Health problems caused by mold range from chronic sinus & immunity problems, to digestive and mental health issues.

While it’s widespread and often missed, functional health tests can pin point if this is a problem for you.

Two thirds of the UK population have been exposed to mold

Recent research has revealed that nearly two thirds of people in the UK have claimed to have encountered mold at least once in their home.

I’m seeing more and more people with mold or fungal overgrowth in their body. I would go so far as to say, mold toxicity is one of the most underappreciated causes of sensitivity and toxicity in the body.

Mycotoxins are the real problem

Mycotixins, which are small toxic particules produced by mold, are potentially problematic for our health. What’s more, they are very hard to get rid of, even when the mold has been cleaned away. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as spraying and wiping the mold.  Mycotoxins can be inhaled, eaten, touched, or even made by molds in the gut or sinuses that have colonized a body after past exposure. Mycotoxins are released into the air and wiping the mold doesn’t automatically get rid of them. This is a job that I would recommend a carefully selected professional deals with, in order to prevent spreading the mycotoxins and to eliminate the mold.

Does mold affect everyone in the same way?

Many people can tolerate some degree of mold with no problem. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find in a family of four for example just one or two people affected by mold living in the same house. This can sometimes be explained by a common gene mutation found in 25% of the population that reduces a persons natural ability to detox mycotoxins efficiently. As a result mycotoxins can continue to accumulate and build up over time in the body. In general, also, things like stress, general health status, immunity and other factors can impact your body’s ability to handle things like mycotoxins as well as other allergens.

We have known for a long time the importance of bacterial balance in the body. 70% of our immune system comes from in and around our gut and the good bacteria that should proliferate there. An imbalance with this bacteria, as well as over growth of bad bacterias and mold, can contribute to a wide range of health problems.

Typical symptoms associated with Mold Toxicity

I might suspect mold if people come to see me with a wide range of problems from multiple food allergies and digestive problems to OCD and chronic fatigue.

Mold also can exacerbate and impact other conditions, such as Lyme Disease.

For some they can have quite high levels of mold in their body without experiencing many problems initially. In such cases, if they later go on to encounter something like a serious infection or virus, it can make it much harder to clear that up. From there,  health problems and inflammation can cascade at that point.

Here is a list of things that can be associated with mold and mycotoxins. If you find you are experiencing several of these it could be related:

• Fatigue and weakness
• Aches and stiffness
• Muscle cramps and joint pain
• Headaches and migraines, especially ice pick pain
• Sinus problems
• Light sensitivity
• Red or tearing eyes
• Blurred Vision, visual distrubances or white snow
• Cough / shortness of breath
• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhoea
• SIBO
• Memory problems, confusion, disorientation, focus and concentration Issues
• Slow learning
• Skin Sensitivity
• Mood Swings, OCD, anxiety, depression, rages
• Tics and spasms
• Appetite swings
• Sweats (especially night sweats)
• Temperature regulation or dysregulation problems
• Excessive thirst
• Increased urination and interstitial cystitis
• Numbness, tingling and electric shock type symptoms
• Vertigo
• Hormonal imbalance
• Metallic taste
• Tremors

What can you do if you think mold might be affecting you?

Come and see me and we can discuss your symptoms and the likelihood that mold is a factor.

The process will usually be along these lines:

Step 1:
Evaluate your environment – home, work, school, car for mold. If it’s not immediately obvious, a relatively cheap way to do this is with a mold inspection and ERMI test, which we can discuss.

Step 2: Urine Mycotoxin Test
I can arrange a Mycotoxin urine test for you to see if you have a build up of mycotoxins in your body, and which particular strains you have. This is useful as we can then match treatments accordingly. Before doing this test it’s advisable to take a sauna or do some physical exercise that makes you sweat, or to take a hot bath 30 minutes before collection of urine.

Step 3:
I recommend specific binders, which help to soak up and carry out the type of mycotoxins detected in your test. I will also make sure that your detox pathways are open and running optimally.

Step 4:
When the binders are up and running and your body is better protected from the sudden release of toxins that can happen when killing mold with anti-fungals, we very slowly and gently add an antifungal component to the program.

MOLD TOXICITY IS NOT NEW

As far back as the Old Testament in Levictus 14, there is a warning that if a man’s house is contaminated with plagues, mold and leprosy “he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city.”

In the 1970s and 80s the US Defence Department grew concerned about the possibility of mycotoxins being used for biological warfare and they did useful research on how to bind and eliminate them from the body.

A WORD OF CAUTION ABOUT CLEANING MOLD

The trouble is that simply cleaning mold with a spray and wipe is not going to address the tiny mycotoxins that are released into the air by mold – these mycotoxins are the potential cause of health issues in relation to mold. So, while you may have removed the obvious mold from the windowsill or wiped it off the bathroom grout, the invisible problem of mycotoxins remains, and unless you physically remove the piece of wood for example that the mold was growing on and two foot either side (while containing the area) a problem remains. Thorough cleaning is also required and further steps. Another problem with mold is that it often hides, for example under a lino floor, behind or at the back of a cupboard or anything that is pressed up to the wall, in carpets, or even in wall cavities. Sometimes there’s a distinctive musty smell, sometimes not.