When was head lice discovered

In , Larada Sciences, a U. The device uses carefully controlled heated air to dehydrate head lice and eggs in a one-hour treatment in a medical clinic. Head lice are tenacious and tedious parasites, but they are not dangerous to human health and they are not related in any way to human hygiene. In fact, they are far more prolific on clean hair and scalps, because they have little resistance when follicles and skin are easily accessible.

Fortunately, an effective, proven treatment alternative is available. Why You Need a Lice Comb. Lice Treatments through the Ages. Clinic Customer Service and Other Queries: Lice Remover Kit Customer Service: Please check for an email from us.

If you do not receive the email immediately, please check your spam folder. Please fill out the form below and we will be in touch with you ASAP to confirm your appointment. A brief history of lice. January 12, pm Lice. An FDA cleared, clinically proven effective lice treatment is now available Louse: a type of small insect that lives on the bodies of people or animals; a bad or cruel person Merriam-Webster Head lice have been around for a long time.

According to the Journal of Parasitology , Clade B head lice originated in North America, but migrated to farther reaches of the world, including Australia and Europe. Head lice are thought to have separated from body lice, a similar yet distinct species, a little more than , years ago. The discovery of genetic differences between head and body lice supports theories that this time period is when people began wearing clothing. While head lice remained on the scalp, body lice mutated into a parasite with claws that can grab on to the smoother fibers of clothing rather than needle-thin hair shafts.

Head lice are transmitted from one host to another through close personal contact. For the most part, this means that a non-infested person would have to be in head-to-head contact with an infected person. Sharing combs, brushes, towels, hats and other personal items can hasten the spread of head lice.

The louse travels by crawling. Having a case of lice can be embarrassing. A common misconception about head lice is that it is a sign of poor personal hygiene. Some even believe that it affects only people of lower economic status. People of all genders, ages, races, and social classes can catch head lice. Although head lice can be annoying, proper treatment can eradicate the infestation quickly and painlessly.

However, you can prevent the spread of head lice. In fact, some research shows that head lice actually prefer a clean head of hair.

Believe it or not, head lice go way back in history, to ancient times! Head lice have been causing itching heads since ancient Egyptian times. Imagine living in a time with very little technology. We are lucky that we have the means to get rid of lice today. Many ancient Egyptians had head lice till the day they died — and that is actually how archaeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian lice remedies — through their mummified corpses.

They estimated that the specimen was at least 10, years old. Crazy huh? Head lice have been around for a long time. That would mean we bumped into our evolutionary cousin Homo erectus after the hominid had lived undisturbed in the East for more than a million years. Reed and his colleagues compared the DNA of head and body lice Pediculus humanus collected from all over the world. Unexpectedly, they found two distinct genetic groups of head lice, despite the fact that they look almost identical.

By measuring the amount of genetic difference between the two groups, the researchers calculated that the two louse lineages split around 1. The only way the two groups could have become so genetically different is if they were living not only on different heads, but on different species on different continents, the researchers argue.

The most likely explanation is that by the time H. The study is reported in the current issue of PLoS Biology 1. The theory is bolstered by the fact that one of the louse groups is found on people all over the world and the other is practically exclusive to the Americas.

This is consistent with the idea that the latter was acquired relatively recently by a population of H. What might such an encounter between the two hominid species have involved? We may have fought, traded or reused clothes, or even mated with our distant relative, Reed suggests. Whatever, the encounter must have involved close contact with clothes or bodies. He adds that there is evidence that modern and Neanderthal humans may have intermingled in Europe at about the same time, although DNA evidence suggests that they did not interbreed.