The Mattress Doctor® - Meet The Dust Mites In Your Mattress

Mattress Cleaning for the removal of dust mites and other contamination which can cause or aggravate symptoms of asthma, eczema and allergies

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Meet The Dust Mites In Your Mattress

Mattresses are the perfect environment for Dust Mites. Dust Mites are tiny creatures that are members of the Arachnid (spider) family. They thrive in temperatures of more than 20°C (70°F) with a relative humidity of 60-80%. These are the conditions found almost exclusively within the mattresses you and your family sleep on every night.

Bacteria infested flakes of dry skin from you and your pets offer Dust Mites a rich source of food. Their reproductive rate is very high. Natural enemies, such as predatory mites, are extinct. Up to 2,500 Dust Mites have been counted in one gram of dust. That means there are up to two million Dust Mites in one double size mattress! Each Dust Mite excretes approximately 20 pellets of excrement a day which contain allergens in the form of protease enzymes. These can attack the protective lining of the nose, throat and lungs. Moving around in bed makes the allergens airborne and easy to inhale. This stimulates the body's immune system, triggering the symptoms of asthma and rhinitis.

More and more scientific evidence points to the fact that this Dust Mite excrement and the skeletons of dead Dust Mites are a cause of allergies and related problems e.g. asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis, inflammation of the mucous membranes, reddening of the eyes and itching. It can also be a contributory factor to skin diseases including dermatitis and eczema. Asthma in particular, is increasing at an alarming rate among children worldwide and is causing widespread concern. 85% of people with asthma have been found to have an allergy to Dust Mites.

"Dust Mite proteins have been implicated as a predominant cause of the current increase in asthma prevalence. Recent advances in the understanding of these allergens have vastly increased the potential for more effective treatment and prophylaxis. In the absence of vaccines, environmental controls aimed at allergen avoidance are currently the best defense against the disease."

STEPHEN A. BRUNTON and RICHARD L. SAPHIR

Stamford Hospital, Stamford, Connecticut and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York

In the United Kingdom, the National Asthma Campaign reported that the number of Asthma sufferers in the UK increased from 2.3 million in the year 2000 to 5.3 million by the beginning of 2003!