Invisible skin mites called Demodex almost certainly live on your face – but what about your mascara?
The Hindu
After DNA analysis, researchers found signs of Demodex on 100% of the adult humans they tested.
Demodex are a family of eight-legged mites that live in the hair follicles and associated sebaceous or oil glands of many mammals.
Two species are known in humans – Demodex folliculorum, which lives mainly in hair follicles on our faces (especially eyelashes and eyebrows), and Demodex brevis, which sets up home in the oil glands on the face and elsewhere.
Newborns don’t have Demodex mites. In a study looking for them on adult humans, researchers could detect them visually in only 14% of people.
However, once they used DNA analysis, they found signs of Demodex on 100% of the adult humans they tested, a finding supported by previous cadaver examinations.
If they live all over humanity, the question arises – are these mites parasites or commensal (harmless) organisms, living in harmony with their unwitting hosts? And which of our daily habits, such as face washing and make-up application, can assist or hinder the mites’ survival? This is where it gets tricky.
Demodex mites are tiny. The larger of the two human species, D. folliculorum, is about a third of a millimetre long, while D. brevis spans less than a quarter of a millimetre. They also carry a range of bacterial species on their bodies.
A number of methods are used to directly detect mites. The best method is a skin biopsy involving a small amount of cyanoacrylate glue (superglue) on a microscope slide.
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