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Article: Reducing dust mite exposure.(Shorts)
- Article from:
- Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
- Article date:
- November 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 The Townsend Letter Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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If a person is allergic to dust mites and shows signs of asthma, taking measures to control the mite population in the home can reduce respiratory problems and halt asthma progression. Dust mite avoidance is particularly helpful when signs of asthma first appear. In a rebuttal letter to a BMJ study by Gozsche et al. (1999: 318: 870 (27 March), SGM Cloosterman and OCP van Schayck say that peak flow rates and symptom scores of people with some early signs of asthma (but no diagnosis) stabilize when allergen concentration levels fall. People with mild asthma, however, show no clinical effect at a 6-week follow-up. The researchers believe that "allergen concentrations will ...