Principle : Know The Adverse Effects Of Antifungals
Antifungal medications target fungi that are eukaryotic organisms. Not surprisingly, these drugs have some toxicities in humans that can be magnified or accelerated in medically complex patients receiving multiple medications. Immunologic reactions during drug infusions are more problematic with AMB, owing to the drugs direct stimulatory effect on mononuclear cells, which results in fever, chills, and rigors . Histamine-like reactions can also occur with the liposomal AMB formulations, but are less common than the histamine reactions seen in echinocandin infusions because of their lipopeptide structure . Gastrointestinal intolerance has been an issue with itraconazole and posaconazole solutions, which are often unpalatable in patients who already have nausea associated with other medications or chemotherapy .
Central nervous system side effects, especially hallucinations or visual changes , are problematic and sometimes treatment limiting adverse effects of voriconazole. More commonly, CNS side effects are reversible with drug discontinuation and TDM-guided dosage reduction, as their manifestations are frequently related to elevated voriconazole plasma trough concentrations .
What Are The Symptoms Of Mold Sickness
If your Total Body Burden is high, or you are genetically predisposed to recycling toxins, regular exposure to mold can cause allergy symptoms, such as:
- Wheezing/shortness of breath
- Long standing or frequent sinusitis
And, serious pain and neurological symptoms, such as:
- Headaches and migraines
- Muscle cramping, aches and pains
- Persistent nerve pain
- Fatigue and weakness
- Poor memory, brain fog, difficulty with focus
In some cases, the spores from mold take root and grow in specific parts of the body, such as the lungs and sinuses. This can cause serious respiratory illnesses and infections.
How Can Hyperbaric Oxygen And Hbot Help With Mold Exposure And Toxicity
A common mold that infects the lungs is Aspergillus fumigatus and it is responsible for aspergillosis. Aspergillosis infection can be deadly, especially in people with chronic lung conditions or weakened immune systems. In severe cases, the infection can travel from the lungs, through the bloodstream, and into other organs, including the brain. Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Dartmouthâs Geisel School of Medicine Robert Cramer, Ph.D., has discovered that saturating the body with high levels of oxygen using a hyperbaric chamber stops the fungus from growing. The high levels of oxygen enhance the bodyâs ability to metabolize the mold toxins from the tissue and cells in the body.
While more research continues, many patients with mold exposure and toxicity find relief through regular treatments with HBOT. By flooding the body with higher than normal levels of oxygen, HBOT promotes a strong immune system. In turn, this allows the body to better fight off invaders and infection. For cases where mold may have affected brain function, such as memory issues, the increased oxygen allows the brain to heal. This often improves memory and other cognitive issues. In addition, mold triggers an inflammatory response in the body. HBOT also reduces inflammation on the cellular level by increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines and helps accelerate fibroblast activation.
Also Check: How Do I Report Mold In My Apartment
Who Is Most At Risk For Health Problems Associated With Exposure To Mold
People with allergies may be more sensitive to molds. People with immune suppression or underlying lung disease are more susceptible to fungal infections. Individuals with chronic respiratory disease may experience difficulty breathing. Individuals with immune suppression are at increased risk for infection from molds. If you or your family members have these conditions, a qualified medical clinician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment.
Prevention And Patient Resources
After major flooding or other exposure to water damage and mold, talk with your immunocompromised patients about how to protect themselves from mold:
- Mold grows where there is moisture, usually within 24-48 hours of flooding. Even if it is not visible, it is often present.
- Immunocompromised people should not enter moldy buildings or help clean up mold.
- If it is impossible for people with weakened immune systems to avoid a moldy building, they should talk with their doctor and consider wearing an N-95 respirator inside the building. Remind patients that this will still not fully protect them from becoming exposed to mold, but may reduce their risk.
For more information on mold cleanup, refer patients to the following CDC resources, or provide them with a printed copy:
Don’t Miss: How To Get Mold Smell Out Of Camper
Getting A Diagnosis For Mold Sickness
While symptoms to mold exposure are not uncommon , many health care professionals struggle to pinpoint the cause behind these symptoms.
Often only a few people or one person and not everyone, in a home or workplace experience symptoms. This is frustrating and confusing for the sick person. When their doctors cant find any reason for the illness, they can start to feel like the sickness is all in their mind.
People suffering from mold exposure can often be misdiagnosed with disorders such as:
What Are The Symptoms Of Mold Exposure
Mold allergies are progressive. The more contact you have, the more likely you are to experience severe symptoms.
In some instances, no symptoms or only vague symptoms of mold exposure may occur. These can go unnoticed, especially in babies.
Even without immediate, noticeable symptoms, long-term health effects, such as asthma, have been associated with mold. Its not currently known whether this is a direct cause of mold or merely an association.
Mold may cause:
- skin irritation
- sporotrichosis, a skin infection that starts out as a small pink, red, or purple bump on the skin
- itchy, red eyes
You May Like: How Do You Clean Mold From Wood
How Do You Know If Mold Is Making You Sick
Are you sick and suspect it might be from mold?
Determining whether exposure to mold is making you sick isnt always easy.
Each persons body is affected by mold toxicity in different ways. Some experience constant migraines and headaches, shortness of breath, brain fog, fatigue or even depression.
Since symptoms differ from person to person, they may not be quickly associated with mold exposure. Many people suffering from mold illness struggle to get a proper diagnosis and investigation.
Its common to think my house is clean it cant be mold! However, mold comes in many forms. In this article, well share what toxic mold is, the signs and symptoms, and how it can be treated.
What Happens When You Inhale Mold
Breathing in mold spores is the most common way for mold spores to enter your system. Individual spores, unlike colonies of growth, are invisible to the naked eye. This makes it nearly impossible to know if you are ingesting spores into your nasal passages and letting them take root down in your lungs. Though mold will grow on old or decaying food, most people wont purposely eat a rotten tomato or moldy piece of bread. Penicillin is a form of mold that can be ingested, but this only occurs under the guidance of a physician for anti-microbial and wellness purposes. Toxicity levels are more likely to occur through inhaling the spores and creating a buildup that the body can no longer fight.
The body commonly processes toxins out of the body when it eliminates waste. Mold spores arent the only toxins your body has to eliminate, but inhaling heavy doses of mold spores can put a burden on the bodys natural toxin elimination system. When the toxic load gets too high, the body cant detox. Instead, the mycotoxins may be recycled back into the body or reabsorbed until the body can try again. The toxic threshold varies by individual.
Also Check: How To Get Rid Of Mold On Vinyl Siding
Other Methods To Treat Mold Toxicity
Other methods to treat mold toxicity include the elimination of environmental sources of mold. A mold-free environment is critical for the prevention and treatment of this condition. Excess exposure to mold may lead to respiratory distress, asthma, or allergies, depending on the severity of the illness. Common symptom areas include respiratory distress and fatigue, as well as eye, nose, and throat problems such as ringing in the ears and blurred vision. Symptoms of mold toxicity also include pain in the joints and muscles, and a raspy voice.
Mold toxicity is a difficult condition to diagnose. Because the symptoms can mimic many other conditions, such as autoimmune disorders and other conditions, many medical professionals struggle to diagnose the disease. Often, patients are misdiagnosed and treated for something else. The majority of doctors only consider mold toxicity after other treatments have failed.
Looking for some excellent mold treatment options, take a look at today.
Mold And Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Another study that Pizzorno highlights looks at chronic fatigue syndrome and the high incidence of mycotoxins in a patientâs urine. In the study, 112 CFS patients underwent testing for mycotoxins. At this point, 93 percent of the patients had at least one mycotoxin in their urine. 30 percent had two or more. The researchers tested three main mycotoxins: aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and macrocyclic trichothecenes. Specifically, ochratoxin was the most prevalent at 83 percent and macrocyclic trichothecenes were at 44 percent. In examining exposure history, over 90 percent of the patients indicated current or past exposure to water-damaged buildings.
Read Also: How Do You Get Mold Off Of Wood
Approaches To Mold Exposure Testing
When mold exposure was first identified as a health issue, the main tests used looked purely for general inflammation markers and antibodies. The test in and of itself did not actually identify true toxicity, nor was it specific. And, if your immune system is not functioning normally there was a risk of a false negative. The tests now are much more specific and well review them in detail later in the article.
Interestingly enough, mold can cause systemic effects in the body from acute or chronic exposure. Someone who understands that well and is also a pioneer in understanding how low-dose biotoxin exposure, including toxic mold and algae, impacts our health and contributes to disease-states is Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. His website SurvivingMold.com, is a website that is coveted in the biotoxin-effected community. In 2010, a group of people working in the mold field published this consensus report based on the expert experiences of those in the biotoxin-field and dubbed mold toxicity a Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome . Its referred to as that throughout PubMed and since the report was published.
Tests I Run For Mold Toxicity Exposure:
What Does Mold Toxicity Treatment Look Like?
The use of these peptides is essential in the early stages of treatment, as they support the clearing of brain inflammation, improve energy levels, and help the immune system re-regulate.
Sauna and a binder for those healing from mold
How Long Do Mold Symptoms Last
The tricky thing about mold exposure is that its different for each person. The amount of time mold exposure symptoms persist depends on:
- What type of mold they are exposed to,
- How long the exposure has been,
- How well their bodies eliminate toxins
Those who process toxins well can see their symptoms disappear as quickly as a few days.
Others who eliminate toxins slowly can experience symptoms for much longer. They could be ill for months or even years after the source of mold is eliminated.
Read Also: How Can Household Mold Affect Your Health
A Qualified Environmental Lab Took Samples Of The Mold In My Home And Gave Me The Results Can Cdc Interpret These Results
Standards for judging what is an acceptable, tolerable or normal quantity of mold have not been established. Sampling for mold can be expensive, and standards for judging what is and what is not an acceptable quantity of mold have not been set. The best practice is to remove the mold and work to prevent future growth. If you do decide to pay for environmental sampling for molds, before the work starts, you should ask the consultants who will do the work to establish criteria for interpreting the test results. They should tell you in advance what they will do or what recommendations they will make based on the sampling results. The results of samples taken in your unique situation cannot be interpreted without physical inspection of the contaminated area or without considering the buildings characteristics and the factors that led to the present condition.
How Do You Treat Mold Toxicity Symptoms
Right now, youll see a lot of experts recommending handfuls of supplements and strict diets but the reality is, we just dont know for sure if these are the right treatment approach, says McElroy. Instead, she recommends the steps below. You might be surprised to see that killing the mold is only one out of five. Thats no coincidence! As McElroy explains, I often dont focus on killing mold since most symptoms are due to the immune response, not the mold itself. Instead, she starts with simple lifestyle steps and utilizes non-pill practices to achieve a state of better immune health , including:
Read Also: How To Get Rid Of Mold On Walls Permanently
Testing For Mold Poisoning
Symptoms alone are not proof of mold poisoning, but its symptoms do warrant an evaluation by a physician. The patient should be sure to see a doctor who is board-certified in pulmonary care in order to determine whether the signs are indeed connected to mold poisoning or to something else.
The doctor will take a health assessment and health history, and will order blood testing. Antibodies in the patients body will be checked for a reaction to mold and to other allergens and poisons. The severity of the reaction will also be determined.
A skin test will also be part of the doctors examination. If the patient has an allergic reaction, it will show up in the form of a rash or bumps on the skin.
What Kind Of Doctor Do You See For Mold Exposure
First, you should consult your primary care physician or family doctor. They will decide whether you need to be referred to a specialist.
Doctors who specialize in mold exposure and treatment are usually allergists or infectious disease physicians.
If your sickness is in your lungs, however, you may be referred to a pulmonary physician.
Additionally, if you suspect that you were exposed to mold through your workplace, then your general practitioner may refer you to an occupational physician.
Because mold symptoms and exposure can vary so much from individual to individual, your general physician is the best first step to personalize your treatment.
Don’t Miss: What Happens If You Have Black Mold
How Should You Clean Mold
Sometimes cleaning mold yourself makes sense, and sometimes its highly discouraged.
First, lets look at some cases when cleaning mold yourself would be appropriate:10
- Only a small area is affected.
- The mold is growing on areas that are easy to clean like glass or tile.
- There is growth on hard to clean areas, like carpet, that can be removed and replaced.
- You dont have any current health issues that will be made worse with increased exposure to mold growth.
- An area 3 feet by 3 feet or larger is affected.
- A flood occurred that may have been contaminated with sewage.
- There is mold in your HVAC system.
- The mold has grown on wood that cannot be removed.
- You are already experiencing symptoms of mold exposure.
- You have a medical condition, such as asthma, that will be worsened around the mold.
- There is a smell of mold but you cannot find it.
- You arent in possession of the correct tools.
- You have any concerns or doubts on how to remove the mold correctly.
If you believe that your mold growth is suitable to be removed by yourself, here are a few household products you can use:11
- Undiluted white vinegar.
- Create a 50/50 mixture of water and ammonia. Spray and then rinse after three hours. Be sure to take proper safety precautions and wear a mask, gloves, and goggles.
- Using EC3 Laundry Additive rinses away bacteria and mold spores that get trapped in your clothing and other fabrics that regular washing alone cant eliminate.
- Try BioBalance for Natural, Citrus-Based Mold Remedies
Mold And Multiple Sclerosis
One article that Pizzorno discusses looks at the possible connection between fungal toxins and multiple sclerosis. This 2010 abstract shows evidence that pathogenic fungi release toxins that target and destroy CNS astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. This, in turn, degrades the myelin sheath and triggers the onset of multiple sclerosis. As Pizzorno states, âAs is well known, the incidence of multiple sclerosis increases with distance from the equator, which also correlates with mold exposure and decreased vitamin D â A critical nutrient for immune system modulation.â He asks the question, âCould MS be primarily due to the combination of mold exposure and vitamin D deficiency?â
Also Check: Does Soda Blasting Kill Mold
What Are Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds
Another source of irritation from mold exposure comes from substances knownas microbial volatile organic compounds . These compounds are producedthrough fungal metabolism and are released directly into the air, often givingoff strong or unpleasant odors. Exposure to mVOCs from molds can irritate theeyes and respiratory system and has been linked to symptoms such as headaches,dizziness, fatigue, nasal irritation and nausea. The effects of mVOCs are notcompletely understood and research is still in the early stages.
Symptoms Of Mold Exposure
Most people are unaware exposure to mold can cause serious illness. Even worse, most physicians are not familiar with mold illness or the symptoms of mold exposure, so it is rarely considered as a diagnosis. If mold is suspected, a physician may test the patient for mold allergies or suggest they have allergies to some inhalant but mold illness is much more. Symptoms of mold exposure are very similar to Lyme disease, and it is not uncommon for these conditions to occur simultaneously.
Someone can test positive for mold allergies and experience mold toxicity at the same time. However, in mold toxicity, systemic immune dysregulation, and subsequent inflammation are the underlying features that drive symptoms.
Read Also: How To Remove Mold From Fabric Cushions
