The television commercial will start off with a black screen and silence. That alone will draw people to look up from their phones to see what happened to the mindless stream of noise that was previously coming from the digital sewer, sorry, television.
“Has your immune system caused you unnecessary illnesses?” the deep voice similar to James Earl Jones will say as the string music in a minor key begins to waft in.
“Well, maybe,” the viewer will say silently.
Deep Voice: “Have you noticed you seem to be more sensitive to things in your environment?”
“Well, now that I think about it.”
Deep Voice: “Did you have to see a doctor, allergist, or be taken to the hospital for a reaction to something common around you?” the ad will continue.
“Hummmm, well, I do recall……”
Deep Voice: “Did your MOTHER ever tell you to stop sucking your thumb or biting your nails? Did she forcibly remove your thumb or other fingers from your mouth? Did she embarrass you publicly in front of friends and family because of thumb sucking or nail biting?”
The phone has now been put down. The viewer is all in.
“Yeah! Yes, she did. I still remember it in the middle of Big K in 1973. Right in front of the other mothers she was talking to and my friends. I was so embarrassed. You know, she even put Bengay and tabasco sauce on my fingers to make me stop it!”
Deep Voice: “You may be due compensation for your pain, suffering, public humiliation and emotional scarring from the actions of your mother. Recent medical studies suggest that thumb sucking and nail biting may be potentially beneficial to your immune system. Yes, suing your mother may appear to be personal and harsh, but she can sue the pediatric societies for bad advice. Tell her it’s nothing personal. Call the law offices of Knott, Rich, Enuff and Associates at 1 (800) BAD-MOMS and speak to one of our client representatives to see if you qualify. We make suing mom - easy.”
Is it really a stretch to think some law office will help people sue their mothers over child rearing? Hardly, but neither is the thought that sucking the thumb and biting nails may actually be of benefit to the immune system.
A study of over 1,000 children from New Zealand (Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study) now in its fifth decade recently released information suggesting that sucking the thumb and biting the nails as a child may actually help by teaching the immune system to not be as sensitive to naturally occurring things in their environment.
Detailed questions about the participants were asked throughout the years and specifically included thumb sucking and nail biting questions at ages 5, 7, 9, and 11. Skin testing for allergic responses was performed at ages 13 and 32. The skin test looked for reactions to 40 substances.
The results showed that children who either were thumb suckers or nail biters had 38 percent rate of reaction versus 49 percent for children without the habits.
Furthermore, if the child was a thumb sucker and nail biter, the rate of reaction was even lower at 31 percent.
So, should mothers now add another reason for feeling guilty about the failures of their life as a mother? Mothers always worry about whether they raised their children well. Telling them thumb sucking actually is good and battling with the child to stop it is bad - well, that might just cause some motherly consternation.
Not quite. A good rule of thumb (no pun intended) is to never jump all in for any new study. If something is true, it will be so again and again. That’s what truth does.
Furthermore, positive allergy skin testing for these participants did not translate to definite hay fever, asthma or eczema which are commonly associated with allergies. In other words, just because the skin test was positive, did not mean their lives were impacted negatively as they matured. It was simply an observation of a test result.
It is another lovely example of everything measured isn’t everything real.
Is it interesting? Very much so. We have begun seeing vast studies and research concerning the role of bacteria in our digestive system. Everything from the risk of heart disease, depression, fatigue, muscle pain, and dementia are becoming a focus of study on the role of bacteria in our guts and how our diets, exposure, habits and antibiotic usage impacts it.
So the bacteria under the nails and on the fingers isn’t bad? Who knows? There is a clear difference in the data, but what about the environment the child, and eventually adult, lives in? What about choices of food? Stress? Antibiotic usage? Probiotic (yogurt included) usage? Sports? Pets and Animals?
The lawyers, of course, would love to make a case on this, as they frequently do with early suggestive data. But suing mom? Good luck with that.
It’ll be a nail-biter of a case.
Eric J. Littleton, M.D. (@DrEricLittleton) is a musician and Family Physician in Sevierville, TN. Topics covered are general in nature and should not be used to change medical treatments and/or plans without first discussing with your physician. Send questions to askdrlittleton@gmail.com
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