Hi, you said that men tend to have more Corynebacteria because they have thicker skin and sweat more fatty substances. Why do they sweat more fatty substances? Does it have a purpose or is it just, like, an evolutionary side-effect of something, like appendixes or wonky teeth or something? Also, in science class one time, we grew samples from bacterial swabs collected from our hands. Everyone had different bacterial colonies/fungi with different colours etc., but my petri dish had nothing except for these little pale greyish-yellow dots (I googled them and I think they might be Staphylococcus; they looked like this: https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bacteriainphotos.com%2Fphoto%2520gallery%2Fstaph%2520aureus%2520pigment.jpg&f=1). Anyway, at the time I washed my hands a LOT every day, probably more than was healthy, so I was wondering, would that have been the reason my microbiome on my hand had so little diversity? Thank you!
1 Answers
Hi, that is a very good question. Men have a thicker skin and have more sebaceous and apocrine sweat. It is a good question why that it. Where does the difference come between males and females? I have to think about this one a little bit more. For now, I can just answer: it is evolution. Considering your second question on the hand microbiome: yes, washing the hands a lot can lead to a monoculture of certain dominant bacteria. The picture you send is of Staphylococcus aureus, a common pathogen, which is also linked to atopic dermatitis, eczema, and even acne. I hope it was not this one. It could also easily be Staphylococcus epidermidis, which is his harmless brother - it is totally fine to have a lot of those on the skin. Let's hope for the last one, and also wash your hands less often - only when it is necessary. There is no need to be germophobic, because germs are everywhere - and that is a good thing. Cheers, Chris
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