Simone Einzmann writing for FOCUS GESUNDHEIT Billions of bacteria and fungi have their habitat on our skin. Scientists are slowly recognising the significant impact these settlers have on endemic diseases such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis Rob Dunn has seen more belly buttons than anyone else in the world, probably more than he ever wanted

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Body odour is unpleasant. Sweating, however, offers one great benefit for your skin: Some bacteria such as Nitrosomonas eutropha metabolise, among others, components of sweat and may improve skin health positively. Researchers in the US have confirmed these findings in a placebo-controlled study. For the study, they asked participants to apply a suspension of live

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For dry skin, brittle skin, greasy skin, against skin irritation or inflammation: For almost any possible skin condition or symptom, cosmetics such as lotions and creams are available which are supposed to help us keep our skin healthy and protect it from bacteria and other allegedly harmful substances. But our skin needs bacteria. Among others,

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Skin bacteria protect us from inflammation. As early as 2009, scientists publishing in the highly respected journal “Nature Medicine” demonstrated that bacteria present in our normal skin flora – in this case, the bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis – produce a substance which inhibits inflammation of the skin. Other bacteria, e.g. the pyogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, cause

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Many parents worry about their children’s health: telling them not to play in the dirt, be careful about plants in forests and meadows, avoid touching animals. But many of these worries are unfounded. To the contrary: They may even be detrimental to a healthy diversity of skin bacteria. Scientists have found that there is a

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