Title: The Ecosystem That's Thriving in Your Pillows
Birdbomb - October 17, 2005 05:55 PM (GMT)
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The Ecosystem That's Thriving in Your Pillows
By LIZ HULL
FOR anyone who gets a little squeamish at the thought of sharing their bed with millions of dust mites, there's more bad news.
Experts have discovered that we are also sleeping with microscopic fungi under our noses.
The fungi, which feed on human skin and dust mite droppings, are infesting our pillows, research published yesterday reveals.
Scientists analysed ten pillows and discovered each contained more than a million spores of at least 16 different types of fungi.
The discovery could be highly significant for asthma, Aids, cancer-and transplant patients, who can contract potentially fatal lung infections from the spores the tiny reproductive bodies produced by the fungi.
Ashley Woodcock, professor of respiratory medicine at the North West Lung Centre, in Manchester, who led the research, said: 'We know pillows are inhabited by the house dust mite which eats fungi, and one theory is that the fungi are using the mites' faeces, as well as human skin scales, as a major source of nitrogen and nutrition.
'There could therefore be a miniature ecosystem at work inside our pillows.'
The researchers took samples from ten pillows five feather and five synthetic which were between one and 20 years old.
Their findings, published in the scientific journal, Allergy, revealed that more than 16 different species of fungi lived on each pillow.
The most common, Aspergillus fumigatus, was particularly prevalent on synthetic pillows.
Its spores are found in the air and the pillow provides a warm moist environment for it to grow.
Professor Woodcock said: 'Over the past 30 years our bedding has changed from feather-based pillows and blankets to synthetic pillows and duvets.
Synthetic pillows have much bigger holes in the covers that allow much more fungi to get in and thrive.' Patients who have suppressed immune systems, because of conditions such as AIDS or leukaemia, or have had recent organ transplants, can develop lung infections, such as pneumonia, as a result of breathing in the fungi.
They are difficult to treat and in some cases can be fatal. Breathing in the spores can also exacerbate asthma and cause sinusitis in those susceptible to allergies.
Professor Woodcock added: 'Since patients spend a third of their life sleeping and breathing close to a potentially large and varied source of fungi, these findings certainly have important implications for patients with respiratory disease.' Some 100,000 species of fungi have been identified, including everything from truffles to lichens. Their spores, which they produce in order to spread, are known to trigger allergies.
The fungi are not alone in our pillows. Dust mites feed on dead skin and dried sweat. They have been linked to allergies and asthma.
Source: Daily Mail; London (UK)