Gotta send this one to my wife.
Posted on 01/20/2005 10:52:40 AM PST by ijcr
Failing to make your bed in the morning may actually help keep you healthy, scientists believe.
Research suggests that while an unmade bed may look scruffy it is also unappealing to house dust mites thought to cause asthma and other allergies.
A Kingston University study discovered the bugs cannot survive in the warm, dry conditions found in an unmade bed.
The average bed could be home to up to 1.5 million house dust mites.
The bugs, which are less than a millimetre long, feed on scales of human skin and produce allergens which are easily inhaled during sleep.
The warm, damp conditions created in an occupied bed are ideal for the creatures, but they are less likely to thrive when moisture is in shorter supply.
The scientists developed a computer model to track how changes in the home can reduce numbers of dust mites in beds.
Researcher Dr Stephen Pretlove said: "We know that mites can only survive by taking in water from the atmosphere using small glands on the outside of their body.
"Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die."
In the next stage of their research, the scientists are putting mite pockets into beds in 36 houses around the United Kingdom to test their computer model and will investigate how people's daily routines affect mite populations.
Building features such as heating, ventilation and insulation will also be altered to monitor how the mites cope.
Dr Pretlove said the research had the potential to reduce the £700m spent treating mite-induced illnesses each year in the UK.
"Our findings could help building designers create healthy homes and healthcare workers point out environments most at risk from mites."
Dr Matt Hallsworth, of the charity Asthma UK, said: 'House-dust mite allergen can be an important trigger for many people with asthma, but is notoriously difficult to avoid."
Professor Andrew Wardlaw, of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, agreed.
He said: "Mites are very important in asthma and allergy and it would be good if ways were found to modifiy the home so that mite concentrations were reduced.
"It is true that mites need humid conditions to thrive and cannot survive in very dry ( desert like) conditions.
"However, most homes in the UK are sufficiently humid for the mites to do well and I find it hard to believe that simply not making your bed would have any impact on the overall humidity."
Gotta send this one to my wife.
I'm sorry. I can't read this, it's gotta be bullsh*t. Being untidy will make you cleaner? Give me a break and a half...
No asthma in this house!!!!!!
I guess I'm doomed.
AHA!!!!!
I'm in tip-top health then.
I also take showers so I'm not too worried about dust mites eating me up.
And here I thought my good health (thank you Lord) was due to clean living, diet and exercise.
Little did I know it's all the fault of dust mites :)
Almost all of my actions are being substantiated as healthy, one by one. Beer, Wine, and now this. The recent news about beef was a bump in the road but I'm sure it won't be long before beef is once again a health food.
Do they have an answer for that?
"Gotta send this one to my wife."
LOL - me too!
great! I'll live to be 100 yrs old =)
Sweet Dreams!!
We'll live to be 100!
Here, let me help...
I guess I'd better go back to ironing my sheets on the bed again!
ROFL...if I don't make the bed, the rest of the house ends up looking just as messy. I'll either bust out the iron or take my chances, lol!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
