Bathroom biohazard?

Bathroom biohazard?

A few months ago, I wrote to you about how simply washing
your hands after using the bathroom - something only around
2 out of 3 people do routinely - can go a long way toward
preventing illness and infection (Daily Dose, 11/19). Now, a
recent study reveals another incredibly simple way to reduce
your risk of infection from common bathroom germs and
bacteria…

Wash your shower curtain.

That's right: Believe it or not, your innocent-looking
shower curtain or plastic shower-curtain liner is actually
the bacterial equivalent of the Mardi Gras - a decadent
frenzy of microbial breeding and debauchery of potentially
deadly magnitude. According to a Nature Science Journal
online report, a curious University of Colorado
microbiologist examined samples of soap-scum scraped from
five different shower curtains (including his own), and was
horrified at the density and diversity of potentially
harmful bacteria that teemed under his microscope lens.

More than three-quarters of the bacteria present in these
five samples were classified as members of a pair of
microbe "species" capable of infecting wounds or attacking
the systems of those with less-than-optimum immunity - like
many elderly folks or those taking any number of
prescription medications. People on the anti-rejection drugs
commonly taken after organ transplantation would be
especially vulnerable to these types of pathogens.

Though present in the soap residue, the study's researchers
theorize that the bacteria are actually thriving on organic
materials shed from our bodies during bathing, not on the
soap scum itself - this just functions as a kind
of "commune" housing the little brutes. One of the study's
leaders also suggests that synthetic compounds called
plasticizers added to plastic shower curtain liners to make
them flexible may feed these bacteria as well.

My advice? Install sliding glass doors on your shower -
they're very likely to be less hospitable to bacteria in the
first place, and they're a lot easier to clean the soap scum
off of. At the very least, you should launder or disinfect
your shower curtain and liner (with bleach or hydrogen
peroxide, preferably) every time you clean the bathroom.  

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The mathematics of matrimony

If the story I just read in both Reuters and in the Nature
Science Update proves true, at least one psychologist out
there deserves a pat on the back. Here's why: 

He can PREDICT which marriages will end in divorce.

Based on more than ten years worth of intensive study on the
nature of spousal interaction, a University of Washington
clinical psychologist has developed a behavioral "score
sheet" and equation that has been shown to be 94% accurate
in predicting divorce. Keeping in mind that even though the
modern American divorce rate sits at around 50% (which means
he's got an even-up chance of being right without any math
at all), a near-100% accuracy rate is still pretty
astonishing.

How does it work? Couples are observed discussing sensitive
matters like money and sex. Key aspects of their style and
intensity of communication are cumulatively rated as to
their positivity or negativity using a simple points system.
At the end of a set time period, these points are plotted on
a graph. If the graph line goes up, the marriage will hold
up; if down, they're headed for the divorce attorney's
office in 94 out of 100 cases, based on research focusing on
700 couples over a four-year period.

These findings, if borne out long-term with more study,
could have major ramifications for couples and marriage
therapy - both in terms of deciding whether or not to get
married (or to have a pre-nuptial agreement) and in terms of
helping already-married couples to recognize and change
behaviors that are subtly sending them down the road to
divorce…

It could also save folks a lot of money and heartache in
divorce court.

I'll confess: I'm curious as to whether this "marriage-by-
the-numbers" equation turns out to be the real thing or just
another bit of overblown pop-psych quackery.

But I'll keep you posted either way.