Hallelujah!!

Finally...A scientific study that validates my lifestyle. See for yourselves how my housekeeping or lack thereof has always been borne of an instinctive feeling that it was the right thing to do (or not do). Read on, and on a personal note; "Mom...Phyllis...please withhold any and all apologies until we meet face to face. Pardon me while the kids and I go roll around on the bathroom floor" Now the article:

A comparison of rats living in the wild and the lab lends support to the idea that an overly hygienic environment can lead to allergies and autoimmune diseases.
According to the "hygiene hypothesis," exposure early in life to infections from household dust, germy siblings or surfaces may reduce the risk of developing disease in adulthood.
William Parker, a professor of experimental surgery at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and his team compared lab rodents to more than 50 rats and mice captured and killed in cities and farms.
"Laboratory rodents live in a virtually germ- and parasite-free environment, and they receive extensive medical care — conditions that are comparable to what humans living in Westernized, hygienic societies experience," Parker said in a release.
"On the other hand, rodents living in the wild are exposed to a wide variety of microbes and parasites, much like humans living in societies without modern health care and where hygiene is harder to maintain."
Industrialized societies that emphasize hygiene have higher rates of allergy, asthma and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis compared to the developing world.