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Pillowtalk? Your pillows are hotbeds of fungi
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Saw this ... interesting article
LONDON: The University of Manchester researchers revealed that there are millions of fungal spores right under our noses, harboured in pillows.
According to a study, published in journal Allergy, the researchers dissected both feather and synthetic samples and identified several thousand spores of fungus per gram of used pillow. They studied samples from ten pillows with between 1.5 and 20 years of regular use.
Aspergillus fumigatus, the species most commonly found in the pillows, is most likely to cause disease; and the resulting condition Aspergillosis has become the leading infectious cause of death in leukaemia and bone marrow transplant patients.
Each pillow was found to contain a substantial fungal load, with four to 16 different species being identified per sample and even higher numbers found in synthetic pillows. The microscopic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus was particularly evident in synthetic pillows, and fungi as diverse as bread and vine moulds and those usually found on damp walls and in showers were also found.
"We know that pillows are inhabited by the house dust mite which eats fungi, and one theory is that the fungi are in turn using the house dust mites' faeces as a major source of nitrogen and nutrition. There could therefore be a 'miniature ecosystem' at work inside our pillows," said lead researcher Professor Ashley Woodcock.
Aspergillus is very difficult to treat, and as many as 1 in 25 patients who die in modern European teaching hospitals have the disease. Immuno-compromised patients such as transplantation, AIDS and steroid treatment patients are also frequently affected with life-threatening Aspergillus pneumonia and sinusitis.
Aspergillus can also worsen asthma, particularly in adults who have had asthma for many years, and cause allergic sinusitis in patients with allergic tendencies. Constant exposure to fungus in bed could be problematic.
Fortunately, hospital pillows have plastic covers and so are unlikely to cause problems, but patients being discharged home - where pillows may be old and fungus-infected - could be at risk of infection.
"These new findings are potentially of major significance to people with allergic diseases of the lungs and damaged immune systems - especially those being sent home from hospital," said Dr Geoffrey Scott, Chairman of the Fungal Research Trust which funded the study.
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 - especially asthma and sinusitis, the researchers conclude.
LONDON: The University of Manchester researchers revealed that there are millions of fungal spores right under our noses, harboured in pillows.
According to a study, published in journal Allergy, the researchers dissected both feather and synthetic samples and identified several thousand spores of fungus per gram of used pillow. They studied samples from ten pillows with between 1.5 and 20 years of regular use.
Aspergillus fumigatus, the species most commonly found in the pillows, is most likely to cause disease; and the resulting condition Aspergillosis has become the leading infectious cause of death in leukaemia and bone marrow transplant patients.
Each pillow was found to contain a substantial fungal load, with four to 16 different species being identified per sample and even higher numbers found in synthetic pillows. The microscopic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus was particularly evident in synthetic pillows, and fungi as diverse as bread and vine moulds and those usually found on damp walls and in showers were also found.
"We know that pillows are inhabited by the house dust mite which eats fungi, and one theory is that the fungi are in turn using the house dust mites' faeces as a major source of nitrogen and nutrition. There could therefore be a 'miniature ecosystem' at work inside our pillows," said lead researcher Professor Ashley Woodcock.
Aspergillus is very difficult to treat, and as many as 1 in 25 patients who die in modern European teaching hospitals have the disease. Immuno-compromised patients such as transplantation, AIDS and steroid treatment patients are also frequently affected with life-threatening Aspergillus pneumonia and sinusitis.
Aspergillus can also worsen asthma, particularly in adults who have had asthma for many years, and cause allergic sinusitis in patients with allergic tendencies. Constant exposure to fungus in bed could be problematic.
Fortunately, hospital pillows have plastic covers and so are unlikely to cause problems, but patients being discharged home - where pillows may be old and fungus-infected - could be at risk of infection.
"These new findings are potentially of major significance to people with allergic diseases of the lungs and damaged immune systems - especially those being sent home from hospital," said Dr Geoffrey Scott, Chairman of the Fungal Research Trust which funded the study.
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 - especially asthma and sinusitis, the researchers conclude.
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Comments
Might have to nick the plastic covers from the hospital...