Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Science News

Making your bed every day might encourage mites to breed in it

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who religiously make their bed every day in cleanliness and order... and the rest of us. If you're in the latter group, then I've got some good news: keeping your bed messy might be good for your health.

Alexandra Gerea by Alexandra Gerea
September 14, 2015
in News, Offbeat

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who religiously make their bed every day in cleanliness and order… and the rest of us. If you’re in the latter group, then I’ve got some good news: keeping your bed messy might be good for your health.

Image via Nutritious Life.

Mites are everywhere – in every single house. At any given point, there’s probably over one million mites on every bed. House dust mites feed on organic detritus, such as flakes of shed human skin, and flourish in house environments. They’re also a common cause of asthma and allergic symptoms worldwide, because their gut contains potent digestive enzymes that persist in their feces and get ejected into the air and on flat surfaces. Most people are completely immune to their effects, but for some people, these enzymes can trigger asthma and wheezing, as well as a broad range of allergies.

The research was conducted by a team from the Kingston University in England; they used a computer model to predict how the dust mites fare in a range of different conditions – including on a made and non-made bed. They found that the mites flourish on neatly mate beds, but shrivel and dry otherwise.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We know that mites can only survive by taking in water from the atmosphere using small glands on the outside of their body,” lead researcher Stephen Pretlove told the BBC when the research was released. “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.”

A scanning electron micrograph of a female dust mite. Image via Wikipedia.

It has to be said that the model was based on conditions in the UK, and likely doesn’t stand in tropical or much more humid climates. The team also plans to conduct a study on a real life scenario to see if the results are similar to their model.

However, not everyone is convinced that making your bed helps mites.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

“It is true that mites need humid conditions to thrive and cannot survive in very dry (desert like) conditions,” Andrew Wardlaw from the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, who wasn’t involved in the research, told the BBC. “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.”

I’m hoping that soon they will prove that not making your bed is indeed detrimental to mites… or, you know, any reason to not make your bed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Journal Reference: David Crowther , Toby Wilkinson, Phillip Biddulph, Tadj Oreszczyn, Stephen Pretlove, Ian Ridley. A simple model for predicting the effect of hygrothermal conditions on populations of house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Acari: Pyroglyphidae). Experimental & Applied Acarology, DOI10.1007/s10493-006-9003-8 (via Science Alert)

Tags: beddustmite
Alexandra Gerea

Alexandra Gerea

Alexandra is a naturalist who is firmly in love with our planet and the environment. When she's not writing about climate or animal rights, you can usually find her doing field research or reading the latest nutritional studies.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.