 undergraduate students.
A microscopic examination identified a total of 4,742 different species with each hand hosting about 150 variant species of bacteria.
Interestingly, while only 5 species were common among the 102 palms scrutinized, only 17 percent of bacteria variants were shared between right and left palms.
Also, female hands harbored more bacteria species that male hands, possibly due to the lower skin acidity. Different hand-washing regimens, differences in sweat and oil gland production, variable hormones
define and the higher frequency of moisturizer and cosmetic application are also likely to play a role, the researchers added.
Fortunately, fewer than 1 percent of these microbes were nasty enough to make us ill, researchers claimed.
A similar research embarked on about a decade ago had found that roughly a third of the adults under study actually forgot the most basic lesson of hygiene – washing hands properly. Though washing hands seems obvious and easy, it is often overlooked, researchers had found.
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