I wear gloves when gardening, but a friend does not. She believes it’s healthy for the soil to contact her skin, helping to build resistance to disease. What do you think of this?

—Alyssa Vunckell, Ellicott City, Md.

The “hygiene hypothesis” suggests that allergies and certain diseases are more common in the developed world, where the overuse of antibacterials reduces children’s exposure to microbes. However, your friend is long past that stage of development. Most likely, she is just exposing herself to splinters, cuts and scrapes that may become infected, bugs that carry disease (Lyme is only one of many) and animal waste. And I hope she’s up to date on her tetanus shots!

Send questions to marilyn@parade.com