Protect Allergy-Prone Kids From Household Dust Mites Protect Allergy-Prone Kids From Household Dust Mites Did you know that little ol’ dust mites could provoke allergies and even asthma? Dust mites are microscopic creatures, related to ticks and spiders, that live in house dust. The proteins in dust mite body parts and feces cause allergic reactions in people who have become sensitized to dust mite proteins. Dust mite allergen also triggers asthma attacks and is one of the most common causes of asthma attacks worldwide.  This is primarily because dust mites are found nearly everywhere, especially indoors.  Dust mite allergen can also be inhaled while it is airborne, though it tends to settle quickly. All homes contain some amount of dust mites. Because dust mites feed on dead human skin, the allergen tends to be concentrated in mattresses, bedding, upholstered furniture, carpets – and even your baby’s stuffed animals. Additionally,  our furry or feathered friends  contribute dander to the dust and increase the food source for mites.

Make sure your pets receive regular baths. If your baby or young kid has allergies to dust mites, symptoms can include: Typical allergy or hay fever symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose or congestion, sore throat, sinus pain, itchy or watery, red eyes, headache. Asthma symptoms, such as wheezing, coughing, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest. Eczema or skin rashes in infants and young children. How can you protect your allergy-pronte kids from household dust mites? Take these easy steps  to minimize exposure to dust mites: 1. Eliminate or encase dust mite havens: Remove Carpets:  Wall-to-wall carpeting and padding are a significant dust mite traps, which release the allergen when disturbed by foot traffic and other movements on them. Hardwood, tile and linoleum are much safer options.  If you can’t live without carpet, choose natural fiber area rugs that can be cleaned easily. Encase mattresses in dust mite-proof covers. Fabric encasements should be washed in very hot water (130 degrees Fahrenheit), while plastic encasements should be washed or damp sponged, every two weeks.

Replace pillows filled with feathers, down or foam with synthetic fillings such as Dacron. Keep stuffed toys off beds. An excellent substitute is a little cotton blanket which can be washed regularly. 2. Keep dust mite exposure low by thoroughly cleaning, especially in homes with young babies. Wash your sheets, blankets, mattress pads and pillowcases in very hot water (130 degrees F) every week. Curtains should also be washed regularly, though not necessarily as often as bedding. Limit the number of stuffed animals, and  wash them once a month in hot water (130 degrees F), and dry thoroughly in a hot dryer for 20 minutes. Vacuum carpets and upholstered furniture at least twice weekly. Keep your child in another room during and for several hours after vacuuming, because dust may leak out of the vacuum through the exhaust and remain airborne. Substitute multi-layered vacuum bags for regular single layer bags, and use a vacuum with a high-efficiency, or HEPA, filter.

Do not use a bagless vacuum, as dust mite allergen will be released when the collection container is removed for emptying.car aircon cleaning service philippines Damp-wipe dusty surfaces and mop floors weekly, especially in homes with small children, who spend much of their time on the floor.benefits of home air purifier Avoid steam-cleaning bedding, upholstery and curtains. air purifier for removing dustWhile the steam will kill mites, it fosters future mite growth by increasing humidity in the fabrics. 3. Ventilate your home. Dehumidify: Reduce indoor humidity to 30-50% by using an air conditioner or dehumidifier. Don’t put an aquarium, humidifier or other source of water in your bedroom.

Clean or replace filters on furnaces and air conditioners regularly, as recommended by the manufacturer. Install filters on air ducts, if appropriate. Use an air purifier only as a last resort. These devices can help somewhat, but are ineffective if other measures have not been taken. Since dust mite allergen dust does not remain airborne for long, air purifiers are unlikely to remove much dust from the room. NOTE: Avoid using anti-dust-mite carpet treatments that contain tannic acid or benzyl benzoate, both of which are skin, eye and respiratory irritants that can make asthma symptoms worse.Written "It's definitely asthma"?Besides coughing, do you often or during attacks wheeze when breathing out?Otherwise it could just be a persistent case of (viral) bronchitis, which can last up to 6 weeks!But the therapy is the same, anti-inflammatory inhaled meds, many family practitioners are unaware and afraid of prescribing for a bronchitis (off label).Cough syrups aren't effective, although generations of docs have prescribed them, they inhibit the cough only if they contain Codeine.The underlying problem in asthma is an inflammation of the airways, causing the muscles around it to constrict and narrow the airway, also causing local edema making the inner lining of the airways (mucosa) swell and narrow the airways even more, it is the wrong idea that asthma treatment "just" consist of an airway widener (beta-sympathicomimeticum) e.g. albuterol

, which is OK for the not so severe once in the so many days asthmatic problems, but when the asthma is more severe the basic treatment should consist of a continuous cover of inhaled anti-inflammatory med being inhaled corticosteroids e.g. Budesonide (Pulmicort®) or Fluticasone propionate (Flixotide®), at present often combined in one inhalation spray with a long acting betasympathicomimeticum:  Symbicort® (Budesonide/formoterol) and Advair® = Seretide® (Fluticasone/salmeterol);  Symbicort can be used as rescue medication when wheezing or short of breath because formoterol works instantly, not so with Advair since salmeterol takes a long time before acting, so one still needs a short acting e.g. Albuterol for rescue.Written Written Written WrittenWhen do you need an air purifierIt often starts when someone retires, says Jeff May. All of a sudden, the retiree is spending a lot more time in his home—the home he has lived in for years—but he finds he can’t breathe. He’s wheezing and sneezing and uncomfortable all the time.

Because now the retiree is spending more time in a house where something is triggering an allergic or asthmatic reaction. And while it may sound surprising, your house can actually be making you sick, says Jeffrey May, author of "My House Is Killing Me." Where Indoor Pollution Lurks “The whole concept of indoor pollution is pretty new,” says May, an expert in the dangers of mold and other home pollutants. “For a long time, our focus was on what was going on in the environment outside our homes. But in the last decade or so, we’ve realized that the indoor environment can be making you sick.” So what kinds of things happen to make you feel this way? May says dust mites, mold, and other microbial growth are usually the culprits. Where do they lurk? Read on to find out. 1. Heating and Cooling Systems HVAC is probably the biggest culprit, May says. When air-conditioning cools your home, for example, it often leaves traces of water in the ducts that become the perfect breeding ground for mold and bacteria.

That microbial growth is often the cause of respiratory issues—asthma, allergies, coughing, and headaches. But it should also be said that not all air ducts become contaminated, and not all people become symptomatic from those that do. Solution: Have your air ducts professionally cleaned at least every couple of years. And be sure to service your heating system, as well, to make it operate more efficiently and cleanly. But the Environmental Protection Agency says scientific evidence is scant on whether this cleaning will solve your health problems. “Most of the time, most people get better after cleaning,” he says. “Most people get a lot better.” Unseen leaks may be causing mold growth in your home, which can be problematic for people prone to asthma and allergically-induced breathing problems. Solution: Check pipes, closets, basements, and attics to ensure all is dry. If you find any leaky areas, clean and dry where the water has accumulated, and contact a plumber or roofer to fix the situation.

“It’s the stuff you can’t see that can really hurt you,” May explains. 3. The Bedroom & Your Furniture Do you have a favorite chair? Or a favorite pillow? Have you had your mattress for a long time? These may be places where dust mites live and wreak havoc with your system. Dust mites are microscopic bugs that thrive on the humidity and warmth provided by our bodies—and they live in every home, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. But for someone who has asthma and allergies, they can set off a reaction that is uncomfortable and debilitating. Solution: Wash your sheets and towels weekly in hot water and make sure they’re thoroughly dried. Vacuum and dust weekly to rid your environment of them in carpets, curtains, and furniture. May says most important is to encase your mattress and pillows in covers designed to keep dust mites from getting through. to see their mattress and pillow covers. Note: All people have dust mites in their home, but not all people have symptoms from them.

Your need to deal with the issue will depend on whether or not you or someone in your household is suffering symptoms.When was the last time you washed the bath mat in front of your tub or shower? If you remember vaguely doing it before last Christmas, better go throw it in the laundry now. Bath mats tend to be breeding grounds for dust mites, mold, and bacteria, especially if you step out of the shower and dry yourself on top of them. (Hint: better to dry yourself off before you step out of the tub.) Furthermore, if you sprinkle with yourself with corn starch (some people use it because they fear a connection between talcum powder and cancer) when standing on your bath mat, you may be creating a perfect breeding ground for yeast, bacteria and dust mites, May says. Because corn starch is a food, you’re actually feeding the dust mites. “I had one client whose bath mat was like fermenting pizza dough,” May says. Solution: Towel off in the tub to avoid exposing your bath mat to excess water and moisture.

Clean it regularly, and avoid corn starch if possible. Yes, yes, you clean the inside of the refrigerator, but are you remembering to clean the coils and the tray below it? Frost-free refrigerators (by far the most common) contain an electric coil in the freezer that melts frost every four hours, according to May. The resulting water drips into a pan, which evaporates with the help of warm air produced by the refrigerator’s compressor. But if that pan is filled with dust, your refrigerator is blowing that dust into your home. (Not to mention, the tray also catches anything that’s spilled in your refrigerator, so there may be mold on it if you haven’t cleaned it.) Newer refrigerators may not have a tray underneath, but their coils on the back of the machine need to be dusted off regularly. If you have a built-in refrigerator, you should be able to lift off the grill and vacuum the coils of the condenser from the front. Be sure to turn off the power to the refrigerator before doing this, and according to SubZero, the refrigerator manufacturer, wear gloves to avoid hurting yourself on the sharp edges of the coils.

Solution: Clean behind your refrigerator regularly. Check your manufacturer’s instruction manual to determine whether there is a tray and to learn the best cleaning methods. 6. The Vacuum Cleaner This essential household item, which we are recommending to take care of most household allergens, could actually be spewing them all back into the air. “The best vacuum has a HEPA filter,” says May. HEPA stands for "high efficiency particulate air" and filters more than 99 percent of the particulates in air. “Some brands boast a ‘HEPA-like’ filter,” May says, “but that won’t do the trick because when you vacuum, the machine sucks in air and then filters the dust and expels air. But if the filter isn’t really collecting the dust, you’re just releasing particles into the air.” Solution: Be sure your vacuum has a HEPA filter. And if you use a cleaning service, make sure they use a HEPA-filter vacuum, as well, so your home isn't being contaminated from allergens in previous houses.

Those products you’ve been buying for years may cause eye irritation, headaches, breathing problems, and at worst, be carcinogenic. On top of that, many people clean with them, but don’t take precautions against their harmful effects. When you clean with chemical-laden cleaners, be sure to wear gloves, open windows, dilute the product, and do NOT use more than is recommended on the label. The Environmental Working Group recommends that you avoid products with any of the following seven compounds in them because they are known to be dangerous: Solution: Mix vinegar and water to clean glass, use baking soda as an abrasive scrubbing product and soap and water for many other household chores. Alternatively, look for cleaning products marked “green” and be careful not to confuse “natural” products for those which are safer to use. 8 best remedies for spring allergies Is your toothbrush making you sick? 5 most commonly overdiagnosed conditions Fifty Household Chores Homes Pollutants Spring Cleaning