Your Bed: It's a Jungle of Microscopic Critters

Of course we know that we serve as a host to billions of microorganisms inside and on our bodies (I've heard that the human body contains 10 times as many bacterial cells as it does human cells), but there's something extra skin-crawling about considering the teeming masses of organisms that share your most private space at home -- your bed. Bedbugs have certainly grabbed the headlines lately, with pest control companies reporting bedbug infestation-related calls increasing by 81 percent since 2000. But they join a veritable jungle of other beasties, such as dust mites, lice and scabies. I know what you're thinking -- who could possibly live, let alone sleep, with these kinds of bedmates, and what kind of breaches of normal hygiene must be occurring to allow these critters to set up household in one's bed? It may be easier than you think to inadvertently create a warm and inviting love nest for these pests, thanks to the particles and substances our bodies shed and secrete -- and the fact that many people sleep on mattresses that are older than they are. To read further from CNN, CLICK HERE

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