Health Problems Caused By Long
Besides the common symptoms of black mold exposure, some types of black mold can cause certain health problems when a person is exposed to the mold over the long term. Different molds may cause different health problems so Ive organized these potential long-term problems associated with black mold exposure according to the type of mold that may cause them.
Stachybotrys chartarum Mold
This is the type of mold that is more formally referred to as toxic black mold. It thrives in environments with a humidity level above 55% where the temperature is subject to fluctuations. It grows on surfaces with a high cellulose content and low nitrogen content, such as wood, drywall, cardboard, and other surfaces.
In contrast with some other forms of black mold, where the mycotoxins are the primary toxic compound and the spores generally are responsible only for allergic responses, the spores of Stachybotrys mold are also toxic. This means that even being in an environment where Stachybotrys is present for a short period of time can cause symptoms more readily. Also note that even though the spores of toxic black mold die quickly, they are still allergenic and have toxic effects on the body even after theyre dead.
Some of the long-term health consequences of Stachybotrys mold exposure include:
Aspergillus spp. Mold
- Fungal eye infections
Alternaria spp. Mold
- Subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis
- Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
How Quickly Can Mold Make You Sick
There are several types of fungi that can be found in your house, down in the basement, or in the attic. Mold develops when the perfect environment is created, which is usually a combination of moisture, humidity, and organic material. Spores can migrate away from thriving colonies through the air, landing on shoes, blankets, showerheads, or your HVAC ductwork. As it spreads, it releases toxic chemicals called mycotoxins. These are the molecules that lead to illness.
Mold toxicity is considered a biotoxin illness, also called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. In this severe condition, there is a systemic inflammatory response that occurs after an individual has had intense exposure to toxigenic organisms. These organisms can include bacteria, mycobacterium, fungi, actinomycetes, and other inflammagens. It is common for people to suffer from an illness brought on by living conditions where water damage has occurred, and many of these individuals are unable to develop an antibody or immune response to mold toxins.
Almost everyone will experience some form of illness or response when their bodies are exposed to high enough levels of biotoxins, though each individual has a unique threshold or tolerance. There is no exact timeline for how soon a person will develop symptoms of mold exposure, but as mold spores rapidly multiply, individuals may experience certain discomforts within just a few hours of entering a mold-laden environment.
Who Does Mold Allergy Affect
Molds can irritate everyone, regardless of whether you’re allergic to them. But the effects are generally worse for certain groups of people who have compromised immune systems due to disease or medication.
Risk factors for developing an allergy to mold include:
- Having a family or personal history of allergies.
- Having a respiratory condition like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease .
- Being exposed to mold over a long period of time due to your job or to living in a humid house or a building with poor ventilation.
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Mold Illness Treatment Options
The priority for mold illness treatment is differentiating the group an individual falls into the general population, allergy, or genetically susceptible. If the symptoms are acute, then identifying the source influences the treatment. Doctors typically consider nasal corticosteroids, antihistamines, decongestants, immunotherapy, and nasal lavage.
If the mold illness is chronic, then the person may be genetically susceptible. In genetically susceptible people, the amount of exposure does not equal the immune response, unlike an allergy. The course of treatment depends on many factors, including:
Specialities
All Ages | Family Practice | Environmental Illness | Autism Spectrum Disorders | Mold/ Biotoxin Illness | Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome | Lyme Disease and other Tick-borne Infections | PANDAS/PANS | Crohns/Colitis | Mast Cell Activation Syndrome | Chronic Neurological Disorders | Pediatric Neurological Disorders | Environmental Allergies | Food Allergies | Cancer | Autoimmune Conditions | Methylation and Mitochondrial Disorders
Dr. Jodie A. Dashore
Dr. Jodie A. Dashore has over 25 years of experience, has spoken at several multi-national conferences, radio shows, media interviews and is a huge advocate of evidence-based continuing medical education with a special interest in Holistic and Integrative Medicine.
Offices Located in the USA:Marlboro, New Jersey
Support Your Energy Oxygen And Thyroid
Mycotoxins can wreak havoc with your mitochondria. Dysfunctional mitochondria result in less cellular energy. And that decreases your ability to fight mold illness. Support your mitochondria with supplements specially designed to restore mitochondrial function.
Mold can also squelch your oxygen levels. Your mitochondria need oxygen to generate energy efficiently. Stabilized molecular oxygen supplements support mitochondrial function.
Additionally, mold exposure can hamper thyroid gland function. Supporting it with supplemental iodine may be helpful.
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When To See Your Doctor For Mold Exposure
If your cold or flu-like symptoms persist, it may be time for a trip to the doctor. Even if you arent aware that mold could be causing your issues, a doctor may be able to make the correlations between your symptoms and CIRS. There are a number of more serious side effects of mold exposure that the doctor may ask if youve experienced. These include:
- Confusion and disorientation
- Asthma or chronic respiratory conditions
- Joint pains, cramping, or muscle aches
Though your primary care physician is the place to start for an initial examination and consult for your symptoms, you may be referred to an allergist. There are tests that can be done to test for mold allergies, and these are usually done at an allergists office or allergy clinic.
Those whose immune system has become severely compromised and who have developed serious respiratory conditions may be referred to a pulmonologist. These doctors address problems with the lungs and the respiratory system.
Demystifying Mold Toxicity Treatment With Dr Ami Kapadia
Hi everyone. In todays episode we discussed mold with Dr. AmiKapadia. What I enjoyed about her perspective is she is a testing minimalistand someone who simplifies treatment. I think weve done a pretty good jobbringing you guests and experts in this area who are of that same mindset andweve had our pinnacle today with Dr. Ami. Really simple narrative on testing anda straightforward protocol for treatment. It was reassuring to me personally tosee that what shes doing as someone whos fairly focused on mold andenvironmental illness is very similar to what Ive been leaning toward in theclinic. This tells me that Im on the right track in terms of determiningwhats working, whats not working, what to focus on, and what falls along theline of frivolous testing and or treatment recommendations regarding mold andenvironmental toxins.
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Help Your Body Get Rid Of Mycotoxins
Note: you have to get rid of mold in your environment before you can hope to successfully detox from mycotoxins. If you dont, youll just keep accumulating new mycotoxins as you get rid of old ones. You may stall mold poisoning, but you wont start to get rid of it especially considering that it takes 35 days for your kidneys and bladder to flush out the more stubborn mycotoxins.
Once youve gotten rid of the source of mold, its time to get your body back into fighting shape. Mycotoxins mostly target your mitochondria, which explains why mold poisoning affects brain and heart function more than anything else .
To recover from mold toxicity, you want to boost your mitochondria as much as possible, while also clearing out lingering mycotoxins. These mold recovery therapies will help:
Mold exposure can be incredibly frustrating. It can make you feel like you have no control over your environment, your health, your weight, your emotions your life in general. If youre dealing with mold, dont despair. These tools can help you get rid of mold and mycotoxins and return to your healthy, high-performing self.
Molds are one of the most common problems among households. But of the thousands of mold types, theres one thats been plaguing homes for years: black molds. Its dark color is often attributed to its menacing health effects. In this post, I will discuss the symptoms of black mold exposure in adults and what you can do if your family got in contact with this allergen.
I Found Mold Growing In My Home How Do I Test The Mold
If you can see or smell mold, a health risk may be present. You do not need to know the type of mold growing in your home, and CDC does not recommend or perform routine sampling for molds. No matter what type of mold is present, you should remove it. Since the effect of mold on people can vary greatly, either because of the amount or type of mold, you cannot rely on sampling and culturing to know your health risk.
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How Mold Is Ingested
Because mold spores are microscopic in size, they can easily be breathed in, or inadvertently ingested. Some spores can even be absorbed through the skin. Once inside the body, mold spores have the potential to become quite harmful, depending on the sensitivity of the infected individual, the overall health of the individual and the type of mold that they have been infected with.
- Because mold spores are microscopic in size, they can easily be breathed in, or inadvertently ingested.
- Once inside the body, mold spores have the potential to become quite harmful, depending on the sensitivity of the infected individual, the overall health of the individual and the type of mold that they have been infected with.
Remove Bad Fats From Your Diet
Fats are an essential part of a healthy diet, but depending on the quality, they can either be nourishing or highly inflammatory. Healthy fats are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, lower inflammation, help you detox, and heal your cells.
Unhealthy fats to avoid include:
- Factory farmed animal fats like tallow or lard.
- Farmed fish, or large wild fish like tuna, catfish, king mackerel, sea bass, and swordfish.
- Factory farmed animal dairy like milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, regular butter, and soy milk.
- Refined vegetable oils and processed synthetic spreads like safflower, soybean, sunflower, corn, and cottonseed oils, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, margarine and shortening.
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Question 1 Of : How Do You Know If Mold Is Making You Sick
Take Natural Detox Supplements
Natural detox supplements will prove to be just as useful in getting rid of your symptoms as man made medicines, but when you feel better- you can be sure that its because your body is actually healing.
My top three recommendations to heal from mold toxicity are:
- CGEL: increases the cells natural ability to undergo the natural mechanism of detox
- BIND: is a powerful binder that sweeps the body and effectively eliminates toxins from the blood
- CytoDetox: enters the cell membrane and act as a vehicle to getting rid of the toxins as we up-regulate cell function, and prevents reabsorption.
See the detox supplements Dr. Pompa recommends.
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Why You Should Contact A Mold Removal Specialist For A Free Consultation:
- A specialist can help you determine why you have mold growing in your home and how to rectify the situation. Cleaning up mold is a waste of time if you dont correct the conditions that allowed it to grow in the first place, because it will just grow back.
- A specialist knows how to locate mold that the average homeowner might miss, including mold inside air ducts, under carpeting, inside furniture and inside walls.
- A specialist can draw up a detailed treatment plan, including the best methods for cleaning up different types of mold and mold in different locations.
- The information you get from a specialist will benefit you even if you decide to handle the cleanup job yourself.
Just follow this link to locate a Mold Removal Specialist near you.
Start A Neural Retraining Program
Certain areas of the body are more vulnerable to mycotoxins, and the brain is one of them. Certain areas of the brain can end up in a chronic fight or flight response and according to McElroy, No pill can fully stop this response, so we have to retrain certain neural pathways to put the response into a heal and rest state. She often recommends Annie Hoppers Dynamic Neural Retraining System. This is essential for full recovery, says McElroy.
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How Does Black Mold Get Inside A House
Mold spores find their way inside by hitchhiking on clothes, pet fur, and air currents into your home. But spores cant get comfortable without plenty of water. This is why youll usually find black mold around water-damaged areas impacted by plumbing issues like floods or leaky pipes.
Materials like drywall, carpet, or gypsum board can soak up water, creating a perfect home for a black mold colony. If you find water damage at home, its crucial to remove all the affected materials to prevent mold from growing.
A water leak sensor can alert you to leaks in hard-to-reach places where the water damage would otherwise go unnoticed.
How Can You Detox From Mold
In addition to removing yourself from the environment where the mold is or having the mold removed, you can help your body detox the spores that have been inhaled and trapped inside. You can take supplements to build up your immune system, reestablish your gut health, and reduce inflammation:
Rather than trying to handle mold exposure on your own, you should consider seeing a physician. The situation may be more serious than you think.
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How Do Molds Affect People
Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health effects, or none at all. Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, exposure to molds can lead to symptoms such as stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes, or skin. Some people, such as those with allergies to molds or with asthma, may have more intense reactions. Severe reactions may occur among workers exposed to large amounts of molds in occupational settings, such as farmers working around moldy hay. Severe reactions may include fever and shortness of breath.
In 2004 the Institute of Medicine found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people with asthma symptoms in people with asthma and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition.
In 2009, the World Health Organization issued additional guidance, the WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Dampness and Mould pdf iconexternal icon pdf icon. Other recent studies have suggested a potential link of early mold exposure to development of asthma in some children, particularly among children who may be genetically susceptible to asthma development, and that selected interventions that improve housing conditions can reduce morbidity from asthma and respiratory allergies.
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