
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 28, 1993                   TAG: 9305280019
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

INDOOR ALLERGIES ABOUND REPORT OFFERS TIPS ON A HEALTHY HOUSE

If you suffer from indoor allergies, here are a few household hints: pull up the wall-to-wall carpeting, wash bedclothes weekly in hot water and cover your mattress and pillows in plastic.

These tips were included in a 308-page report released Thursday that examined the magnitude of allergies and disease caused by indoor sources of allergies.

Americans spend 93 percent of their lives indoors, where exposure to dust mites, fungi, pet dandruff and cockroach feces may cause allergies, according to the study by the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit health-policy organization.

"Allergies play a key role in triggering some cases of asthma, and treatment for asthma-related illnesses costs more than $6 billion a year," said Roy Patterson, a professor at Northwestern University's Medical School and chairman of the committee.

One in five Americans will experience allergies at some time during their lives, the report says.

A significant number of those illnesses will be triggered by exposure to biological or chemical substances found indoors.

Although most cases will be mild or moderate, some people die from allergic diseases, the study noted.

The major sources of indoor allergies are dust mites, fungi, pets and cockroaches, according to the report. The dust mite is a microscopic organism that lives primarily in carpeting, pillows, mattresses and upholstery. Fungi release allergen-containing spores and other substances.

Pet dander can persist in buildings even after the animals are removed. And roach parts and feces are an indoor health hazard in urban areas.

Several changes in the way we live indoors may have affected the level of indoor allergens, according to the study.

These include higher indoor temperatures, reduced ventilation, wall-to-wall carpeting and cool-wash detergents that launder bedding in temperatures too low to kill dust mites.

by CNB