Study Shows Feet Are Best Breeding Ground For Fungi

Study Shows Feet Are Best Breeding Ground For Fungi

A study that showcased the number of fungi present on healthy human skin has come up with some very interesting results. Apparently the human foot is host to nearly 80 forms of fungal spores.

Keisha Findley, PhD, from the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and a number of other doctors have presented their results of the survey online in the May 22 edition of inNature.

The results of the study showed that human feet were the most prone to have a large fungal presence with the bottom of the heel being the richest part with nearly 80 different genera.

The second most proflific part of the foot when it comes to fungal development and diversity was the toe web, located between the third and fourth toe. It is home to some 60 genera while samples taken from toenails have shown 40 genera.

The hands which have the most bacteria of all body parts seem to have a single dominating form of fungi called Malassezia just like the head, forearm, ears, nostrils and core body just to name a few parts.

A staggering 29 people have fungal infections in America, with varying degrees of difficulty when it comes to treatment and to the identification of the fungi type.

While each body part has its own form of fungal development, the best advice the doctors could give is to wear slippers, especially in locker rooms where we can pick up a large number of unwanted fungi.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday May 26 2013, 6:15 AM EST. Ref: medscape. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0