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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.
'Small glands'
The scientists developed a computer model to track how changes in the home can
reduce numbers of dust mites in beds.
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
Dr Stephen Pretlove
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."