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.
Hey, this is good news for lazy bones like me. For the number of decades that I had been around, I have never once folded my blanket! Kehkehkeh…… So, this bad habit is passed down to all my sons. Only on days when my part-time housekeeper come, i.e. twice a week, our blankets got folded and all the pillows are arranged neatly. But no sooner than she finished, my kids would have pillow fights and wrestling games in bed and there goes the picture perfect bedroom scene.
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.
So, are you willing to try this? It saves me thousands of minutes and gives me stress-free live!
Of course, remember to air your room, keeping the windows open during the daytime to let in some sunshine when you are not using the room. After all, in fengshui term, this is allowing in good chi for the family.
Originally posted 2006-04-26 18:56:09.
