Beware of dust mites
quietly lurking within our mattresses, under our beds, and
inside sofas and carpets are creatures too small to be seen without
a microscope. dust mites are arthropods closely related to
spiders, scorpions, and ticks. they feed on the dead skin cells
regularly shed by humans and their animal pets. the average
human sheds about 10 grams of dead skin a week. cats and
dogs create even more dander for dust mites to eat. the mites
also eat pollen, fungi, and bacteria. they do not drink water but
absorb it from the air.
dust mites do not carry diseases and are harmless to most
people. it’s their bathroom habits that make some of us itch and
sneeze. many people develop severe allergies to dust mite feces
(wastes). if you lie on a rug where dust mites live, you might
develop itchy red bumps on your skin. breathe in dust containing their feces and you might
have more serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing or a severe asthma attack.
dust mites thrive in warm, humid environments — eating and nesting in dust-collecting
bedding, fabric, and carpet. think about this! a typical mattress can contain anywhere from
100,000 to 10 million dust mites. nearly 100,000 dust mites can live in one square yard of
carpet.
during a process called sensitization, a person’s immune system mistakenly identifies
the inhaled dust mite waste as an invader. the next time the person is exposed to the dust
mite waste, the immune system launches an allergic reaction.
an allergic reaction occurs when the immune system
(1) does not respond to pathogens
(2) maintains homeostasis
(3) responds to usually harmless environmental substances
(4) undergoes rapid, uncontrolled cell division