Research conducted by bedding giant, Slumberdown, reveals 93% of people in the UK don’t actually know what triggers their night time allergy and asthma symptoms, a problem which effects almost a third of the population.
The survey revealed 30% of sufferers experience interrupted sleep as a result of their symptoms, with a further 60% saying they are noticeably worse during the summer.
When asked what they think the main triggers are, only 7% answered with dust mite faeces, even though up to a third of the weight of a two year old pillow can be made up of them, and 10 million of the creatures live inside the average bed. What’s more, a third of Brits admitted they didn’t even know what a dust mite is with a further 46% confessing to not actually knowing what a dust mite looks like.
Almost half (42%) thought hay fever was the main trigger, with 26% blaming dust closely followed by moisture in the air (23%). Lindsey McManus, Deputy CEO at Allergy UK said: “Many people don’t realise the effects dust mites have on allergies. It’s actually not the mite itself but the droppings which cause symptoms, each mite produces about 20 of these droppings every day.
“A significant amount of exposure to house dust mite allergens happens in bed, and they also thrive in humid weather so taking precautions such as using Fresh & Healthy bedding (www.slumberdown.co.uk), especially in summer, will really help prevent any wheezing or poor breathing.”
Despite taking practical steps to eliminate dust mites such as vacuuming (49%), taking medication (46%), and opening the windows (41%), the UK could be doing more to help their symptoms, such as using bedding that protects against dust mites.
Fresh & Healthy is available in-store at Argos and online at www.argos.co.uk.