To your good health: Watch out for dust mites

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What’s all this about dust mites? Do they carry disease? How do we kill them? A baseball bat? — R.H.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: About dust mites — I am getting nowhere with them because they are practically invisible. They crawl in and out of my mouth and on my face when I am in bed. I have suffered too long with them. — P.B.

ANSWER: Dust mites are hardly visible; they’re smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. They don’t transmit diseases, but they can create trouble for those who are allergic to them or their waste material. The mite skeleton and waste products can provoke asthma, skin itching, eye itching, sneezing and dripping nose. Most people, however, live in blissful ignorance of the mites. They have no symptoms.

Dust mites don’t bite. They feed on dead skin cells, mostly cells that have fallen off the body. They don’t enter the mouth. You really can’t tell they’re around. They like living in bedrooms — in mattresses and bedding, including blankets — upholstered furniture and carpets. They can take up life in stuffed animals. Allow only washable stuffed toys into a bedroom. They prefer a warm, humid environment, a preference that can be used to evict them.

Keep the bedroom cool and dry with a dehumidifier, an air conditioner or both. The humidity should be less than 50 percent. Mites dehydrate at that humidity. Wash all bedding weekly, and vacuum mattresses and pillows. Encase them in coverings specially made from cotton, polyester or plastic.

Mites don’t disappear overnight. The battle against them has to go on for months and months. A victory isn’t total elimination, but a reduction in their population. If after all these measures a person still suffers allergic symptoms, visit an allergist for desensitization therapy.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I read that more heart attacks occur in winter than in summer. Why? If you dress warmly, does that protect you? — N.C.

ANSWER: Cold weather is a stress on the body and the heart. The heart has to work harder to keep the body warm by pumping more blood than it ordinarily does. That extra effort is too much for hearts not in the best of shape. Dressing warmly lessens the risk.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Both my sister and I take Synthroid. My doctor insists that I take it first thing in the morning, before I have had anything to eat. He also has told me not to eat for 30 to 60 minutes after taking the tablet. My sister didn’t get any similar instructions. She takes hers at noon with lunch. Who’s right? — L.C.

ANSWER: It’s best to take Synthroid, the most-often-prescribed thyroid hormone preparation, on an empty stomach and to wait at least 30 minutes before taking any food. I have to assume that your sister’s doctor is checking her thyroid hormone levels from time to time. If they’re OK, she’s OK and her medicine-taking is OK. If she has to increase her dose of the medicine because of low blood levels, then she should adopt your method of taking Synthroid.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. © 2014 North America Synd. Inc.