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"Where have you been?", I hear you cry.  Well, to be brief, I've had nothing much to write about that I believed would  pique your interest.

That was until I read about the danger to your health that neckties have recently been proven to be.

Indeed, in spite of all the dangers known to lurk in every nook and cranny there was one nook, or cranny, that has been overlooked. Until now that is. That is men's necks.  Er, their neckties.

As reported in the WSJ, Thursday, November 19, 2009, page 1, and in many prestigious medical journals, the necktie may be doing us in.

Not that most men's necks should  not be tied, some tightly if you ask me, it is now proven the ties themselves, not men who wear them necessarily, can be a hazard to your health.

To properly understand what I have to say about this you'll need to know the meaning of the word: 'fomites', a word you may not have used recently, but is common in medical parlance.

Fomites are not people that foment things, rather they are things that foment disease.

To be clear, the definition of 'fomites' is:

any agent, as clothing or bedding, that is capable of absorbing and transmitting the infecting organism of a disease.

Which brings me back to neckties.

We are all, hopefully,  now familiar with the necessity of proper and frequent hand washing to mitigate the spread of infections such as swine fu. The reason, of course is that infectious organisms, such as the swine flu virus, find haven upon us and can be transmitted from 'hand to mouth' as it were.

Indeed avoiding people, and places, in general is a good idea for lots of reasons, avoiding infection being one of them.

Now it is has been determined that the common tie, bow or straight, can be a major source of infection and as such has been banned outright from many hospitals and other places where health care is delivered.

Now, to make it official, and to assure the populace (us) that they are on the forefront of health policy and protecting the public, the ancient, in more ways than one,  American Medical Association considered this past June Resolution 720, which advocates a new dress code for doctors.

That's right folks, forget pesky cancer and nuisance heart disease, the AMA is busy, not saying 'Yes to the Dress', but, 'No to the Bow' (tie).  That's the long and short of it.

Ties, it seems are never, never, ever, washed by their owners. They are fondled by patients, sneezed upon, stuck in bad places, and, as I said, never washed. Nor changed very often either.

To some older doctors the problem is a 'knotty' one of sorts, they believing the issue is created by younger doctors who prefer a more casual style of dress, sans tie.

In 2006 the British Medical Association took a hard line banning physicians from wearing 'functionless' clothing, including neckties, because of the risk of spreading infection.  Indeed ties have been found to cause infections including forms of pneumonia and a serious infection of the bowel caused by a dangerous bug called Clostridium difficle.

To that end, the neck end that is, a company called SafeSmart, Inc has been selling ties "treated with a stain-resistant coating that the company says thwarts microbes.

 Perhaps once the official dress code is established, the AMA will be able to focus on more pressing issues.

PRACTICE HEALTH DEFENSE: Keep your children's, and your, hands off of the doctor's tie, or anyone else's for that matter.