BacteriaWhat are bacteria?
Bacteria are a large group of unicellular (single cell) microorganisms which grow in many different shapes and sizes. They’re a hardy bunch, and have been found in every imaginable habitat on Earth; from hot springs to deep within the Earth's crust.
Bacteria are tiny things, usually just a few micrometres in length. (A micrometre is one millionth of a metre.) To give an example, there are typically around 40 million bacterial cells in a single gram of soil, or a million bacterial cells in one millilitre of fresh water.
In order to live, bacteria must get their nutrients from their host environments. So it’s no surprise that one of their favourite places to live is on or in the human body.
In the right environment, bacteria can grow and divide extremely quickly. They first grow to a fixed size then reproduce through a form of asexual reproduction (meaning without fertilization). A living cell divides or splits into two parts, each of which has the potential to grow to the size of the original cell.
Scientists say there are around ten times more bacterial cells in the human body than human cells, and they especially like the cosy (and tasty) environment of our skin and digestive system.
Good bacteria
So bacteria are everywhere, which may make you feel slightly uncomfortable. Until you learn that actually, bacteria are also doing us a lot of good.
In fact, we couldn’t survive without bacteria because they’re actually a major cog in the world’s eco-system. They help purify our water, play a role in processing and cleansing the atmosphere and munch away happily at all the world’s waste so it putrefies and rots away.
Billions of bacteria - more than 400 different types - live in our digestive system and help us use the nutrients in the food we eat and make waste from what's left over.
So for good bacteria we are all thankful.
Bad bacteria
Pathogenic, or disease-causing bacteria, are the ones we don’t want taking up residence in our bodies.
Bad bacteria are often around and even on our skin without causing us any harm. But it’s when they enter our bodies through our mouths or elsewhere that we become ill.
You may have heard of some of the well known pathogenic bacteria which cause infectious diseases. These include Legionella Pneumophilia Streptococcus (colds, throat infections), Clostridium tetani , Chlamydia, Mycobacterium tuberculosis Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shigella.
As you can see from this list, there’s plenty of reasons to keep bad bacteria out of our bodies.
Prevention and treatment
Hand hygiene
Good hand hygiene is your first defence against bad bacteria. Hand cleaning helps stop your hands becoming contaminated, which in turn pass germs into your body when you touch your mouth or rub your eyes.
Always wash your hands regularly with warm water and soap or use a product from the Cuticura Hand Hygiene Range. All products are laboratory tested to kill 99.99% of bacteria on your hands.
Antibiotics
Most of the time, our sophisticated immune systems are capable of kicking bad bacteria into touch. A few days in bed and we usually feel a lot better.
But when nasty bacterial infections take hold and we get quite ill, prescription antibiotics are the weapon of choice to kill-off the bad bacteria in our bodies.
Interestingly, the use of antibiotics has some divided opinion. Some scientists believe that over-use of antibiotics may be contributing to the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. And once in the body, antibiotics may kill-off some of the good bacteria we need for our body balance.
Whatever the situation, always make sure you speak to a medical professional if you have any questions about your health.
Bacteria are a large group of unicellular (single cell) microorganisms which grow in many different shapes and sizes. They’re a hardy bunch, and have been found in every imaginable habitat on Earth; from hot springs to deep within the Earth's crust.
Bacteria are tiny things, usually just a few micrometres in length. (A micrometre is one millionth of a metre.) To give an example, there are typically around 40 million bacterial cells in a single gram of soil, or a million bacterial cells in one millilitre of fresh water.
In order to live, bacteria must get their nutrients from their host environments. So it’s no surprise that one of their favourite places to live is on or in the human body.
In the right environment, bacteria can grow and divide extremely quickly. They first grow to a fixed size then reproduce through a form of asexual reproduction (meaning without fertilization). A living cell divides or splits into two parts, each of which has the potential to grow to the size of the original cell.
Scientists say there are around ten times more bacterial cells in the human body than human cells, and they especially like the cosy (and tasty) environment of our skin and digestive system.
Good bacteria
So bacteria are everywhere, which may make you feel slightly uncomfortable. Until you learn that actually, bacteria are also doing us a lot of good.
In fact, we couldn’t survive without bacteria because they’re actually a major cog in the world’s eco-system. They help purify our water, play a role in processing and cleansing the atmosphere and munch away happily at all the world’s waste so it putrefies and rots away.
Billions of bacteria - more than 400 different types - live in our digestive system and help us use the nutrients in the food we eat and make waste from what's left over.
So for good bacteria we are all thankful.
Bad bacteria
Pathogenic, or disease-causing bacteria, are the ones we don’t want taking up residence in our bodies.
Bad bacteria are often around and even on our skin without causing us any harm. But it’s when they enter our bodies through our mouths or elsewhere that we become ill.
You may have heard of some of the well known pathogenic bacteria which cause infectious diseases. These include Legionella Pneumophilia Streptococcus (colds, throat infections), Clostridium tetani , Chlamydia, Mycobacterium tuberculosis Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shigella.
As you can see from this list, there’s plenty of reasons to keep bad bacteria out of our bodies.
Prevention and treatment
Hand hygiene
Good hand hygiene is your first defence against bad bacteria. Hand cleaning helps stop your hands becoming contaminated, which in turn pass germs into your body when you touch your mouth or rub your eyes.
Always wash your hands regularly with warm water and soap or use a product from the Cuticura Hand Hygiene Range. All products are laboratory tested to kill 99.99% of bacteria on your hands.
Antibiotics
Most of the time, our sophisticated immune systems are capable of kicking bad bacteria into touch. A few days in bed and we usually feel a lot better.
But when nasty bacterial infections take hold and we get quite ill, prescription antibiotics are the weapon of choice to kill-off the bad bacteria in our bodies.
Interestingly, the use of antibiotics has some divided opinion. Some scientists believe that over-use of antibiotics may be contributing to the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. And once in the body, antibiotics may kill-off some of the good bacteria we need for our body balance.
Whatever the situation, always make sure you speak to a medical professional if you have any questions about your health.
There are typically around 40 million bacterial cells in a single gram of soil, or a million bacterial cells in one millilitre of fresh water.
Good bacteria - more than 400 different types - live in our digestive system and help us use the nutrients in the food we eat and make waste from what's left over.
Pathogenic, or disease-causing bacteria, are the bad ones we don’t want in our bodies.
Good bacteria - more than 400 different types - live in our digestive system and help us use the nutrients in the food we eat and make waste from what's left over.
Pathogenic, or disease-causing bacteria, are the bad ones we don’t want in our bodies.