FUNGI LOVE YOUR HEEL

Scientists are only beginning to understand how the trillions of bacteria that live in us and on us help regulate our mental and physical health. But they know even less about the fungi that also colonize humans. (click below to read more)

 Researchers recently set out to map our fungi, and discovered that our feet harbor more than 100 types of fungi, 80 of which live on our heels alone. Our head and trunk, by contrast, are dominated by a single genus of fungus calledMalassezia, which can cause dandruff. On average, two to 32 types of fungi reside on other areas of the body, including the hands, elbows, thighs, and groin. Most of that fungi is harmless and may even protect us from invading microbes that can cause diseases or fungal infections like athlete’s foot. The feet are probably fungal utopias because they’re cooler than the rest of the body and often marinate in sweat, study author Julie Segre tells the Los Angeles Times. “There is something about toenails that fungi just love,” she says.