Expensive dust busters may not be worth the cash
17/04/2008
Measures to reduce the amount of household dust mites to improve asthma symptoms may be a waste of time and money, a review suggests.
Scientists at Copenhagen's Nordic Cochrane Centre looked at the findings of 54 studies of 3,000 asthma patients.
Most people with asthma have a reaction to the allergens produced by the common mites, which are found in bedding, carpets and upholstery.
However the review concluded that physical and chemical interventions, such as vacuuming with specialised appliances, had no beneficial effect on the numbers of dust mites present.
Environmental allergens needed to be almost completely reduced, they said, but some studies only achieved a 50 per cent reduction.
"There is no need to buy expensive vacuum cleaners or mattress covers or to use chemical methods against house dust mites, because these treatments do not work," said lead author Dr Peter Gotzsche.
However Leanne Male, assistant research director at Asthma UK, said washing bed linen at high temperatures and banning soft toys from beds could improve conditions for the 90 per cent of people whose asthma is triggered by dust mites.
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