Asked to explain these figures, experts have pointed to the possible influence of various factors from the overprescription of antibiotics and the use of personal sanitary products that kill all bacteria – good and bad – on the skin, to environmental toxins and the overconsumption of processed foods. The debilitating symptoms of conditions like IBS are, according to some, one result of the developed world’s attachment to extreme hygiene and detachment from the so-called ‘natural’ world.
