Mites

A Greek word came to Latin as acărus and then, in Spanish, it became mite. Mites are animals that belong to the class of arachnids and what are usually parasites.

More than fifty thousand species of mites, although scientists believe there are many more to discover. In general they are very small creatures, measuring a few millimeters.

Mites can live in the land or in the water. Their bodies are divided into two sections or tagmas and allow them to develop cutaneous or tracheal respiration, depending on the case.

Among the food of the mites, numerous species of plants appear. This causes certain mites to be considered pests, capable of causing great damage to crops. Mites can also settle in the Body of animals or build nests in droppings or rotten wood.

In homes, it is very common for mites to inhabit. The calls dust mites, living on pillows, mattresses, bedding and armchairs, eat the scales of skin that are naturally detached from people. When the environmental conditions present a humidity level higher than the 70% and a temperature of more than 20 °, mites find the ideal environment for their development.

It should be noted that mites can cause allergy and complicate a asthma picture. Faced with this situation, it is common for doctors to recommend asthmatics to reside in zones mountain, since the mites do not live beyond the 1,100 meters high.

Demodex folliculorum

The mite named Demodex folliculorum is very small (his body has a extension less than 0.4 mm) and inhabits the hair follicles and pores. It can usually be found on the forehead, chin, cheek, nose, and even on the eyelashes. Its appearance is similar to that of a worm and has stumps as limbs.

Demodex mites live in hair follicles and are oriented head down. Regarding your feeding, focuses on dead skin and secretions. Females can deposit about 25 eggs per follicle. During their development, the young cling firmly to the hair; once they have reached maturity, the mites look for a new follicle to reproduce, and the entire cycle lasts no more than 18 days.

For eating, Demodex mites have a fine, needle-like structure and small claws that they use to grab cells dead and swallow them. It should be noted that they do not have an excretory opening, since their digestive system generates almost no waste.

Although the term mite is not frowned upon, Demodex in particular is not considered harmful to Health; on the contrary, since it is responsible for eliminating dead cells from our body, it could be said that they benefit us. On the other hand, it is known that they can cause different disorders in our epidermis, and in fact science is not sure that these mites are limited to feeding on dead cells.

Some scientists point out that when Demodex mites ingest the cells of our skin, they destroy the barrier that prevents the entry of certain pathogens, thus giving rise to problems of varying severity. Veterinary medicine has recognized several pathologies related to this mite, such as scabies demodecic.

In the case of humans, when too many mites settle in the same follicle they can arise infections and inflammations on the face. This can also lead to conjunctivitis and an abnormal increase in lash loss.