Sunday, November 18, 2012

Why it Itches when mosquitoes bites us and how to deal with it



Why it Itches when mosquitoes bites us?

Normally mosquito feed on nectar. They are found only female mosquitoes that suck blood. Various types of mosquitoes cause difference disease. However they cause itch on your skin. The female mosquitoes poke their proboscis through your skin so they can suck some of your blood to be later used to make eggs, they inject you with some of their saliva.

This saliva helps them to suck your blood more quickly, because it contains a cocktail of anticoagulants. It may function as blood anticoagulants so it won't clot during sucking. Once the female mosquito is full up of your blood or is disturbed, she flies away, leaving some of her saliva behind. Your body then kicks your immune system in gear as a response to the presence of this saliva.

It produces various antibodies which in turn bind to the antigens in the mosquito’s saliva. This then triggers the release of histamine.

Histamine is a nitrogen compound that, among other things, triggers an inflammatory response. It also helps white blood cells and other proteins to engage invaders in your body by making the capillaries of these cells more permeable. Bottom line, the histamine ends up making the blood vessels near the bite swell up. This produces a pink, itchy bump where the mosquito poked you.

Scratching the bump only makes this worse because it causes more irritation and inflammation of the sight, 
resulting in your immune system thinking it needs more antibodies to get rid of the foreign protein. So the more you scratch, the more it will swell; the itchier it will get; and the longer it will last.


Fit's Tips: After you realize that you've been bitten, try with all your might NOT to scratch that annoying itch - it'll only make it itch and swell more. Wash the area with soap and water, then apply calamine lotion, cortisone, or any other anti-itch cream to the infected area. An ice pack may also help.

For more way how health it see the link