Allergies

If you have a cold that doesn't seem to end, it may be an allergy, in which case you can count yourself amongst the estimated 20% of Americans who suffer from this chronic immune system overreaction to foreign particles in the environment.

The 6th leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S., allergies are caused by allergens-particles and materials that send our bodies' defenses into overdrive. These physical responses can range from persistent sneezing to dangerous anaphylactic shock. Outdoors, we're most often allergic to seasonal elements like pollens and insect bites. But inside our homes, allergens can trouble us year-round and the three you'll most likely encounter are dust mites, animal dander, and molds.

Creatures are Causes

Meet the dust mite; a microscopic arthropod related to spiders. Living in bedding, carpet, and upholstery, as well as the forty pounds of surface dust the typical household accumulates each year, dust mites are so small that 1,000 of them can live in a single gram of dust. Unless you live in the desert or atop a mountain, your home likely shelters millions of these creatures who live off of the 50 million skin flakes each of us naturally loses each day.

Worse still, we're not actually allergic to the mites themselves but to the waste particles and body parts they shed each day into the air we breathe. You're not born with allergic asthma, but exposure to mite waste can cause you to begin to have this set of allergic reactions which, taken together, equals the illness.

Animal dander is a different story. It consists of the skin flakes animals shed and particles of dried animal saliva from pet hair. These skin and saliva particles contain proteins that can cause allergic reactions. As with mite wastes, this dander can easily become airborne and inhaled.

Rounding out our list of heavy indoor allergy hitters are molds. These fungus species can live almost anywhere and, as is the case with the other indoor allergens, it's not the molds themselves that cause allergies in most cases, but the microscopic spores they release into the air to reproduce.

Strategies

If you think you have allergies, identifying their source with an allergy test is the first step in protecting yourself. Once you know which allergens are troubling you, it's a matter of simple self-defense. The bedroom is an important place to begin.

The bedroom is your first line of defense because it's so important to get a good night's sleep. It's where we most commonly experience prolonged contact with allergens. If you're allergic to dust mites, you should cover all pillows, mattresses and box springs with an allergy-proof encasing. You should also wash bedding, pillows and casings in very hot water, 130° or higher, at least once a week. Here are some other steps suggested:

• Track your home's humidity with a humidity monitor. Mites and molds prefer humidity levels over 50%. If your air contains too much moisture, use a dehumidifier.
• Vacuum carpets and upholstered surfaces weekly and consider using a HEPA vacuum. Their micro-fine filters prevent vacuumed particles from being blown back out into the air again (regular vacuum cleaners' porous bags can't trap microscopic allergen particles).
• Consider a HEPA air filter. Using the same micro-filter technology, these continually filter indoor air, stripping away allergens and preventing their build-up.
• Don't just remove dust from household surfaces when dusting-remove it from your home entirely. Dust thoroughly with a damp cloth or static-charged material that actually collects dust and carries it off as opposed to dry cloths or dusters that simply stir it back up into the air.
• Try some of the newer allergy control treatments. Applied to household surfaces or added to laundry, these products use natural substances to deactivate indoor allergens.
• Similar products exist for animals. Applied directly to pets or added to their shampoo, they deactivate dander. Regardless of whether you use the allergy treatments, wash your pets weekly to keep dander levels low.
• Keep your pets out of the bedroom. If necessary, consider restricting your pet to rooms without carpeting or upholstery because pet dander is sticky and will cling to fabrics and fibers.

These simple steps can greatly reduce the levels of allergens in your home.