What Are The Signs Of A Mold Related Illness
You’ve heard and read numerous stories about “sick” buildings causing serious health problems in occupants. Since there’s no clear-cut definition of a mold-related illness, you may be concerned about recognizing the signs in yourself or family members.
Mold spores are invisible to the naked eye, so you come into contact with them on a daily basis, whether you realize it or not. If you begin to experience any of these symptoms for no apparent reason, it could be an indication of mold inside your home or building.
Upper Respiratory Ailments
Your respiratory system is the most common point of access for mold spores, so it’s not surprising that irritated sinus passages are a frequent result of exposure. Even people who are generally allergy-free can experience symptoms such as wheezing, runny nose and itchy, watery eyes.
Mold can also be the cause of more serious breathing problems like asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, particularly in children and people with compromised immune systems. Extended exposure to a form of mold known as Aspergillus can result in a lung infection called aspergillosis.
Digestive Problems
If mold is ingested or absorbed through the skin, harmful substances called mycotoxins can cause irritation to your digestive system. Symptoms may include:
Nausea Sharp abdominal pains and cramps Loss of appetite
Depression
Numbness, Tingling and Muscle Pain
“Brain Fog”
Don’t Let a “Sick” Building Destroy Your Health
Digestive Issues From Mold In The Home
Youre probably aware that mold can cause many health issues but what about digestive issues? At first glance, it might seem unlikely. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the most common mold health issues are allergy-related and respiratory in nature, like a runny nose, coughing and sneezing. And that makes sense, since mold-related illnesses are mostly caused by the inhalation of mold spores.
Further investigation, however, tells us that exposure to mold can sometimes lead to a wide range of health problems, including a rash or hives, depression, fatigue and neurological problems. Though less common than respiratory problems, mold may also cause problems with the digestive system in some people.
Black Mold Exposure Can Damage Your Circulatory System
Black mold spores can be inhaled, consumed, or absorbed through a persons skin or eyes. When mycotoxins find their way into the bloodstream, mycotoxins have the potential to cause serious damage.
Symptoms of circulatory system damage from black mold include:
- Irregular heartbeat
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Diseases Caused By Black Toxic Mold
Fact Checked
There are two types of black mold: Stachybotrys and Aspergillus niger. Both produce mycotoxins that are poisonous to the human body. Physicians have identified several illnesses that may result when the mold spores are inhaled or come in contact with the skin. Some people are more sensitive to mold than others, but the development of diseases from black mold is not dependent upon being sensitive or allergic to mold.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
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How Common Is Mold In Buildings
Molds are very common in buildings and homes. Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around leaks in roofs, windows, or pipes, or where there has been flooding. Mold grows well on paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, and wood products. Mold can also grow in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery.
The most common indoor molds are Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus. We do not have precise information about how often different molds are found in buildings and homes.
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How Is Black Mold Exposure Diagnosed
If you havent been feeling well and believe youve been exposed to black mold or any other type of mold, schedule a visit with your doctor. Theyll try to determine your level of sensitivity to mold and its effects on your health.
Your doctor will first perform a physical exam. Theyll pay special attention to how your lungs sound when you breathe.
Theyll then take your medical history and perform an allergy test. This is done by scratching or pricking the skin with extracts of different types of mold. If theres swelling or a reaction to black mold, its likely you have an allergy to it.
Your doctor may also run a blood test that measures your immune systems response to certain types of mold. This is called a radioallergosorbent test.
Some things can increase your risk for a reaction to black mold.
risk factors for illness from black mold exposure
Treatment depends on your reaction and how long youve been exposed. If black mold has made you sick, see a doctor for continued care until your body heals from exposure to black mold spores.
The most common reason for a reaction to black mold is a black mold allergy.
If youre dealing with an allergy, you can take steps to limit your exposure and manage your symptoms. While theres no current cure for mold allergies, there are medications you can take to reduce your symptoms.
Talk to your doctor about taking the following medications:
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The Silent Killer: Hidden Dangers In Your Home
Roof leaks and dripping pipes are just some of the ways of developing toxic black mold in your home. These mold spores thrive in warm and moist environments and multiply rapidly contaminating your living environment. Most mold infestations are not visible due to living in between walls, cupboards, the roof and hidden corners. Over time causing various health conditions with multiple symptoms that most people blame on allergies. First sign of any of the following symptoms you should seek immediate removal of the mold and treatment from a physician.
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When To See A Doctor
Someone should go and see their doctor, as soon as any symptoms worsen or become severe. In particular, any flu-like symptoms or signs of water in the lungs should be referred to a doctor immediately.
If the factors that are causing the pneumonitis symptoms cannot be removed, adjusted or avoided, a doctor should also be seen for different treatment options.
Pneumonitis can cause permanent damage to the lungs if it is not treated early. As a result, it is best to see a doctor before symptoms become severe or impossible to treat with self-care.
What Illnesses Does Black Mold Cause
The presence of toxic indoor black mold is clearly a detriment to human health. Researchers have done extensive studies on the links between some health conditions and exposure to black mold. In a study conducted, researchers found a group of nine family members that were living in a home with mold had a more elevated prevalence of autoimmune conditions than people who were not exposed to mold. Another group found that they experienced a plethora of mucosal irritation, neurological, skin, and allergic symptoms. The reality of the situation is that when you are exposed to black mold you have the heightened potential to develop certain health conditions that can be quite damaging to your health.
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Proper Testing For Mold Illness
Physicians that specialize in mold illness have narrowed in on tests that are most effective in determining if mold is an underlying cause of someones symptoms. Before considering laboratory tests, there is often a clinical suspicion someone may be suffering from symptoms of mold exposure.
When someone is experiencing any of the above symptoms and no other diagnosis has been made that explains these symptoms mold illness should be considered. There is also the circumstance when someone has another diagnosis such as Lyme disease, but treatments have not been effective in resolving symptoms.
There is no one perfect test to diagnose mold toxicity. I use the two testing methods below to determine if mold and mycotoxins are undermining someones health.
Urine Mycotoxin Test
A urine mycotoxin test indicates whether or not a person is excreting mycotoxins from mold exposure. However, our bodies should excrete mycotoxins after exposure to mold and this does not necessarily mean someone has mold illness. The degree of elevation of mycotoxins in the urine suggests the severity of mold toxicity.
Great Plains Laboratory and Real Time Laboratory are the labs most commonly used by physicians treating mold toxicity. The two labs use different testing methodologies and test for different mycotoxins, so it is hard to compare results between the labs.
Preparation for urine mycotoxin testing
Mycotoxin Antibody Test
Top Tips For Controlling Mold
Itâs impossible to get rid of all mold and mold spores in your home, but because mold spores canât grow without moisture, reducing moisture in your home is the best way to prevent or eliminate mold growth. If there is already mold growing in your home, itâs important to clean up the mold and fix the problem causing dampness. If you clean up the mold but donât fix the problem, the mold will most likely return.
Following is some advice for reducing moisture throughout the home with specific tips for the areas most prone to dampness and mold growth:
Around the house:
- Use exhaust fans to move moisture outside whenever you are cooking, washing dishes, or cleaning.
- Turn off certain appliances if you notice moisture on windows and other surfaces.
- Check for leaks around the kitchen sink, refrigerator ice makers, and other sources of water. Repair if necessary.
- Empty and clean refrigerator drip pans if necessary.
In basements and crawl spaces:
In the laundry room:
- Vent your clothes dryer to the outside.
- Make sure the vent is clear of obstructions, such as lint, and that there are no holes that leak air. If the vent duct is damaged, replace it with a metal duct. Have the duct cleaned at least once a year.
- Avoid leaving damp clothes in the laundry basket or dryer. Wash and dry them promptly.
In bathrooms:
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Indoor Air And Building
It has long been postulated that exposure to damp, moldy home and workplace environments has detrimental health effects. At the beginning of the 18th century, Ramazzini, considered the father of occupational medicine, described an illness of workers inhaling foul and mischievous powder from handling crops . More recently, Platt et al. , found that occupants of wet, moldy buildings had an increase in subjective complaints. Brunekreef et al. found a similar pattern in > 6,000 children in six states in the United States and reported home dampness was a strong predictor of respiratory and other illness in this age group. The list of putative symptoms generally consists of upper respiratory complaints, including headache, eye irritation, epistaxis, nasal and sinus congestion, cough, cold and flu symptoms, as well as generalized gastrointestinal complaints . Taskinen et al. reported an increased prevalence of asthma in moisture-affected schools, although there were no objective measurements of respiratory disease. A number of studies have reported a relationship between similar symptoms and damp housing or workplace environments, although the proposed etiologies have varied .
The indoor environment also contains a wide range of microorganisms including bacteria , mycobacteria , and molds , as well as their products, including endotoxins and mycotoxins. There may often be a much higher bacterial load than fungal load .
Reasons To Have A Mold Specialist Come To Your Home
Because toxic mold can be so dangerous to your health, you should not put off having a mold specialist examine your home. Most specialists offer free consultations, and they will bring specialized testing equipment.
A common problem is to have the mold spread to other areas, causing cross contamination. Working with a mold contractor will help you to safely remove the mold and prevent it from growing back.
With the free consultation, you will receive a complete home inspection, as well as a full report listing specific steps that should be taken in order to remediate the problem. Click here for a list of mold specialists in your town that offer free consultations. Additional Reading:
Effects of Mold – Information on the health issues from mold exposure. Why its important to use a professional mold tester to check your property.
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How Can I Be Exposed To Mold
People are exposed to molds every day, usually by touching or breathingthem. Because molds naturally exist outdoors and indoors, living in a totallymold-free environment is practically impossible. As molds grow, spores can bereleased into the air where they can be easily inhaled. People who inhale largenumbers of spores may get sick. Possible health concerns are an importantreason to prevent mold growth and to clean up molds in indoor environments.
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Do You Have A Mold Problem
You can detect Large mold infestations by seeing or smelling. 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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Different Types Of Mold
Allergenic Molds. Allergenic molds are on the low end of the danger scale. They only cause problems for those with asthma and a predisposed allergy to the specific mold. Children are more likely to have mold allergies than adults.
Pathogenic Molds. Pathogenic molds will cause some infection. This is a big problem for those with a suppressed immune system. An acute response resembling bacterial pneumonia is commonly found with those exposed to these types of mold.
Toxigenic Molds. As the name implies, these molds produce mycotoxins that can cause serious health effects. They have been tied to immunosuppression and cancer. The toxic chemicals found in these types of molds can be absorbed into the body when one inhales them, eats them, or even touches them.
Can Mold Cause Diarrhea
Again, the answer to this question is definitely yes. Some symptoms of mold exposure include vomiting, cramping, nausea, intestinal bleeding, and internal bacterial infections. Most of the time, individuals are exposed to mold in their own homes and do not realize it. By the time these symptoms appear, it is often too late.
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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.
Preventing Black Mold Illness
The only way to prevent illness from black mold is to keep it out of your home. Like all types of mold, black mold requires a fair amount of moisture in order to grow. You can use dehumidifiers to reduce the amount of humidity, which is just moisture in the air, in your home. Experts generally recommend keeping your home at no more than 50 percent humidity you can purchase a hygrometer to measure the humidity in your home if you want to make sure its not high enough to cause any more mold to grow.
Youll also need to identify the source of any excess moisture. Check for leaks in your roof and under sinks, and make sure the bathroom has adequate ventilation so the room can dry out after someone showers.
If black mold does develop in your home despite your best efforts to prevent it, youll need to clean it up thoroughly. As we mentioned above, if youre experiencing symptoms of mold-related illness, you should not handle mold or attempt to clean it up yourself you should arrange for someone else to do it for you. You can hire a professional if you like.
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How To Know If You Have Black Mold In Your House
Mold isnt always visible. If you can see mold, its only a sign of the real potential health risk, which is the harmful types of unhealthy levels of mold in the air of your home or workplace.
Airborne mold is all around us in both the outdoors and indoors. The types and amount of mold is what determines the potential health risk. Most of us are typically accustomed to the varieties and amounts of mold present in our outdoor environments.
Healthy indoor environments will have mold conditions similar to or better than those in the surrounding outdoors. Over time, because of moisture , many indoor spaces develop unhealthy types and/or unhealthy levels of airborne mold that can be harmful to you or your pets.
These signs will help you know if you possibly have unhealthy mold conditions in your house:
- Allergic symptoms
- The air in the home feels different
- Your house has been flooded or currently has leaks
- You previously tried removing mold yourself
Take note of how you feel in and out of the house. If the symptoms disappear or decrease when youre out and about, then you might have a mold problem, yes, even if you cant see mold.
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Is All Mold Toxic
Mold is not the only pathogen that grows from water damage. Fungal fragments, spores, mycotoxins, bacteria, mycobacteria, actinomycetes, VOCs, and other biotoxins can also form in damp buildings. These pathogens combine to produce a toxic soup that can lead to a multi-systemic and multi-symptomatic illness.
Not all mold is toxic, but many mold species from water-damaged buildings produce mycotoxins. It is the indoor concentration of mycotoxins and the rest of the toxic soup that can contribute to chronic debilitating symptoms.
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