Life Style

5 Stress Management Tips for New Parents

How to Manage Parenting Stress
Congratulations! You’ve waited nine months, read up on parenting books, painted the nursery, and your bundle of joy has finally arrived. Now what?

For many, the birth of a child is among the happiest events in life. Adjusting to life with a newborn also can be extremely stressful — especially if you’re a first-time parent. Worry, lack of sleep, intense emotions, and new routines can all contribute to heightened stress levels.

When your time is consumed by taking care of a helpless infant, it’s important to remember to take care of yourself too.

How to Manage Parenting Stress

Get Moving

In between feedings and diaper changes, it may seem like there’s no time for a workout. However, there are ways to make exercise part of your new parenting routine. Try to fit in more movement throughout the day.

You can do squats at the changing table or sit-ups while your baby is in a rocker. You can even let loose in the living room and entertain your tiny, captive audience with an impromptu dance party.

Research shows that physical activity reduces the hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which are linked to stress. Additionally, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America reports that exercise can also reduce fatigue and sharpen alertness, so you can give your baby your best.

Take It Outside
Make a point of getting out of the house for some exercise every day. Exercise, plus a change in scenery, can calm frayed nerves and boost your mood. Even 30 minutes of moderate exercise, like a brisk walk, can have brain benefits, including improved mood and more energy. can bring your baby along in a stroller or carrying pack.

Research published in Sleep Medicine has also shown a link between aerobic exercise and improved sleep — an essential for new parents. Depending on your baby’s age, you may be able to attend “Mommy and Me” yoga and water aerobics classes. You’ll get a workout, bond with your baby, and connect with other parents.

Stay Connected
Life with a newborn can feel lonely and overwhelming. Concern about doing everything right and not knowing what to expect can add to stress.

Get emotional support and stay connected to your support system by talking with your partner, friends, or family members. It may help to know that your experience is typical. Other parents may have great advice on how to survive a challenging first year.

Find Your Inner Zen
Calm your frazzled nerves and silence negative thoughts with some simple mindfulness exercises, like these from Mayo Clinic. A type of meditation, mindfulness practice has been linked to decreased cortisol levels and anxiety. It may also improve sleep.

To try it, find a quiet space while your partner or another caregiver is watching your baby, even if just for a few minutes. Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing or bodily sensations. If worries or a review of your to-do list crowd your mind, gently refocus without judging yourself.

Lighten the Mood with Laughter
You’re sleep deprived, the house is a disaster, and you’re changing your eighth diaper before lunch. It can be hard to see the humor, but a good laugh may help diffuse household tension and lighten your mood. In fact, researchers at Loma Linda University found that even the anticipation of laughter can decrease cortisol levels in the brain.

Try watching a favorite comedy with your partner or a friend when your little one is (finally) sleeping. A baby’s laughter can also be infectious. Most infants start to laugh at around three to four months. Try to get some giggles out of your baby with tickling and silly sounds or faces. You may find yourself joining in.

Keep Perspective
When you feel overwhelmed, it may help to remember that the stressful newborn phase is only temporary. Your baby will eventually sleep through the night, and you’ll be a parenting pro.

Before you know it, your little one will be walking and talking. Soon you’ll have a whole new set of parenting joys and challenges to look forward to

Source: healthline

Land Rover Discovery solves first world problems with lasers, cameras and tweed

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So, you thought cooled cupholders, touchscreens, and high-speed connectivity were the very latest in SUV technology? This Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept has lasers for eyes and it can be driven by smartphone.

The Discovery Vision concept drops a truckload of technology into the Land Rover name, just as the company starts to split its Range Rover and Land Rover lineups into distinct families of vehicles. The Range Rover side of the house is focused on style and luxury layered over rugged hardware; beginning in 2015, the other vehicles in the Land Rover stable will be grouped under the Discovery badge, and will capitalize on the go-anywhere part of the Land Rover name.2.

Laser eyes, remote-control driving

The Discovery name’s been dormant in the U.S. since Land Rover switched some of its SUVs to alphanumeric names–LR2 and LR4. As they’re redesigned, they might adopt some of the bleeding-edge technology on display in the Discovery Vision concept, along with the Discovery badge.

Of all the hot-button tech mooted as future Land Rover material, it’s lasers that steal the light show. Like BMW and Audi before it, Land Rover’s predicting a future for laser headlamps–in this case, lamps that give it nearly a thousand feet more visible range than conventional headlights. Twinned with cameras reading the road and conditions ahead, the laser headlights dim themselves to avoid glare for oncoming traffic. The laser lamps are much smaller even than LED arrays, and generate a purer light that’s closer to natural daylight, Land Rover says.

Something else those lasers can do: generate an infrared-derived scan of the terrain on the ground and obstacles ahead. That data can be used in many ways–from projecting the hidden parts of the driving surface on to the lower part of the windshield, for an augmented-reality view, or projecting laser safety triangles on the road ahead in case of danger, Batman-style. Like anti-lock brake sensors before them, lasers and their distance-detecting capability are set to spawn a slew of new technologies that are relatively simple to implement with minimal hardware changes.

Combine all these with smartphone/device connectivity, and vehicles like the Discovery concept will be capable of remote piloting. A tablet with a virtual steering control could be used in very difficult off-road situations where it’s better to see the obstacle from the outside before steering clear of it, or could be used simply to pull the car out of a slim garage or parking spot from outside the car.

Lasers also play a role in Land Rover’s Terrain Response, its all-encompassing traction-control system. Today’s version has a driver’s choice of mud, snow, rock, and low-range modes–but future versions of Terrain Response could predict the surface ahead with the laser gear, and choose a mode on their own. For fording, sonar sensors shown on Land Rover’s previous Defender concepts could predict water depth and feed information into Terrain Response. Finally, all the data gained from cameras, sensors, and lasers could be used to suggest a path across unfamiliar ground.

Seven-seat cocoon

Surrounded by smart glass and tracked by eyepath sensors–and nestled in wood and leather, of course–passengers in the Discovery Concept would have a choice of a few seating arrangements, and would have access to a wealth of localized information projected on the concept car’s windows as they drive by.

The vehicle’s windows are panes of a glass that reflects projected information, but is otherwise clear, Land Rover says. Your reality will be skewed, but parking could be easier, they suggest, with a wider view of obstacles out of sight, down the vehicle’s side and corners.

Up to seven passengers will fit in the Vision’s cabin, but the usual second- and third-row seats are supplemented with some more flexible seat arrangement. In essence, the three seats in the second row can fold independently, while the third-row seats fold in tandem. A single passenger in the middle row could have all the elbow room they need–or the third row could be used as a limousine-like space.3

Futurism and Infotainment clearly took up a lot of design time in the Discovery concept. The driver is surrounded by TFT screens and a rotary shift control, a cockpit straight from the bridge of the Enterprise. Four of the front and middle-row seatbacks have integrated 10-inch touchscreens with gesture control. All their devices can connect to the Web and to the car’s intranet, to control the windows/displays–even to conduct video calls with front-seat passengers without straining their necks. It’s the automotive flavor of Skype or Facetime, and thus offers another solution to one of the world’s most vexing first-world problems–how to avoid talking face to face with the person sitting right in front of you.

The cabin warms up its cool TFT glow with the usual high-rent treatments–the third-row leather seats are hued separately to create their own visual space–and with some less common ones. There’s custom-fitting wheeled luggage that clips into the door panels to conserve space, and matching Harris Tweed blankets. At the rear, the slide-out tailgate keeps sliding to turn itself into a picnic bench or a viewing stand, as your polo needs may require.

The Discovery Vision isn’t meant to be a laser-sharp prediction of future Land Rover SUVs, but its “alpine” windows and stepped-up rear roofline are real-world cues that link it to today’s LR4 and the original Discovery. What is clearer: Land Rover’s Range Rover renovation has paid off, and now it’s ready to expand on other horizons.

Source: Fox news

 

New Aromafork Promises To Make Food Taste Better

aroma fork

The latest culinary trend doesn’t come from your food, it comes from your fork.

Introducing Aromafork, a new innovation from Montreal-based molecular gastronomy supplier Molecule-R that that is supposed to enhance the dining experience through a heightened sense of smell.

The brand new devices offers “ a fascinating olfactive experience that will trick you mind and will forever change the way you perceive flavor,” according to the company website.

How does it work?
Under the fork’s handle sits blotting paper that can be soaked before the meal with any of 21 aromas. As the diner eats, whiffs of fragrance is gradually released. The idea is that while the mouth can detect only five unique tastes — sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness and umami – the nose can sense up to a trillion smells. By releasing a unique scent through the meal, Aromafork tricks the brain and enhances each bite

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Flavors range from fruity (strawberry, passionfruit, and banana) to spicy (ginger and wasabi) to exotic (truffle, chocolate and smoke).

The four-fork kit is available for preorder and priced at $60.

Source; fox news

High-tech items giving deaf-blind online access

Tanisha Verdejo loves to surf the Internet for shopping deals. She chats on Facebook, learns about new recipes and enjoys sending emails to friends and family.

Verdejo, who can’t see or hear, could do none of that a year ago.

The 40-year-old New Yorker lives in a group home in Port Washington and is among the thousands of people with combined hearing and vision loss to have benefited from a pilot program called iCanConnect. The initiative provides low-income deaf-blind individuals with the most up-to-date telecommunications devices for free and special training to use them.

“For me, it’s opened up my whole world,” Verdejo said through a sign language interpreter at the Helen Keller National Center in suburban Long Island. The center, along with the Boston-based Perkins School for the Blind, is working with state agencies and others around the country to distribute items like refreshable Braille displays, amplified telephones and computer programs that allow for large print displays for those who may be vision-impaired but not entirely blind.

Much of the equipment is compatible with Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad and connect via Bluetooth.

“Modern technology has rapidly progressed, and we are available to provide individuals with combined vision and hearing loss the best technology and telecommunications tools for their individual needs,” said Thomas J. Edwards, president of Helen Keller Services for the Blind, which has 11 regional offices around the country.

For Verdejo and others, the changes have been dramatic.

“I’m able now to access anything I want,” Verdejo said. “I mean, I have all these apps here and can see anything now. I see it through my Braille device. I’m just so thrilled and happy that I’m able to communicate with the world.”

Established by the Federal Communications Commission, the pilot program allocates $10 million annually for low-income deaf-blind people to get the equipment. The program, which is in the second year of a three-year study, is open to individuals earning less than $44,680 annually, with income limits slightly higher in Hawaii and Alaska.

An estimated 2,000 people have been served by the program in its first 18 months, said Betsy McGinnity, a Perkins spokeswoman. She said the program has received positive feedback and was confident it could be extended beyond the three-year study period.

Dr. Christian Vogler, director of the Technology Access Program at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., said because the deaf-blind population is relatively small — about 100,000 in the U.S., according to one estimate — the high-technology devices are very expensive to produce. Some refreshable Braille displays — hand-held electronic devices that employ a network of tiny pins that pop up and down through holes, scrolling letters that a blind person can read — can cost as much as $6,000

Software that enlarges text on computer screens can sometimes cost $800 to $1,000.

“There’s not a lot of profit for these companies; the equipment is very expensive and most can’t afford it,” Vogler said.

Other devices include amplifiers that assist those with limited hearing loss to know when a telephone is ringing or computer programs that accent certain colors that may assist the vision-impaired.

Applicants for the technology go through a rigorous screening process to determine what specific devices could benefit them best, said Ryan Odland, the New York coordinator of the distribution program for the Helen Keller National Center. Once accepted, they are trained in the proper ways to use the equipment; the training is tailored to each individual.

“We do not order equipment for anything other than to gain equal access to telecommunications,” Odland said. “We tend to be very thorough with our assessment to be certain what equipment our consumer wants is ideal for them.”

He said there is no financial cap on what any individual may receive. “It’s based on their specific needs,” Odland said.

Although many of those eligible for the devices are known to officials at the Keller and Perkins facilities, the organizations are reaching out to others who may not be clients of either.

“We want to get the word out to seniors who are experiencing age-related vision and hearing issues,” said Sue Ruzenski, acting executive director at the Helen Keller center. “And there are other groups of people that we may not always interact with that may be eligible for services.”

Ruzenski said a $10 million annual allocation may not seem like much, but insisted: “We looked at it as a huge breakthrough for the deaf-blind community.”

Source: Yahoo news

 

 

Smartphone gets smarter, can detect eye defects

Apps and downloads are old hat. The smartphone can now be adapted to test a person’s eyes, and is claimed to be India’s first mobile phone ophthalmoscope.

The phone-cum-scope can capture high-quality photographs of the retina in the eye to detect defects. Converting the smartphone to an ophthalmoscope is quick and easy: fix an LED bulb near the camera of the mobile, a connecting wire and battery. It costs not more than Rs 35-50. The device was invented by ophthalmologists of Sankara Eye Hospital. These pictures can then be sent to doctors for diagnosis.

“We aren’t sure if patients can use it themselves. But it helps eye specialists in rural areas who probably don’t have high-end ophthalmoscopes. We are networking with doctors in rural areas who can send us photographs of patients’ eyes taken through a mobile phone, that can help evaluate the disorder. We’ve had cases of eye tumours, glaucoma and other disorders related to the optic nerve, detected through photos taken from mobile phones with a minimum 5-mega pixel camera,” said Dr Divyansh K Mishra, retina fellow, Sankara Eye Hospital, who was one among the doctors who invented the new technique.

A team of ophthalmologists consisting of Dr Mishra, Dr Madhu Kumar, Dr Rajesh R, Dr Srinivasulu Reddy and Dr Gladys Rodregues, led by Dr Mahesh P Shanmugam, is the think-tank behind this innovation.

Back in 2002, Dr Shanmugam had tried taking pictures of eyes through a handycam. “Technology is now advanced and some cell phones have 21 pixels. We won’t stop using ophthalmoscopes but this is an added advantage. Eye care field technicians can now immediately diagnose a serious eye condition as they’re able to instantly send images of the patient’s retina to doctors in the city, via social networking sites,” said Dr Mishra.

MIT’s mobile gadget

In 2010, a team of students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology came up with a device to be attached to a mobile phone that can test the visibility of eyes and find out the refractive errors. It was called NETRA (Near-Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment). The user has to place the device in front of the eye and look into the lens attached to the phone. While pressing the arrow keys, the user can see green and red lines which overlap. The same process is repeated eight times, with the formation of green and red lines on the screen at different angles. The assessment of the eyes is done based on the visual index and prescriptions are made based on the same.

Source: Times of India

Social media affecting teens’ concepts of friendship, intimacy

Social media is affecting the way kids look at friendship and intimacy, according to researchers.

The typical teenager has 300 Facebook friends and 79 Twitter followers, the Pew Internet and American Life project found in its report, Teens, Social Media, and Privacy.

And some have many more.

The 2013 study also says the norms around privacy are changing, and the majority of teens post photos and personal information about themselves for all their on-line contacts to see.

More recent survey data released last week by the Canadian non-profit digital literacy group MediaSmarts shows Canadian youth do take some steps to protect their privacy – for example, by not posting their contact information on social media.

But the paper, Online Privacy, Online Publicity, also points out that most kids have only a limited understanding of things such as privacy policies, geo-location services and the implications of sharing their passwords.

The research contributes to an emerging picture of how teens’ ideas about friendship and intimacy have been influenced by their immersion in the on-line world, says Patricia Greenfield, a UCLA developmental psychologist and the director of the Children’s Digital Media Center @ Los Angeles.

In her own research, Greenfield has found that young people feel socially supported by having large networks of on-line friends, and these are not necessarily friends they ever see face-to-face.

“We found in our study that people, college students, are not getting a sense of social support from being on the phone. They’re getting social support through bigger networks and having a sense that their audience is large.”

The result is a decline in intimate friendships, Greenfield says. Instead, many young people now derive personal support and affirmation from “likes” and feedback to their postings.

“The whole idea behind intimacy is self-disclosure. Now they’re doing self-disclosure to an audience of hundreds.”

Other research at UCLA shows teens’ increasingly preferred mode of communication with their friends, texting, makes them feel less connected and bonded than face-to-face communication.

Graduate student Lauren Sherman studied various forms of communication between pairs of friends. She found the closer the experience was to in-person conversation, the more emotionally connected the friends felt. For example, video chat rated higher than a phone call, but the phone created a closer connection than texting.

“I don’t think digital communication in itself is a bad thing,” said Sherman, “but if we’re losing out on opportunities to connect with people as well as we can, that’s a problem.”

Studies have estimated teens typically send more than 3,000 texts a month.

Greenfield says that indicates kids are opting for efficiency of connection over intimacy.

Source: CBC news

Fewer U.S. children dying in car crashes: CDC

Fewer U.S. children are dying in car crashes, with death rates falling by 43 percent from 2002 to 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

But one in three of the children who died in a car crash in 2011 was not using a seat belt or child safety seat, suggesting many more deaths could be prevented, the CDC said. The results were based on a study in the Morbidity and Mortality report, the agency’s weekly report on death and disease.

According to the report, more than 9,000 children age 12 and younger died in a car crash from 2002 to 2011.

“The good news is motor vehicle deaths decreased by 43 percent over the past decade for children age 12 and younger. The tragic news is still with that decrease, more than 9,000 kids were killed on the road in this period,” CDC Director Thomas Frieden told reporters in a telephone news conference.

“Thousands of children are at risk on the road because they are not buckled up,” he said.

The study found that of the children who died between 2009 to 2010, a much higher proportion of black and Hispanic children were not buckled, compared with white kids.

“The difference was nearly half (45 percent for blacks and 46 percent for Hispanics) versus a quarter (26 percent) for white kids,” Frieden said.

The study did not investigate why racial differences played such a big role in seat belt use, but it did suggest socio-economic factors may play a role.

For the study, CDC researchers analyzed data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find the number of deaths among occupants in cars from 2002 to 2011 for all children aged up to the age of 12.

Overall, 9,182 children died in car crashes during the period. But deaths dropped sharply, from 2.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2002, to 1.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2011, a 43 percent decline.

According to the report, seat belt use increased from 88 percent in 2002 to 91 percent in 2011 among all children age 7 and under. The study also confirmed earlier findings that older children are less likely to be wearing seat belts than younger children.

To prevent future deaths from car crashes, Frieden said parents should make sure their children use appropriate-sized car seats, booster seats and seat belts on every trip.

The CDC recommends that children from birth to age 2 should be in a rear-facing car seat.

Starting at age 2, children should be in a forward-facing car seat until at least age 5, or when they reach the upper weight or height limit of that seat.

Children age 5 and older should use a booster seat until the adult seat belt fits them properly, generally when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt slays across the chest, but not the neck.

More information on proper use of child safety seats can be found at www.safekids.org or other websites.

Source: Reuters

10 Houseplants that Detox Your Home

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air quality is one of the top five risks to public health. This is a result of home products made with toxic chemicals, such as vinyl flooring and air fresheners. If you don’t want to stop using these products and leaving the windows open all the time isn’t an option, there are plants that can help detoxify your indoor air. Here are some of the more effective. –

Aloe vera
You may know this plant as a sunburn soother, but it’s also a wonderful air purifier. Aloe actually absorbs chemicals from cleaning products and even gives you a warning sign by developing brown spots if the chemicals reach a high level.

Purple waffle plant
Researchers at the University of Georgia tested 28 common indoor decorative plants for their ability to remove the top five indoor pollutants. And the purple waffle plant was rated one of the best detoxifiers. This showy, low-maintenance spreading plant is an excellent choice as ground cover in a terrarium or to drape over a cupboard.

Areca palm
This beautiful palm tree pumps out loads of oxygen during the day and was rated by NASA as having the eighth highest removal rate for formaldehyde – a chemical often found in carpeting. Additionally, the Areca palm helps restore moisture to dry winter air at levels comparable to an electric humidifier.

Peace lily

This lily absorbs pollutants such as formaldehyde (found in carpeting) trichloroethylene (found in plastics), benzene (found in paints),and xylene (found in adhesives). The peace lily requires watering once a week and your choice of a bright or shaded home. Even though this is a “peace” lily, which is less toxic than true lilies, it still can pack a toxic punch if consumed by pets.

Rubber plant
The thick, deep green leaves of rubber plants help filter formaldehyde, benzene and ammonia from the air – all while improving the aesthetic of your living space. This somewhat demanding plant requires high light and frequent deep watering, and should also be kept far away from animals or children, as it is poisonous when consumed

Mother-in-law‘s tongue

Complementing the Areca palm’s daytime oxygen production, this plant is an evening oxygen producer – making it an excellent plant choice for the bedroom. To sweeten the deal, this prehistoric-looking plant is perfect for those lacking a green thumb. The Mother-in-Law’s Tongue can withstand any environmental conditions from light to dark, and wet to dry.

Golden pothos
This fast-growing vine absorbs formaldehyde, benzene and xylene. Placing this plant in or near the garage is good choice since engine exhaust is a primary source of formaldehyde.

English ivy
This glossy climbing plant comes in a variety of shades and is typically grown as a hanging plant that will also climb up walls or beams. Relatively easy to grow, English ivy is excellent at removing benzene from the air and also reduces airborne particles of fecal matter

Money plant

This superhero plant is an all-around air purifier that can remove formaldehyde and many other pollutants. It is also believed to bring the owner good luck, good fortune and good health in Chinese culture, where Money plants are often given as gifts on the Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, this type of bonsai tree is toxic to cats and dogs when ingested, and should also be kept out of reach of children.

Red-edged dracaena
Consider this plant if you’d like to add a pop of color to a room. The red-edged leaves are very attractive, and this plant can grow up to 15 feet tall–all while removing airborne chemicals from lacquers, varnishes and gasoline.

Spider plant
This “spider” is tough to kill – but that’s a good thing because unlike its creepy-crawly namesake, you’ll really want this plant to thrive in your home. It has long wispy leaves and tiny white flowers. The spider plant destroys benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene – a solvent found in leather and rubber

Source: Health Central

 

Why city life may be bad for you

When it comes to getting people to be more active, much of the attention is focused on the improving sports facilities, encouraging people to join the gym or lambasting schools for not doing enough PE.

But could another crucial factor be the way neighbourhoods are designed?

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) thinks so.

The organisation has carried out an analysis of the nine major cities in England – Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – to explore this.

Its researchers looked at housing density and the availability of green spaces.

The least active areas – deprived parts of Birmingham, Newcastle and London – had twice the housing density and 20% less green space than the most active places.

This is important.

Nearly 60% of people living in these cities do not do the recommended levels of activity.

But, crucially, three quarters said they would be happy to walk more and get outside in the fresh air if their local environment was more suitable, according to a poll cited by RIBA.

People cited safer streets and more attractive green spaces as two key factors.

RIBA has published the findings as it wants councils to take note.

Under the shake-up of the NHS last year, local government was given responsibility for public health.

So RIBA president Stephen Hodder said he wanted councils to ensure public health becomes an important part of the planning process.

“It’s vital that planners and developers take the lead and ensure healthier cities,” he added.

To be fair, this is already happening in many places.

Health impact assessments have become a crucial part of the process.

But as always – for councils which have seen their funding cut dramatically in recent years – it comes down to money.

One of the examples of good practice cited by RIBA in its report was the re-development of the Brownfield Estate, an inner-London housing estate.

It under-went a major £7m building programme with money invested from a variety of public and private sources.

The project saw the walk-ways between flats become “green grids” lined with grass and trees, while play areas were created across the site.

Another scheme highlighted was the creation of a natural play area with climbing frames, a water foundation and wetland on a disused field in the former mining town of Huthwaite in north Nottinghamshire.

Once empty, the area is now packed with children (when the weather permits).

But this project was only possible because the area was given over £200,000 of lottery money.

Source: BBC News

How often should you wash your bed sheets?

The majority of people are aware of the importance of personal hygiene, although many people may not be aware of how important it is to wash your sheets regularly.

Think of it this way, would you wear the same clothes for several weeks unwashed? We may spend more time in our sheets than we do in our clothes, yet we wouldn’t wear the same clothes everyday as that would be considered not hygienic.

Imagine what happens every night to your sheets as you rest on your most sanction of places. While you sleep your body sheds dead skin cells, you secrete oils from your skin, your body sweats and to top it off you may often leave small amounts of fluids from our groin region. On top of all of that, if you’re in a healthy relationship, it’s likely you have sex in your sheets every week which leaves behind even more stuff.

How does this affect our health?

Dust mites
These microscopic creatures thrive off of your dead skin. They live, eat, reproduce and die right in your bed and pillows; leaving behind their own rotting bodies. The average bed has anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites living there. Your health is greatly affected by these creatures if not properly kept under control. You may develop severe allergies and have a lowered immune system.

Allergies
Many people suffer from allergies and may not be aware that you can prevent them by properly cleaning your living space, especially your bedding. If you wake up with allergy symptoms this may be due to your sleeping environment.

Bacteria
Many kinds of bacteria and germs live on your dirty sheets. This can cause you numerous health problems if your sheets remain unwashed.

How often should you wash your sheets?

At least once every two weeks will keep your resting place hygienic. Every week would be ideal and any less than once a month would affect your health.

To keep your bed in the best condition you should wash your sheets every two weeks in hot soapy water and dry them completely through in the dryer. Washing your pillow every month is also important to disinfect and wash away the dust mites. You can purchase dust mite proof covers for your mattress and pillows which will help in controlling the dust mites. Wash your bedding more often if there is reason to do so

Source: love lifestyle