WEBVTT - How Many Arachnids Live in Your Eyelashes?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Boglebaum. Here it probably sounds more like a scene

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<v Speaker 1>from a horror movie than a scientific reality, but human

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<v Speaker 1>eyelashes are in fact home to iraknids, veritable oodles of them.

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<v Speaker 1>Each individual hair follicle on your eyelids can contain as

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<v Speaker 1>many as twenty five of the creatures. When you consider

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<v Speaker 1>that we humans have up to eighty lashes on our

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<v Speaker 1>lower lids and one hundred and sixty on our upper lids,

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<v Speaker 1>that's possibly some six thousand tiny iracanids living on our

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<v Speaker 1>faces at any given time. It's believed that almost every human,

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<v Speaker 1>no matter how well groomed, has them. Babies are born

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<v Speaker 1>without mites, but they pick them up almost immediately from

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<v Speaker 1>the people around them. Since these tiny beings make themselves

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<v Speaker 1>at home on our faces today, let's get to know

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<v Speaker 1>them a little little better. Many of us think of

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<v Speaker 1>spiders when we hear the word arachnid, but there are

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<v Speaker 1>other types of these eight legged invertebrates, including scorpions, ticks,

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<v Speaker 1>and mites. It's that last category that resides around our eyelashes.

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<v Speaker 1>More specifically, they are mites in the Demodex genus the

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<v Speaker 1>species Demodex filiculorum and Demodex brevis. Unlike many other mites

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<v Speaker 1>that have rounded or bulb shaped bodies, such as dust mites,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, Demodex mites have an unusual elongated body shape,

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<v Speaker 1>with their four pairs of short legs coming off of

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<v Speaker 1>a segment behind their mouth, and then a long abdominal

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<v Speaker 1>section trailing after that. The picture a semi transparent caterpillar

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<v Speaker 1>with only eight stubby legs right at the front. Defiliculorum

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<v Speaker 1>is a bit longer and deebrevis a bit shorter, hence

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<v Speaker 1>the name. The reason you may not have known that

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<v Speaker 1>these follicle dwellers exist is because they're microscopic. They're less

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<v Speaker 1>than a third of a millimeter long, which is around

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<v Speaker 1>the width of a human hair, and smaller than some

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<v Speaker 1>single celled organisms. Most could fit inside a droplet of mist.

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<v Speaker 1>They're small enough that they can wander down into your

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<v Speaker 1>hair follicles and oil glands, and indeed that's where they

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<v Speaker 1>usually hang out during the day. Because they're not fond

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<v Speaker 1>of bright light, these mites live on your lashes so

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<v Speaker 1>that they can eat the oils and skin cells they

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<v Speaker 1>find there. Defolliculorum eats skin cells, while de Brevis prefers

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<v Speaker 1>sebum made by oil glands on the lash line to

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<v Speaker 1>help keep your eyes protected and moisturized. These mites can

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<v Speaker 1>also reside on small hairs throughout the face, including the nose, cheeks,

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<v Speaker 1>and ears, on the neck and chest, and sometimes elsewhere

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<v Speaker 1>on the body, so that six thousand guestimate above may

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<v Speaker 1>actually be on the low end. Neminex mites live short

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<v Speaker 1>lives of about two to four weeks. Their mating habits

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<v Speaker 1>can take in a speed dating quality. The female stays

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<v Speaker 1>on her lash and the males hop from follicled follicle

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<v Speaker 1>looking for a partner. The mites can also jump onto

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<v Speaker 1>another person's face, so if you spend time snuggling with

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<v Speaker 1>a loved one, you're probably providing new mating opportunities for

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<v Speaker 1>one another's eyelash mites. When they die, they decompose in

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<v Speaker 1>your hair, follicles or sebaceous glands. We're not alone in

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<v Speaker 1>being hosts to follicular mites. There are over one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>different species that make their home around the hairs of

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<v Speaker 1>mammals and marsupials, from bats to dogs to armadillos. Most

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<v Speaker 1>of them are harmless or rarely our demodex mites can

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<v Speaker 1>multiply out of control, though, and cause irritation to our

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<v Speaker 1>skin our eyes in the form of demodicosis, a condition

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<v Speaker 1>that can appear as tiny pustules or scales on the

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<v Speaker 1>skin of your face, along with itching or burning. They

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<v Speaker 1>can also cause a type of blepharitis, which is eye

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<v Speaker 1>irritation that comes with swollen or scaily eyelids and lash

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<v Speaker 1>loss or crustiness. Both conditions are treated with lotions, washes,

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<v Speaker 1>or eye drops, with a pesticide to kill the mites,

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<v Speaker 1>other ingredients to help remove excess oil and dead skin

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<v Speaker 1>that they feed on, and something to help soothe the irritation.

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<v Speaker 1>My overgrowth is usually a result of your immune system

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<v Speaker 1>being compromised or suppressed. If that applies to your loved

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<v Speaker 1>one and you see these symptoms, talk to a health

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<v Speaker 1>care provider about it. There is some evidence that, for

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<v Speaker 1>reasons we don't understand, demodex mites might have a role

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<v Speaker 1>in the development of other skin conditions like rseatia and acne.

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<v Speaker 1>Scientists are looking into it. Generally, though these microscopic facerachnids

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<v Speaker 1>are considered harmless, they might even be helpful. Some researchers

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<v Speaker 1>think that they may help prevent clogs in our facial

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<v Speaker 1>pores and may even protect us from the pathogenic bacteria

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<v Speaker 1>that can cause staff and strep infections. Also, there's evidence

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<v Speaker 1>that they're evolving from being parasitic to humans to being

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<v Speaker 1>symbiotic with us. In twenty twenty two, a team of

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<v Speaker 1>researchers published their findings from having sequenced the genome of Defoliculorum.

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<v Speaker 1>They learned a lot during their course of study. Due

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<v Speaker 1>to the mite's isolated lives with no competition from other

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<v Speaker 1>mites with different genes, these creatures have become extremely simple organisms.

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<v Speaker 1>Their tiny legs are powered by just three single cell muscles.

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<v Speaker 1>They also cannot make their own melatonin, which regulates when

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<v Speaker 1>animals sleep and wait, but they can use the melatonin

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<v Speaker 1>created by us they're human hosts to power their night

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<v Speaker 1>long mating sessions. The average human will be host to

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<v Speaker 1>over one thousand generations of mites in their lifetime. We

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<v Speaker 1>really do contain multitudes. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article so are there really arachnids living in my eyelashes?

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<v Speaker 1>On HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Jennifer Sellers Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Klain. Four more podcasts from

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