My one son and I get eaten alive by any bugs around but my other son and my husband do not. Anyone have any clue why this is?
2007-10-06 09:10:00 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Infectious Diseases
An interesting study I read a few years back - researchers took a group of people and rubbed panes of glass on their skin to pick up all the skin oils, sweat, etc.
All the panes of glass were put in a field that was full of mosquitoes and it was noted that some of the panes attracted far more mosquitoes than others.
When the researchers went back and looked at the results of a survey that they had the subjects fill out, it turned out that the panes that attracted the most mosquitoes came from the people who stated they always got bitten by mosquitoes.
The conclusion was that there's something in the skin oil or sweat in some people that makes them a favored target for mosquitoes. Unfortunately, the researchers couldn't say what the substance was and they couldn't repeat their study for bugs other than mosquitoes. As you might imagine, most government/private foundation money for medical research goes for things like HIV, cancer, TB, etc. and there isn't much left over for mosquito bite research!
Best of luck with the little bastards in the future!
2007-10-06 10:57:59 · answer #1 · answered by Doxycycline 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It has to do with the chemical scents produced by human skin. Some just smell more "attractive" to insects than others. Mosquitoes love lactic acid.
2007-10-06 16:20:38 · answer #2 · answered by Sara 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
certain bugs are attracted to certain blood types, sweat, ect...
2007-10-06 16:14:07 · answer #3 · answered by angeldevilpsycho 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋