Slashdot Mirror
Pillows Dangerous for Your Health
Roland Piquepaille writes "I guess we shouldn't be surprised by the fact that our pillows are miniature zoos containing millions of fungal spores, with some species able to cause diseases and even death. Researchers at the University of Manchester have studied the fungal contamination of our pillows for the first time in seventy years and discovered that these pillows were hot beds of fungal spores. After dissecting both feather and synthetic pillows in regular use between several months and 20 years, they've "identified several thousand spores of fungus per gram of used pillow -- more than a million spores per pillow."
As a challenge for my immune system. If I am weak, I shall die... but if I strong, I shall live and reproduce! My genetic information will spread!
Well as one who has struggled with asthma forever I find this interesting news and could offer potential explanations for the ratcheting up of symptoms when going to bed (always, weird). It would have been nice if the article offered up more ideas about approaches to attenuate the exposure and risk of the fungi. For those who scanned, the best and only tidbit I could find in the entire article was this indirect advice: " Fortunately, hospital pillows have plastic covers and so are unlikely to cause problems, ..."
And how many spores do I inhale just by walking outside my front door? How many live in the rugs at my place of work? How many may be found in the seats at the movie theater? Millions. Thats why he have an immune system IIRC.
-d
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
The real question is who uses a pillow for 20 years. That fungus could be older than your kids.
Although I have no doubt that our pillows are "hot beds of fungal spores", I don't think that not using a pillow would make it any better. I mean, short of sterilizing your bed after each "use" (daily), there's really no way we can avoid this problem. Well, short of a self-sterilizing pillow... but that's yet to be invented.
- dshaw
They should have studied my Calc 2 text book from college. I caught myself asleep and drooling on that poor book more times than I can remember.
-- taking over the world, we are.
Maybe we should use that bacteria killing pencil to kill all that fungus!!!
People who have no sig are cool
Goodnight Timmy and don't let the fungal spores cause you respiratory distress.
adopt a dog from the SPCA. Great companions, and great pillows too!*
I used to have a german shep/rot mix. loyal as can be and a great companion to the end. He also made a great pillow too!
Grump
*until it farts or wants to get up and leave.
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
Aren't there some kind of Japanese pillow filled with Barley husks or somethig like that. Wonder if that would be any more resistent to fungus.
This is why every couple of weeks or so I bleach the hell out of my pillow and wash it.
A lot of this comes accross as scare tactics, imo. Fungal spores are very, very small things. So you have several thousand per gram, and a million of em on your pillow. How does this compare to other non-pillow personal objects? Is this unusual? It would have been nice if the reporter commented on data from the negative control such as a pillow nobody sleeps on. Furthermore, what percentage of these million fungi are actually pathogenic?
I'd have something to say about this, but I think I just contracted a terminal illness from my pillow...
It's "PLOAF," not "P-LOAF." Ask about it.
The solution to fungal-spore producing pillow mites was discovered thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt: the stone pillow.
NOT to be confused with this chinese knock-off.
My son has dust allergies, and the Dr. recommended wrapping his pillow in polyethlyene and taping it. With a good thick pillow case over it, you barely notice it, yet retain the comfort of the pillow.
I would imagine that would go a long way towards reducing fungus and other pillow-dwellers.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
Health experts are now warning of population explosions of foreign life forms able to subsist upon only sunlight and air. These dangerous beings, dubbed "plants" by leading scientists, pose a grave new threat to humanity.
An excerpt from the Journal of Science quotes Dr. Hys Tarea of the University of New Dehli: "With unlimited energy sources, these plants will cover every corner of arable land and consume large quantities of the earth's atmosphere if left unchecked, expelling only oxygen waste. These life forms have been living among us for millions of years and only now is the danger apparent. We must move quickly if we are to save lives."
The article fails to mention that there are bacteria, funguses, and viruses everywhere.
Probably the article is a public relations effort. Probably the Fungal Research Trust is a money-making scheme of one or more large pharmaceutical companies, a way to preserve deniability.
The web site says it is a "not-for-profit charity". However, there are many ways that those who control the "charity" can use general research for profit. If there's some social cost, however, a "charity" provides a barrier between the work and the pharmaceutical companies.
Maybe people will spend more money on fungus medicine because of the article.
The fact that the article has no balance or perspective indicates the real purpose is different than telling the truth, in my opinion.
Oh, great. now I have a serious case of insomnia. Check your mail for the lawsuit for about a dozen years of psychologist's bills.
First I thought this danger was related to pillow fights!
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
... of your towel, the nutrients will take out those nasty pillow bugs.
A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
*1950's housewife* Why, I never knew I could throw away everything in my house, every day, and get fresh, new things! And it seems every product works this way. My family will never be happier. Thanks, capitalism!
Intelligent Design: because MATH is HARD.
Protect yourself from breathing household poisons:
i cals.shtmll d-chemicals.html
0 18%20IAP%20from%20Soid%20Fuels.pdf
s ure.htm
http://www.calpoison.org/public/breath.html
TOP "10" HAZARDOUS HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS: http://consumerlawpage.com/article/household-chem
Also at http://www.ghchealth.com/top-10-hazardous-househo
Air Friendly Household Products:
www.lung.ca/cando/content/FS-HOUSE.pdf
Solid fuels seem to be a primary contibutor to fatalities. This pdf lists other health affecting materials:
ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/krsmith/Publications/Chapt%2
A useful sheet on exposure points out that as we know, different people have different sensitivity to differnt exposure levels and methods of differnt substances:
http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/environ/expo
Oh, I guess thats enough exposure to URL's in this posting.
My hyperlinks aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
Roland sure does have the article on the top of his blog.
Oh, the blind rage he must be feeling now! Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!
My wife has bad asthma so we :
1.make sure to buy new pillows every year or so (the cheap synthetic kind)
2.wash them often in hot water
3.wash the pillow cases in bleach and hot water every week
4.use protective dust mite covers (not sure if these work for fungual spores?). The plastic ones should work too.
All in all it works pretty well. This article though seems to fall into the "let's play on people's fear of the invisible deadly germs" category. Everyone has been sleeping on old pillows made from animal feathers for centuries and millenia probably and we seem to have survived. So people who are healthy could just continue sleeping the way they did before. There are probably other problems in the world to worry about other than fungus in pillows.
I was hoping that perhaps the editors had finally broken their unspecified "arraignment" with Roland Piquepaille due to the enormous outcry, but alas, they waited until things cooled-down from his 50 submissions a week, and are now once again accepting anything he submits.
/. reader again.
This time, the only link to his "news" site is the link for his name, but I don't think that will last for long. By his 40th story this time next week we can be assured that a quick paraphrase....er..."overview" will quietly slip in again, and multiply from there.
To think, I almost became a regular
The really interesting thing is that if the editors came clean on a lot of things from the outset, it would allay a lot of concerns, instead they give us a wall of silence except when it comes time to ask for subscriptions.
I read this in school when i was a child.
;))
It's Horacio Quiroga's short story The Feather Pillow.
http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0568.pdf
So much for fungal spores...try this and you will throw your pillow out the window (or buy synthetics, like the one I have
I have an old expensive 100% down pillow that is more than 15 years old. It's never really been washed. It has a nice 'musk' smell to it - like an old tent. I have 3 other pillows - all newer - and they're all 100% down, but they just don't feel near as nice. I like my old pillow.. it's yellowish/tan in color (used to be pure white).
I read this article and then hugged my old pillow.
Next thing you know, I'm gonna read an article that says "OMG OMG STOP EVERYTHING.. There's fungi in cheese!"
--- We need more Ron Paul!
This is only phase one, called "spreading pillow-FUD". Phase two is called "sell new anti-fungal pillows", closely followed by phase three, "Profit!". Watch my words.
I will probably die of a traffic accident, cancer or (my favorite) old age. A stupid spore is no match for my immune system. If I'm sleeping with them every night, they are most probably well known to the immune system, I trust it will take care of any intruders.
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
and not to mention pillows are capable distorting the neck when you sleep.
... just drench your pillow in a cocktail of fungicide and DDT and a few other nerve agents. That should lower your risk substantially.
Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees.
=======
Science -- Sealed, Delivered.
Here is a list of contributors to the Fungal Research Trust: Fujisawa Corporation, Oxford Glycosciences, F2G Ltd, Chronic Granulomatous Disorder Research trust, Aventis, Janssen Research Foundation, Roche, Schering Plough Corporation, The Liposome Company, Merck Inc, Imedex Inc, Bristol Myers Squibb, Aronex Ltd, Vestar Inc, Eli Lilly, BioMerieux, Alza Corporation, Pfizer Inc, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Phairson Ltd, GlaxoWellcome, The Gossett Trust, The Clear Group, British Medical Association, Basilea, Valeant, Orthobiotech.
Question: Are the pharmaceutical companies funding the Trust out of the kindness of their hearts, or is the Trust a way of maximizing shareholder value?
If a pharmaceutical company wants to do some research that is risky to people, the company can avoid liability by having the work done by a "charitable" trust.
The Trust can even collect money from the public, and use it to fund research that will eventually end in a profitable product.
I wonder if putting your pillow in the microwave for a few seconds would help?
This appears to have been a decent, if pointless bit of research. They found fungus in pillows. Then some idiot came up with stuff like this:
"Aspergillus fumigatus, the species most commonly found in the pillows, is most likely to cause disease; and the resulting condition Aspergillosis has become the leading infectious cause of death in leukaemia and bone marrow transplant patients. Fungi also exacerbate asthma in adults."
The reason aspergillus is the leading cause of death in leukaemia patients is because their immune systems are comprimized. This is similar to Candida Albicans (see: yeast infections), which is THE leading cause of death in transplant patients, IIRC, due to its buildup on cathoders, and on implant devices. For normal people, Aspergillus has only minor effects.
This article continues to raise the areas of danger including this gem:
"Invasive Aspergillosis occurs mainly in the lungs and sinuses, although it can spread to other organs such as the brain, and is becoming increasingly common across other patient groups. It is very difficult to treat, and as many as 1 in 25 patients who die in modern European teaching hospitals have the disease. "
Wow. 4% of deaths can be attrubuted to aspergillis species. Pardon me, but this is not particularly impressive.
My best guess is that this press release is either because the researchers are working with a pillowcase disinfectant company, or because they're trying to play up the importance of their research to get more funding.
All in all, unimpressive, and I expect better of slashdot than to blindly believe headlines.
hmmmm?
Especially slashdotters who expect to get a girl into a bed full of filthy pillows that they're using to "boost their immune system"
Hear recorded Slashdot headlines on your phone! New service beta testing. Just call (248) 434-5508
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
"A stupid spore is no match for my immune system. If I'm sleeping with them every night, they are most probably well known to the immune system, I trust it will take care of any intruders."
That's not a very nice way to talk about your wife, is it? I guess you've been married a really long time, maybe...
Dogs are man best friend. How could you adopt it just to kill it and stuff it like a pillow?!
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Is can I get an STD from my pillow??
That explains why so many people die in their beds...
Unless my sarcasm detector blew up, I'd have to say you're being serious. If you are, then here's my serious response. If you're not then... um... this is sarcasm too? Actually, no, even if you are being sarcastic, this is still serious. Well, I find it funny, as will everyone who knows people that waste money in hopes of appearing high class. There are studies upon studies saying anything about 380 for a thread count is practically indistinguishable. I know Consumer Reports has run their tests on high thread count sheets before and come to the fact that most people will never know the difference between "high quality" Egyptian cotton and a set of 300 thread count Sears special. Besides, the sheer fact that you simply can't manufacture threads fine enough to achieve more than 500 (I don't have the official scientific sounding number but without the source, and without the inclination to look online for some back-up, I'll err on the high side) thread count can't be denied. For the larger thread counts you claim to be purchasing you're actually getting two-ply sheets. Unlike toilet paper, two ply sheets do nothing. The sheet isn't any finer, softer, silkier or better; it's simply twice as thick, thus doubling the number of actual threads you can claim. I'm doing a disservice by saying its two-ply though; it's kind of like having two-ply toilet paper with a little stitching through-out to keep it together. I'm not questioning your apparent income (or girlfriend's income, or credit line, whatever the case may be) but $2,000 is already at the point where you're spending the money just to say you're spending it with no actual benefit (and I'm including the imaginary benefits, like the kind you get from calling cow crap manure so it goes from waste product to valuable commodity) so if you were told these sheets were worth $6,000 and you were getting a good deal, then congratulations, you saved $4,000 that nobody who knew what they were buying would ever spend. And please, spare me the argument that your tastes are just so refined *you* will know the difference and thus I must not be as sophisticated as you cause trust me, that is not the case. I have no problem paying for quality; I just have a problem with people who don't know what quality is. Besides, I can't remember ever running across anyone trying to peddle anything more than "1200 thread count" so congratulations to whoever is purchasing these mysterious 1500 thread count sheets but you would have been better off (a) buying 400 thread count sheets and (b) knowing what you were buying. Oh well, I suppose its better that their money went to linen-shysters and not terrorists, drug lords or politicians.
Living may lead to death... details at 5...
"Tempers are wearing thin. Let's just hope some robot doesn't kill everybody." --Bender
You know, we are evolved (or designed, heh) to live in a world with bacteria, viruses, and fungus. How did we get to the point where we fear our natural environment so much? I grew up with a mother who constantly disinfected everything including me. I had alergies and I had regular sickness. My immune system never got to develop immunity.
I'm still a clean person and people (women even!) tell me so. But I shower without soap and rarely use deodorant... I've found my skin works better. I don't disinfect everything around me. I don't get sick often anymore, and when I do it is mild and brief. I've been doing this more than five years now.
Anyways, I don't really care what's in my pillow. I'm sure it's full of fungus, dust mites, electrons and protons even. Who cares? There's also billions of bacteria multiplying in my colon. It's the way the world works.
I get the sense most people here know this already, but I just get surprised when I hear these kinds of stories -- like the one where they said there are more bacteria on a keyboard than on a toilet. And your mouth has more bacteria than your genitals. But it seems to work out okay.
Cheers.
Slashdotters are well aware that there's a big step between living and reproducing. Good luck.
"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
make great pillows.
/. readers)
(I realise this is not an option for most
On the other hand, I don't think the parent poster wanted to destroy the spores.
He said his wife was asthmatic and AFAIK (im not allergologist, only MD), Acari are much more common allargen causing asthma and therefor I think that's what they targeted in their cleaning method.
Like he said : people are living with all these bacterial spores for ages without much problems. There's no point at all in sleeping in a surgical-grade sterile bed. Only some people have asthma problems and must pay a little attention.
Reasons why sterile bed sheets are stupid :
- There's litteraly millions of bacterial spore around. A few more or less in the bed aren't making change at all.
- Out of the incredible amount of bacterial species, only a really tiny fraction are pathogens. The biggest fraction don't harm the human body at all. Mostly because they just don't reproduce well in "body environnement" (for exemple : most bacteria have an optimal temperature of 20C or less, whereas pathogenes are usually among the few that work better around 37C)
- TFA is about fungal spores (Aspergillus in this case). Normally, fungi *are completly harmless*, except in some very *special* occasion, like reduced immunological function (the article mentions leukemia, AIDS and drugs like steroids and drugs used for transplantations) and/or free sterile niche (we human aren't sterile at all. But most of the time we are covered with completly harmless bacteria, that just sit here and take the place, so there's no more free room for pathogens. - Example : when taking antibiotics that are to strong and not enough specific, too much of the normal harmless bacteria may die and thus leaving place for Candida to proliferate). Healthy people shouldn't care.
- Allergies (and asthma) don't develop just like this by themself. For an allargen to create a new allergy, there must be always some chemical that triggers the immune system, usually an irritating one (in case of Acari, it's the protease that they secrete in their feces. In case of animal fur, it's other enzymes that are present in the saliva and that the animal spreads on his/her fur when cleaning him/herself). But spores are, as you said, an inactiveted form of the bacteria, sleeping and waiting for better time. And thus, they don't secrete much, so they cannot produce irritating chemicals that could trigger an immune reaction. Therefor, they cannot create a new allergy on their one. There's only an allergic reaction if something else has previously created an allergy and if antibodies of this new allergy can also cross-react with the non-irritating stuff.
- Some evidence tend to show that sterile environnement *may* be bad for allergy. Because allergy is a form of immune system malfunction, and in non sterile environnement you keep one's immune system busy with other things, therefor preventing allergy to happen in those people who have such allergic immune system.
Once again, I'm not an allergologist, so maybe there's some revelent detail that I haven't studied.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
And people - did you know = that there are *germs in the air we *breathe**!!! Oh my God! Why does the government do nothing?!
Believe with me, my saplings.
The latest scientific research has just discovered that anyone who has been born will eventually die. Medical professionals report that there is no cure, but suggest taking lots of drugs or joining a Buddhist monastery.
As I've grown up, I've started questioning the fundamentals of beds and beddings. First off - "soft is good." I went through a period of sleeping on the floor. So long as I had a layer of the duvet between me and the carpet I actually found it quite easy to sleep on the floor. For the sake of company, I've now gone back to beds, but I need to have the hardest matresses available, otherwise I feel like something's trying to eat me. My back always feels a little off in the morning if I sleep on a soft matress. Not using a bed also saves on a lot of floor space in studio apartments. You just roll up your duvet(s) and you're done.
Sleeping without a pillow feels odd at first, but you quickly get used to it and now, sleeping with a pillow can make my neck ache a little in the morning. Sleeping on your side requires one, but on your front doesn't and on your back is definitely better without. I'm seriously considering trying one of those wooden blocks the old japanese use.
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.