New Ways to Combat Body Odor

Foul odor coming from sweat is a common issue encountered by many and it takes great care to try and prevent the smell from being noticed. The problem, however, isn’t just sweat itself. The odor is caused by bacteria, namely staphylococcus homini, that feeds on nutrients eliminated through the sweat and during this process an unpleasant smell is released. The common methods of combating the smell, such as frequent showers, changing clothes often, altering diet can be quite troublesome and even time consuming, thus researchers have begun seeking new methods of eliminating the bad odor.

Understanding Unpleasant Body Odor

Scientists determined that only a small number of bacteria reacts in a certain way with the sweat. Few types of bacteria found in area around the armpit will cause the foul smell but it has been determined that it takes a very small number of the microscopic creatures to cause the odor to be more than noticeable and difficult to get rid of. Most of the bacteria does not release any kind of unpleasant smell went consuming nutrients from the human sweat and multiplying and the researchers are still far from understanding why only a few types of bacteria will react in such a way.

The scientists behind the study found out how the free thioalcohols are produced. This compound is produced by certain bacteria when consuming the sweat and it is the main reason why people can emit a bad odor. This can be observed in clothing that was used when exercising and sweating heavily as the fabric will become far more smelly after one or two days.

Currently, a proper hygiene is the only way of combating the bacteria, as well as the use of various deodorants and antiperspirants but these are only temporary methods that are not full proof against the odor. The reason why these products are not entirely effective is that they either try to mask the odor, reduce perspiration and therefore the bacteria’s food supply, or combat and kill a number of bacteria. Such a product would be far more useful and effective if it would target specifically the production of thioalcohols, but researchers are still a few steps away from fully understanding the phenomena and coming up with ways of stopping it. Even if they would come up with a working solution it would still take far more research in order to make certain the product is safe to use on human skin without causing any kind of unpleasant side effects.

Conclusion

Until scientists find out more about thioalcohol’s production and ways of creating an effective product against it, people will need to look after their personal hygiene and use the current products against sweat and bacteria. Progress may be slow, but advances in  understanding the sources of bad odor are being made and new products will soon be developed to make life easier for many people and for those around them.