[HN Gopher] Some People Are Mosquito Magnets
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Some People Are Mosquito Magnets
Author : gmays
Score : 48 points
Date : 2022-10-22 15:23 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.scientificamerican.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.scientificamerican.com)
| krylon wrote:
| I know it's just anecdata, but as far back as I can remember,
| mosquitos have tended to avoid me or at least to take it easy on
| me.
|
| I have no idea why, but I didn't exactly have reason to complain.
| jamiek88 wrote:
| What blood type are you?
|
| I'm an O and get bit a lot, wife is an A and hardly ever gets
| itchy bites.
| thegabriele wrote:
| I'm A and I get totally obliterated by mosquitos
| chrisweekly wrote:
| A+ here. I tend to attract em less than average (based on
| nonscientific observation of friends and family over the
| years).
| krylon wrote:
| A+
|
| But how would the mosquito detect that before biting?
| D13Fd wrote:
| Same. I've been incredibly fortunate in that I rarely get
| mosquito bites - usually just a couple per summer. My mother
| will get 5-10 or more in an hour in the evening sitting right
| next to me, while I get none. Same with my wife. It's crazy.
| kepler1 wrote:
| Wow, I think you're so attractive... to mosquitoes.
| GeekyBear wrote:
| > Carboxylic acids are commonplace organic compounds. Humans
| produce them in our sebum, which is the oily layer that coats our
| skin; there, the acids help to keep our skin moisturized and
| protected, Vosshall says. Humans release carboxylic acids at much
| higher levels than most animals, De Obaldia adds, though the
| amount varies from person to person. The new study had too few
| participants to say what personal characteristics make someone
| more likely to produce high levels of carboxylic acids
|
| Interesting that people have been using the bath oil, skin so
| soft, as a mosquito repellent for years. I wonder if people whose
| skin has already been moisturized would produce less sebum?
| Stamp01 wrote:
| Water, fire, air and dirt
|
| Mosquito magnets, how do they work?
| imwillofficial wrote:
| My mom used to tell me that my blood was sweet and that's why the
| mosquitos loved me more
| Aisen8010 wrote:
| Do the mosquitoes prefer diabetic people?
| imwillofficial wrote:
| My mom may not have had the best scientific training...
| uri4 wrote:
| People can absolutely change their chemistry, body smell, blood
| acidity etc.. But it is very very difficult; change in diet,
| water fasting for weeks... Microbes in body have to be replaced
| and metabolism set into new equilibrium.
| WinstonSmith84 wrote:
| Not sure you read the article. It's about Carboxylic acids, not
| about microbes in the body. Also the article tells that a
| change in the diet didn't have any noticeable effect on
| participants, and finally that the level of attractiveness
| remains the same for the whole life.
| Noumenon72 wrote:
| To me it sounds like they did not track change in diet:
|
| > Any personal factors that may have changed over those
| months--from what each subject ate to the kind of soap they
| used--didn't seem to make a difference.
|
| They know that any dietary changes could not have produced a
| noticeable effect since there was none, but not whether any
| dietary changes occurred or which ones.
|
| Also, extrapolating from these several-month intervals to
| "your whole life" can only be speculation.
| uri4 wrote:
| I read the article:
|
| >> Akbari says the study could help researchers develop more
| effective mosquito repellents in the future. The secret might
| be in adding new bacteria to the skin's existing microbiome
| to alter its scent profile.
|
| Radical change in eating affects skin bacteria similar way.
| [deleted]
| mynegation wrote:
| In a moderate setting like north American forest in early summer
| I get just few bites and my wife gets bitten all over. We thought
| this is due to temperature difference. My skin feels colder to to
| touch than average and she is warmer to touch than average. But
| this explanation seems more plausible.
| screye wrote:
| I am a mosquito magnet and have among the coldest extremetries
| of any person I've met. So, anecdotally this does not track.
| yawnxyz wrote:
| > "This property of being a mosquito magnet sticks with you for
| your whole life--which is either good news or bad news, depending
| on who you are," Vosshall says.
|
| I'm sorry what? Why is this ever good news? (I'm a mozzy magnet
| and I hate it)
| Tyriar wrote:
| Sounds like they meant its good news if you're not a mosquito
| magnet?
| JadoJodo wrote:
| If you are NOT a magnet, and it persists throughout your entire
| life, it's good news.
| jmclnx wrote:
| I also read somewhere, Mosquitos prefer type O blood. So I wonder
| if they correlated the results with blood type. And yes, I am a
| mosquito magnet with type O. So curious how their results relate.
| atomicUpdate wrote:
| From TFA:
|
| Scientists have put forth some theories to explain why
| mosquitoes swarm to some of us more than others, including one
| idea that differences in blood type must be to blame. Evidence
| is weak for this link, however, Vosshall says.
| porjo wrote:
| I'm B+ and wife is O+, and I'm always the one bitten most
| saiya-jin wrote:
| can confirm, 0+ and unhappy recipient of their attention way
| above most people around me... it can get pretty dangerous in
| places with malaria, dengue, yellow fever etc.
| TheBlight wrote:
| I'm O+ and I never seem to get bit whereas my B- wife does.
| mattgreenrocks wrote:
| Am O-. Wife gets bitten way more than me and is not O.
| riffraff wrote:
| interesting, I'm 0 and a favoured mosquito target, and my wife
| is A and does not get bit very much.
|
| We have two kids to which the same dichotomy applies: I now
| need to check what blood type they have!
| Tacos4me wrote:
| Sounds like you already know!
| ilkke wrote:
| I'm a type 0 magnet myself
| Wistar wrote:
| Me, too, alas.
| maxbond wrote:
| Once at the Exploratorium in San Francisco I saw an exhibit where
| mosquitos were in a mesh terrarium, such that you could offer
| your hand to them without being bit. I offered my hand and had
| few takers. Someone else stepped up to the exhibit and offered
| their hand, and many mosquitoes flocked to them.
| [deleted]
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