2006-08-14 09:05:27 · 4 answers · asked by sarika 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Dust is made up of very tiny particles. These particles are of very, very many different types of things. For example, in one sample of dust there may be bits of your skin, particles from my lungs, tiny bits of cat dung, specks of poison ivy leaves, the left over microscopic pieces of your sister's Big Mac and millions of other things. When you breathe all of this stuff in some of it actually gets embedded in the tissues of your mucosal membranes. Your body recognizes this as "not you" and sets about destroying it. This causes an allergic reaction. There is an inflammation response. The area floods with extra body fluids, histamines, various types of blood cells and other chemicals to get rid of those pieces of "DUST". If the reaction is strong enough, the person may go into shock. If it is not so severe, it may be experienced as itching, sneezing and/or watery eyes and nose.
It's not that you are allergic to dust so much as you are allergic to what the dust is made up of.
This is a very simple explanation. You can do a web search for more details. But this is it in a nutshell (hope you aren't allergic to nuts!)
2006-08-14 09:29:00 · answer #1 · answered by Craig S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dust itself doesn't cause allergies. In fact, most of the dust in our houses and such is actually old skin that's flaked off.
What we are allergic to are dust mites, microscopic bugs that eat those flaked off skin cells.
Sucks, doesn't it? It makes sense that we'd be allergic to them, too. They eat our skin. So when we inhale the enzymes (digestive stuff) they use to break down our skin we get all screwed up.
You can do a couple of things to make living with dust mites more comfortable, most of which involve maintaing a clean living environment, but you can't get rid of them completely.
If you want to see a picture of these evil little bugs and get more information, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_mites
2006-08-14 16:23:41 · answer #2 · answered by megan_of_the_swamp 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's technically the dust mites causing allergies.... dust mites are real tiny little bugs that crap in the dust and what not. That's what most people are allergic to, not the dust itself.
2006-08-14 16:09:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dust mites dung is causing the allergies.
2006-08-14 16:17:33 · answer #4 · answered by BRITCOURT 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋