Are You Sleeping With The Enemy?
By Cheryl Alker
How many times have you or a family member awakened from a night’s sleep with itchy skin or red and irritated eyes? Or how about a stuffed up nose, a barrage of sneezes, wheezing or tight chest, a tender head to the touch, sinus pain, or a general feeling of fatigue or even depression for no apparent reason?
Well, the simple fact is that you or a member of your family could be one of the tens of millions of people that suffer from some kind of allergy. The odds are the culprit may well be the millions of dust mites that have made a home for themselves in your mattress and are feeding on the skin flakes we shed every night. That’s right! You’re probably living and sleeping with millions of microscopic dust mites that have been medically proven to trigger a whole host of allergic reactions, like asthma, bronchitis, eczema and more.
It doesn’t matter how new a mattress is, how often you change the sheets, mattress cover, or even if you take the time to vacuum it once in a while, these deeply embedded foes will be sharing your bed and could be the cause of your allergies.
How?
Dust mites produce guanine, a combination of mite droppings and saliva, and all the latest medical evidence points to this as the dominant cause of most allergies and other widespread maladies such as asthma, eczema, hay fever, and bronchitis, inflammation of the mucus membranes, itchy red eyes, headaches, sinus problems and more.
Common sense tells us that if we can eliminate the cause, we can eliminate the symptoms. And, if there are any children in the house, medical evidence points to the fact that exposure to these dust mites in the first year of life may very well trigger a lifelong allergy.
Facts
- Recent studies have shown that exposure to house dust mite allergens is a significant risk factor for the development of allergic diseases, such as asthma and rhinitis (hay fever). According to Dr. Zeldin, of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), “Results from an earlier study suggest that over 45% of U.S. homes, or approximately 44 million dwellings, have bedding with dust mite allergen concentrations that exceed a level that has been associated with allergic sensitization. We estimated that 22 million homes have bedding with dust mite allergen concentrations at a level that can trigger asthma in susceptible people. So we were eager to test ways to reduce these troublesome substances.”
- According to the AmericanAcademy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), dust mites are the #2 cause of allergy problems (topped only by Pollen). There are likely millions of them in your home.
- We shed 10,000 million scales of bacteria laden skin each day, most end up in our mattresses.
- Dust mites produce 200 times its body weight in excrement during their normal life span.
- Dust mites feast for up to 170 days on our shed skin.
- Dust mites spread rapidly. A female dust mite lays 300 eggs.
- They can live without food for up to a year.
We obviously don’t like to think that the environment we are sleeping in is dirty, however common sense dictates that the mattress serves as a ready and willing depository for organic and inorganic impurities.
In your lifetime your body will have more sustained close contact with your bed than with any other piece of furniture in your home and the simple truth is we all release as much as a pint of sweat each night and our bodies are permanently shedding skin. Adding these to the bacteria that are formed from the other fluids our bodies release and deposit onto the mattress then it might be worth investigating how you can safely eliminate these allergens from your bed and enjoy a good night’s sleep ALONE!
Special note: We are delighted to offer our Around Wellington Readers a FREE in-home, no-obligation allergen test on a mattress of their choice.
To register for your FREE test go to www.freehomeallergentest.com TODAY!
Related Articles
The New England Journal of Medicine
- Results of a Home-Based Environmental Intervention among Urban Children with Asthma
- Evaluation of Impermeable Covers for Bedding in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
- First National Survey Shows Americans’ Bedding Can Make Them Sick; Allergens the Culprit
- National Survey Examines Factors Related to High Levels of Dust Mite and Cockroach Allergen in Beds
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Cheryl Alker specializes in flexibility training, facial exercises and postural alignment. Her 30 year career started as a group fitness and personal trainer, she has lectured and directed fitness training programs in both Europe and the USA and was an advisor for a Governmental health promotion program. Alker and her company Stretch Results International continues to work with a select clientele from a base in Palm Beach County, Florida, certifying health professionals in her results based stretching program, educating consumers through public speaking and offering consultation to clients who wish to lose their muscular pain and gain flexibility to achieve full and active lifestyles. Alker has a proven totally natural program that alleviates back pain visit www.secretbackpaincure.com. For more information about professional continuing education and consultation options, e:books or DVD’s please call Cheryl on 561 889 3738 or visit www.stretchresults.com.