Why Mosquitoes Love Runners So Much
There’s a scientific reason you get bitten more than sedentary folks do.
If you’re anything like us, mosquitos love you. You could be sitting by the pool with a few of your friends, and by the time you all go inside, you’re scratching away at your skin while everyone else managed to escape unscathed. So what’s the deal?
It’s not just in your head: There is a reason why you attract mosquitoes more than others—you’re a runner. But don’t panic. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a life of itchy, welt-covered skin every summer.
There are things you can do to limit the amount of bites you get, or make the ones you do get feel a little better. Here, we tapped Jonathan Day, Ph.D., a mosquito researcher and professor of medical entomology at the University of Florida and Daniel M. Pastula, M.D., M.H.S., associate professor of neurology, infectious diseases, and epidemiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado, to find out why you get bitten so damn much—and what you can do about it.
Why Do Mosquito Bites Itch?
The itching and swelling that accompanies a bite occurs when your immune system responds to something it doesn’t recognize.
“When a mosquito bites, the first thing it does is produce a little bit of its saliva, which contains proteins that your immune system sees as a foreign body, and mounts an immediate response to attack those proteins,” Day said. “That response tends to involve histamine that attacks those proteins, and that causes swelling, redness, and itching at the site.”
Find yourself running with the mosquitoes? Continue reading Danielle Zickl's article here.
Why Mosquitoes Love Runners So Much
There’s a scientific reason you get bitten more than sedentary folks do.
If you’re anything like us, mosquitos love you. You could be sitting by the pool with a few of your friends, and by the time you all go inside, you’re scratching away at your skin while everyone else managed to escape unscathed. So what’s the deal?
It’s not just in your head: There is a reason why you attract mosquitoes more than others—you’re a runner. But don’t panic. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a life of itchy, welt-covered skin every summer.
There are things you can do to limit the amount of bites you get, or make the ones you do get feel a little better. Here, we tapped Jonathan Day, Ph.D., a mosquito researcher and professor of medical entomology at the University of Florida and Daniel M. Pastula, M.D., M.H.S., associate professor of neurology, infectious diseases, and epidemiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado, to find out why you get bitten so damn much—and what you can do about it.
Why Do Mosquito Bites Itch?
The itching and swelling that accompanies a bite occurs when your immune system responds to something it doesn’t recognize.
“When a mosquito bites, the first thing it does is produce a little bit of its saliva, which contains proteins that your immune system sees as a foreign body, and mounts an immediate response to attack those proteins,” Day said. “That response tends to involve histamine that attacks those proteins, and that causes swelling, redness, and itching at the site.”
Find yourself running with the mosquitoes? Continue reading Danielle Zickl's article here.
Why Mosquitoes Love Runners So Much
There’s a scientific reason you get bitten more than sedentary folks do.
If you’re anything like us, mosquitos love you. You could be sitting by the pool with a few of your friends, and by the time you all go inside, you’re scratching away at your skin while everyone else managed to escape unscathed. So what’s the deal?
It’s not just in your head: There is a reason why you attract mosquitoes more than others—you’re a runner. But don’t panic. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a life of itchy, welt-covered skin every summer.
There are things you can do to limit the amount of bites you get, or make the ones you do get feel a little better. Here, we tapped Jonathan Day, Ph.D., a mosquito researcher and professor of medical entomology at the University of Florida and Daniel M. Pastula, M.D., M.H.S., associate professor of neurology, infectious diseases, and epidemiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado, to find out why you get bitten so damn much—and what you can do about it.
Why Do Mosquito Bites Itch?
The itching and swelling that accompanies a bite occurs when your immune system responds to something it doesn’t recognize.
“When a mosquito bites, the first thing it does is produce a little bit of its saliva, which contains proteins that your immune system sees as a foreign body, and mounts an immediate response to attack those proteins,” Day said. “That response tends to involve histamine that attacks those proteins, and that causes swelling, redness, and itching at the site.”
Find yourself running with the mosquitoes? Continue reading Danielle Zickl's article here.
Recent articles
Other categories
You might also like
Built for the Outdoors
see ALL PRODUCTS
인스타그램 팔로우하기
아웃도어 기업 그 이상.
From the trail
라파 홍보대사를 만나보세요. 이들은 트레일 전문가로서 험난한 환경에 견디는 데카트론 제품을 사랑하고, 한 차원 높은 모험 이야기를 통해 데카트론을 즐겁게 해줍니다.
meet our ambassadors
