Dust Mites Trigger Asthma By Tricking the Immune System
Posted on January 10, 2009
The horrible looking creature above is a dust mite and it is known to trigger asthma attacks. Dean Smith, Executive Director of the American Asthma Foundation, says "although dust mites are known to trigger asthma attacks, until now we did not know why the allergic response to the mites was so strong."
The mystery was solved as a result of research funded by the American Asthma Foundation's Strategic Program for Asthma Research (SPAR). The lead investigator, Dr. Christopher Karp, and his colleagues found that house dust mites trick the immune system into believing that it is facing a bacterial infection. Thus misinformed, the immune system mounts a strong allergic response to the mites, a response that can trigger asthma attacks.
They have the cause so maybe now they can come up with a cure. Maybe they can create a drug that can keep this allergic response to dust mites from happening in the first place.
Photo: American Asthma Foundation
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