UNDERSTAND THE MOLD ILLNESS – HOW MOLD CAN AFFECT YOUR BODY
A typical case of mold toxicity may be characterized by tiredness, headaches, diarrhea, etc., and can adversely hamper your health and daily routine. When you get a Mold Illness from a mold-infested building, the biotoxins present in these structures enter your body. Your body is unable to process these biotoxins because of your genes. This is a critical illness that can wreak havoc on your body.
Your body’s immune response to the poisons causes inflammation all through your body’s critical systems that can severely damage your quality of life.
SYMPTOMS OF MOLD TOXICITY
Mold toxicity symptoms generally include the following:
- A low white blood cell count,
- Poor lung function,
- Fatigue, weakness, muscle cramps, and joint aches
- Numbness or tingling
- Nerve Pain
- Neurocognitive dysfunction
- Anxiety, depression, or irritability
- Difficulty focusing or finishing a task
- Headache
- Insomnia
- Night Sweats
- Sensitivity to light
- Sinusitis
- Gastrointestinal problems
- Shortness of breath
- Chest tightness
- Dizziness
- Laryngitis
- Tremors
- Heart palpitations
- Nosebleeds
- Difficulties losing weight
- Nausea
- Abdominal Pain
- Diarrhea
- Immune suppression
- Kidney and lung disease
There is a wide range of mold illness symptoms and can overlap with other illnesses. It is best to seek medical help if one or more of these symptoms of mold toxins persist.
CAUSES OF MOLD TOXICITY
An excessively sensitive immune response activates mold allergy symptoms. Inhaling the small, airborne mold spores, tiny particles that form as the mold reproduces causes mold allergy. They can travel through the air and get in your nose. Your body then identifies the spores as foreign objects and generates an allergic reaction by combats them by creating allergy-causing antibodies.
Your body remembers to produce antibodies meant to tackle a similar mold infection in case of any future infection. This will prompt your immune system to release substances like histamine, which causes mold allergy symptoms.
Some people are more prone to mold allergies, e.g., people with asthma or any kind of hay fever.
Risk factors that make you vulnerable to mold allergy include:
- Having a job that makes you susceptible to mold exposure
- Working or living in a building with high humidity or exposed to moisture
- Poor ventilation in your house
- Living or working in a building that uses construction materials that promote mold growth
- Flooding and water leaks like wet spots in the ceiling or on the floor
- Hereditary factors
HOW DID YOU GET EXPOSED TO MOLD?
Mold spores are found in the outdoor air from late winter to early fall months in colder climates. Hotter climates tend to have mold spores all through the year. Indoor mold can come from the outside environment. Indoor mold contamination depends on moisture levels in the home and outdoor mold levels.
Toxic mold exposure can cause several health problems. After pollen, mold is the leading cause of outdoor airborne allergies. It can produce several destructive chemicals, including allergens, irritants, and mycotoxins. This is the most hazardous and potentially toxic substance produced by mold. Mold and its related toxins are gradually being acknowledged as a cause of illness and various mild and severe symptoms as described above.
HOW DO PEOPLE GET SICK AFTER BEING EXPOSED TO WATER-DAMAGED BUILDINGS?
About half of the buildings at present have water damage. They can be a host to mold and several other hazards, including bacteria and inflammatory toxins (known as biotoxins).
These organisms can process the materials and chemicals used for constructing buildings and alter them into toxic chemicals called inflammogens.
If you are allergic to mold toxins and are exposed to these hazardous chemicals, Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) can occur. This is your body’s uncontainable inflammatory response to a toxin it cannot remove, causing a host of inflammatory and hormonal alterations.
This condition generally occurs in the 24% genetically vulnerable (HLA DR/DQ genotype) people and those who cannot detoxify mold properly (source: Jill Carnahan, MD).
If you are suffering from mold illness or are seeking black mold toxicity treatment, schedule an appointment with us for the most effective treatment options.
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MOLD AND HUMAN HEALTH
Exposure to toxic mold can cause numerous health problems. After pollen, mold is the leading cause of outdoor airborne allergies. Mold can produce several harmful substances like allergens, irritants, and the most harmful of all, mycotoxins – a potentially toxic substance. Mold and the toxins they secrete (mycotoxins) are increasingly being recognized as a source of illness and wide a range of symptoms, ranging from mild to severe, including:
Dr Allan Lieberman, in his paper Explosion of Mold Cases in Homes, Workplaces and Occupational Medicine Practice, examined 48 patients who were heavily exposed to mold and stated that the following problems are caused by mold:
- Muscle and joint pain (71%)
- Fatigue and weakness (70%)
- Neurocognitive dysfunction (67%)
- Sinusitis (65%)
- Headache (65%)
- Gastrointestinal problems (58%)
- Shortness of breath (54%)
- Anxiety/depression/irritability (54%)
- Chest tightness (42%)
- Insomnia (40%)
- Dizziness (38%)
- Numbness/tingling (35%)
- Laryngitis (35%)
- Tremors (25%)
- Heart palpitations (21%)
BEYOND MOLD: OTHER DANGERS FROM WATER DAMAGED BUILDINGS
Nearly 50% of buildings are water damaged and can be a host to many other dangers like bacteria and inflammatory toxins (know as biotoxins).
These organisms can metabolize materials and chemicals that are used in the construction of buildings and change them into new chemicals called inflammogens.
When someone who is genetically susceptible becomes exposed to these toxins, Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) can occur. This is the body’s uncontrollable inflammatory response to a toxin it can’t get rid of, causing a flood of inflammatory and hormonal changes.
This condition most frequently happens in the 24% of the population who have the genetic susceptibility (HLA DR/DQ genotype) who can’t detoxify mold well (source: Jill Carnahan, MD).
The physicians at COEM are experts in treating mold related illnesses, including CIRS. If you suspect CIRS or toxic mold exposure as the cause of your health problems, call our doctors today at 843-572-1600.