Is Toxic Mould Exposure the Cause of Your Symptoms?
Are you one of the many people unknowingly living or working in water damaged building? Did you know it may be dramatically affecting your health? It certainly affected mine, but luckily there is something that can be done about it.
It’s estimated that indoor air pollutants, including mould and mycotoxins may be contributing to more than 50% of illnesses. Typically, we think of smog, smoke, and outdoor pollution as detrimental to our health but indoor air quality may be an even bigger risk to your health. Many patients are unaware that a toxic home or workplace is contributing to their symptoms.
Exposure to water-damaged indoor environments is associated with exposure to moulds. The most common types of mould that are found indoors include Cladosporium, Penicillium, Alternaria, and Aspergillus. Stachybotrys chartarum (sometimes referred to as “toxic black mold”) is a greenish-black mould, which grows on household surfaces that have high cellulose content, such as wood, fiberboard, gypsum board, paper, dust, and lint and is usually an indicator that there has been elevated moisture present or previous water damage.
We become exposed to mould through skin contact, through ingestion, and by inhalation. Most common are reports of exposure involve water-damaged homes, schools, office buildings, court houses, hospitals, and hotels.
Some moulds secrete mycotoxins, that can be measured in the urine, such as ochratoxin, aflatoxin, and trichothecenes. This is good news as it means that there is a test we can use to check your exposure.
Mould and its toxins are well known triggers for inflammation, allergies and asthma, oxidative stress, and immune dysfunction in both human and animal studies. Molds have the ability to produce various symptoms, such as skin rashes, respiratory distress, various types of inflammation, cognitive issues, neurological symptoms, and immune suppression. The most common symptoms associated with mold exposure are allergic rhinitis and new onset asthma.
Mould spores, fungal fragments, and mycotoxins can be measured in the indoor environments of moldy buildings and in humans who are exposed to these environments.
Top Symptoms Associated with Mould-Associated Illness:
- Fatigue and weakness
- Headache, light sensitivity
- Poor memory, difficult word finding
- Difficulty concentration
- Morning stiffness, joint pain
- Unusual skin sensations, tingling and numbness
- Shortness of breath, sinus congestion or chronic cough
- Appetite swings, body temperature regulation,
- Increased urinary frequency or increased thirst
- Red eyes, blurred vision, sweats, mood swings, sharp pains
- Abdominal pain, diarrhoea, bloating
- Tearing, disorientation, metallic taste in mouth
- Static shocks
- Vertigo, feeling lightheaded
Checklist that might indicate mould exposure or mold sensitivity
- Do musty odours bother you?
- Have you worked or lived in a building where the air vents or ceiling tiles were discolored?
- Have you noticed water damage or discoloration elsewhere?
- Has your home been flooded?
- Have you had leaks in the roof?
- Do you experience unusual shortness of breath?
- Do you experience recurring sinus infections?
- Do you experience recurring respiratory infections and coughing?
- Do you have frequent flu-like symptoms?
- Do your symptoms worsen on rainy days?
- Do you have frequent headaches?
- Are you fatigued and have a skin rash?
How do I Treat Mold/mycotoxin Exposure?
- Remove yourself from the contaminated environment first. (don’t even think about going on to other treatments until you get out of the contaminated environment)
- Avoid exposure to porous items (paper, clothing, etc) from the mouldy environment.
- Use clay, charcoal, cholestyramine or other binders to bind internal mycotoxins
- Use binders! While you are using them, you must maintain normal bowel function and avoid constipation. You can add magnesium citrate, buffered C powder, or even gentle laxatives if needed but constipation is the enemy of detoxification!
- Treat colonizing moulds/fungal or bacterial infections in the body
- Common locations of colonization include sinuses, gut, bladder, vagina, lungs
- Test and treat for candida overgrowth – living in an environment with mold leads to immune dysregulation that allows candida to overgrow in the body in some immunocompromised patients
- Enhance detoxification support
- Some common supplements used to aid detox are liposomal glutathione, milk thistle, n-acetylcysteine, alpha lipoid acid, glycine, glutamine, and taurine. Methylation support is also key and involves optimal levels of methylcobalamin (B12), methyl-folate, B6, riboflavin, and minerals
- Invest in a high quality air filter and home and at work
- Avoid common mycotoxin containing foods:
- Corn, wheat, barley, rye, peanuts, sorghum, cottonseed, some cheeses, and alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer. Others include oats, rice, tree nuts pistachios, brazil nuts, chiles, oil seeds, spices, black pepper, dried fruits, figs, coffee, cocoa, beans, bread.
