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House dust mite
The house dust mite is a cosmopolitan guest in human habitation. Mites belong to the order same as spiders, and have existed for longer than insects. Dust mites flourish in the controlled environment provided to them by buildings. In nature they are killed by predators and by exposure to direct sun rays. Dust mites are considered to be the most common cause of asthma and allergic symptoms worldwide. The enzymes they produce can be smelled most strongly in full vacuum cleaner bags. It is just possible to see a dust mite under a magnifying glass, when the subject is well lit and placed on a black background. Bleach and strong soaps do not kill dust mites. A simple washing will remove most, in the waste water. Temperatures of over 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) for a period of one hour are usually fatal to dust mites; freezing may also be fatal. Dust mites reproduce quickly enough that their effect on human health can be significant.
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Health & Medicine News
August 29, 2026
Aug. 29, 2026 A ketogenic diet outperformed Mediterranean and low-fat diets in several measures of metabolic health during a clinical trial involving people with obesity, prediabetes, and fatty liver disease. All three groups lost about 10% of their body weight, ...
Aug. 29, 2026 Dogs and humans may have more in common when it comes to aging than scientists realized. Researchers with the Dog Aging Project found that patterns of small molecules in dogs’ blood were linked to longer or shorter lifespans in remarkably similar ...
Aug. 29, 2026 People with chronic insomnia who used melatonin long term had a roughly 90% higher risk of developing heart failure over five years, according to a large preliminary study. The findings do not prove melatonin causes heart problems, but they raise ...
Aug. 28, 2026 Frequent micro-awakenings during sleep were linked to higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s in healthy middle-aged adults who had no symptoms. The discovery raises the possibility that subtle changes during sleep could offer an early warning signal ...
Aug. 28, 2026 Scientists have identified a protein that acts like a brake on the nervous system’s ability to repair damaged connections. Blocking AHR helped injured nerve fibers regrow and improved movement and sensation in mice with nerve or spinal cord ...
Aug. 28, 2026 Scientists have created light-activated drugs that helped blind mice perceive light again and restored visually guided behavior without gene therapy, implants, or specialized lighting. Even more intriguingly, two of the most promising compounds ...
Aug. 28, 2026 A popular vanilla flavoring in e-cigarettes may interfere with some of the earliest steps of human development. In lab experiments, vanillin caused embryonic stem cells to lose their ability to develop normally and pushed them toward forming only ...
Aug. 28, 2026 Every one of 212 plant-based meat alternatives and drinks tested in the UK contained at least one naturally occurring fungal toxin, though concentrations remained below recommended EU guideline ...
Aug. 27, 2026 Ultra-processed foods make up a huge share of the American diet, and new research suggests they may carry another serious health risk for men. In a nationally representative study of more than 17,000 U.S. men, those who ate more ultra-processed ...
Aug. 27, 2026 The belief that huge doses of vitamin C can ward off colds was popularized more than 50 years ago by Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling. Since then, larger studies have found that vitamin C does not prevent most people from catching a cold, although ...
Aug. 27, 2026 Scientists created smart nanoparticles that can both illuminate hidden glioblastoma cells during surgery and destroy microscopic cancer left behind afterward. In mice, the treatment prevented recurrence and led to 100% survival at 60 days, though it ...
Aug. 27, 2026 Researchers discovered a brain-based “brake” that can shut down chronic nerve pain in mice by calming an overactive pain circuit. Targeting this system more precisely could one day lead to powerful pain relief without affecting opioid receptors ...
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Aug. 26, 2026 Moderate calorie restriction lowered an immune protein called C3 that appears to help drive chronic inflammation as the body ages. Blocking the same ...
Aug. 26, 2026 Britain’s postwar sugar rationing created a rare natural experiment that let researchers examine how early sugar exposure might affect health decades later. People who experienced more rationing ...
Aug. 26, 2026 A compound found in turmeric may help protect blood vessels from some of the damage caused by Type 1 diabetes. In rats, curcumin reduced inflammation, improved cellular signaling, and restored ...
Aug. 26, 2026 A wavelength of light largely missing from indoor LEDs may play an important role in protecting developing eyes from nearsightedness. Researchers found that indigo light completely prevented myopia ...
Aug. 26, 2026 Early-life stress may physically alter how DNA is packaged in the brain, leaving stress-related genes primed to activate more easily years later. In mice, researchers were able to block this effect, ...
Aug. 25, 2026 A low-carb diet may raise LDL cholesterol much more sharply in people who are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol, particularly when they consume lots of saturated fat. The findings could ...
Aug. 25, 2026 Older adults who received the Shingrix shingles vaccine were 24% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia over four years in a study of more than 500,000 people. Researchers estimate the difference ...
Aug. 25, 2026 Researchers have found a way to supercharge natural killer cells, powerful immune cells that can attack cancer, so they can penetrate solid tumors ...
Aug. 25, 2026 A major study found that adults with depression show disrupted production of new neurons in the hippocampus, potentially weakening the brain’s ability to separate new experiences from painful ...
Aug. 25, 2026 People who reach 110 and beyond appear to have unusually large numbers of rare immune cells capable of killing abnormal cells. These CD4 cytotoxic T cells became more common with age and often ...