Comments on: A Flourishing Microbial Community Dwells Within Your Belly Button http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/11/a-flourishing-microbial-community-dwells-within-your-belly-button/ Keeping You Current Fri, 24 May 2013 15:39:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 By: Peter M. Lutterbeck, M.D. http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/11/a-flourishing-microbial-community-dwells-within-your-belly-button/comment-page-1/#comment-1831 Peter M. Lutterbeck, M.D. Fri, 16 Nov 2012 08:31:15 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/?p=7109#comment-1831 The belly-button is actually a cesspool of nature bacterial surface flora. The vast majority are harmless feeding off discarded epithelial cells and thus keeping the "pool" relatively "clean." Yet it is astounding how many people, mostly young women, unwittingly challenge this mini-eco system by piercing this tissue. Doing so invites the passage to just a short distance below, the peritoneum or abdominal cavity. Bacteria here can cause a wide variety of infections which in turn may result in very nasty infections. Some bacteria may become resistant to conventional treatment and unfortunate long term consequences may result. Also piercing material is often coated with chemicals that are irritant or challenge the immune system once entering below the protective epidermis...a barrier that should not be broken. The belly-button is actually a cesspool of nature bacterial surface flora. The vast majority are harmless feeding off discarded epithelial cells and thus keeping the “pool” relatively “clean.” Yet it is astounding how many people, mostly young women, unwittingly challenge this mini-eco system by piercing this tissue. Doing so invites the passage to just a short distance below, the peritoneum or abdominal cavity. Bacteria here can cause a wide variety of infections which in turn may result in very nasty infections. Some bacteria may become resistant to conventional treatment and unfortunate long term consequences may result.
Also piercing material is often coated with chemicals that are irritant or challenge the immune system once entering below the protective epidermis…a barrier that should not be broken.

]]> By: Mike Karwath http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/11/a-flourishing-microbial-community-dwells-within-your-belly-button/comment-page-1/#comment-1824 Mike Karwath Fri, 16 Nov 2012 00:57:16 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/?p=7109#comment-1824 "had not bathed in years"... My goodness, how did anyone manage to get near him? "two species of archaea"?... Wiki says this is quite the organism. In His Belly Button. Geez! “had not bathed in years”… My goodness, how did anyone manage to get near him?

“two species of archaea”?… Wiki says this is quite the organism.

In His Belly Button. Geez!

]]> By: Monique http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/11/a-flourishing-microbial-community-dwells-within-your-belly-button/comment-page-1/#comment-1769 Monique Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:26:05 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/?p=7109#comment-1769 How cool! How cool!

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