Rosacea and Demodex Blepharitis Are Closely Linked

Rosacea & Demodex Blepharitis Are Closely Linked

What is Rosacea? 

Rosacea is red spider veins on the face and nose, causing flushing of the face and inflammation.  Rosacea is believed to be genetically inherited and can affect the immune system.  Rosacea is considered an autoimmune disorder.

What is Demodex?

Demodex, a tiny mite that is a normal inhabitant of human facial skin, is often the cause in rosacea flare-ups just because its often found in greater numbers on the faces ofpeople with this rosacear.^{1, 2}  New research is supporting the fact that Demodex may be the trigger that causes the symptoms and flares of Rosacea.

Demodex mites is a part of our normal microbes that we all have.  It is important to understand how it affects the flares and inflammation of people with Rosacea. 

What are Microbiomes? 

We humans need microbiomes in order to survive.  Many bacteria are necessary for a healthy gut, so we can absorb nutrients.  Taking Probiotics to stay healthy is highly recommended. 

Demodex mites are a natural part of the human microbiome, and they may serve a useful function by feeding off of dead skin cells. In fact, dead human skin cells are the largest component of household dust and, just like dust mites, Demodex folliculorum may be part of a natural cleaning system.⁶

The Demodex mite

Recent research has discovered that Demodex is observed to cause Rosacea as early as 1841.
A year later, a German dermatologist found Demodex-type mites in hair follicles, almost 100 years before human Demodex was first observed in the development of rosacea.⁷

Larget numbers of Demodex is very common in virtually all humans. In fact demodex exist in every adult over 18 years old.⁸   In fact two separate species of Demodex inhabit the skin of humans – D. folliculorum, which live in hair follicles primarily on the face as well as in the meibomian glands of the eyelids, and D. brevis, which live in the sebaceous glands of the skin.^8,9

Demodex have often been found in 15 to 18 times greater numbers in rosacea patients than in healthy people,^1,2. Medical scientists have proposed a variety of reasons about why this unusually high incidence may trigger inflammation in individuals with rosacea. A recent meta-analysis of 48 studies on Demodex found a significant association between the relative density of Demodex and the development of rosacea, suggesting that the mites may be involved in the disease process, according to Dr. Erin Lesesky, assistant professor of dermatology at Duke University.¹⁰

The debate is whether the higher incidence of Demodex is a cause or a result of rosacea, new evidence has increasingly suggested it may be the former.

In a recent key medical journal article, Dr. Fabienne Forton, a dermatologist in Brussels, Belgium, characterized the mites as a potential missing link in understanding the onset of subtype 2(papulopustular) rosacea.² She hypothesized that skin infections and disruption of the skin barrier may set off a chain of inflammatory reactions in individuals with rosacea, noting that when the number of mites is reduced to normal through treatment the typical rosacea complaint of sensitive skin often disappears. Dr. Stanislaw Jarmuda and colleagues also found that while mite density is greater on the skin of individuals with rosacea, mites are even more dense in individuals with the bumps and pimples of papulopustular rosacea.⁹

Other research have shown a bacteria D. folliculorum's on the mites maybe associated with rosacea This bacterium was found to stimulate an immune response in some individuals with rosacea, This bacterium plus mites maybe true for those with ocular rosacea as well. Dr. Jianjing Li and colleagues at the Ocular Surface Center in Miami found a significant correlation between facial rosacea, infestation of the eyes with Demodex mites and reaction to B. oleronius.¹²

How Can TheraLife Help?

Ocular Rosacea Starter Kit- Doctors Recommended

Reduce Inflammation, treat dry eyes, strongly anti-inflammatory, hot compress to unclog oil glands, eye lid cleanser to stop demodex. 

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Demodex references

1. Jarmuda S, O’Reilly N, Zaba R, et al. Potential role of Demodex mites and bacteria in the induction of rosacea. J Med Microbiol 2012;61:1504-1510.

2. Forton FMN. Papulopustular rosacea, skin immunity and Demodex: pityriasis folliculorum as a missing link. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol2012;26:19–28.

3. NIH Human Microbiome Project defines normal bacterial makeup of the body. National Institutes of Health June 13, 2012.

4. Marantz Henig R. Fat factors. New York Times Aug. 123, 2006.

5. Ackerman J. How bacterial affect our bodies protect our health. Scientific American May 15, 2012, pp.

6. House dust mite. Wikipedia Accessed 11/25/14.

7. Rusiecka-Ziółkowska J, Nokiel M, Fleischer M. Demodex – an old pathogen or a new one? Adv Clin Exp Med 2014;23:295–298.

8. Thoemmes MS, Fergus DJ, Urban J, Trautwein M, Dunn RR (2014) Ubiquity and diversity of human-associated Demodex mites. Public Library of Science One 9(8):e106265. Doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106265.

9. Jarmuda S, O’Reilly N, Zaba R, et al. Potential role of Demodex mites and bacteria in the induction of rosacea. J Medical Microbiol2012;61:1504-1510.

10. Zhao YE, Wu LP, Peng Y, et al. Retrospective analysis of association between Demodex infestation and rosacea. Arch Dermatol2010;146(8):896-902.

11. Erbagci Z, Ozgoztaosi O. The significance of Demodex folliculorumdensity in rosacea. Int J Dermatol 1998;37:421-425.

12. Li J, O’Reilly N, Sheha H, et al. Correlation between ocular Demodex infestation and serum immunoreactivity to Bacillus proteins in patients with facial rosacea. Ophthalmology 2010;117:870-877.

13. Demodex surfaces again at summer AAD meeting. National Rosacea Society Weblog Accessed 11/25/14.