Symptoms, Signs & Body Parts Hurt By Mold

Symptoms, Signs & Body Parts Hurt By Mold

Original article bolding was done by the author. My notations are highlighted.

Best of Health,

DD

 

 

 

http://www.usmoldphysician.com/articles/moldtoxinshurtbody.html

Article by James L. Schaller, MD

 

How Common Mold Toxins Hurt the Body

A List of Exact Symptoms, Signs
and Body Parts Hurt by Mold

Parents may wonder if their family's emotional or health troubles come from mold toxins. We have reviewed over two hundred articles on mold symptoms, and below we list the most common effects of mold on the mind and body.  No one has all of these and some are only present in very severe exposures. Even if an exposure is modest, it can still have significant effects on school, work or relationships. These mold chemicals can enter the air from hidden mold sources with the mere vibration of a stereo or merely opening a door. The toxic mold chemicals then disperse all over a school or home. Once they enter your lungs or are swallowed in your nasal fluids or saliva, they will travel all over the body.

Please recall that if you spend any time in a musty location or a location with visible indoor mold, you will have had some mold toxin exposure. High levels of exposure overwhelm everyone. Modest mold toxin exposure still bothers approximately 1 in 4 who are poor at removing biologically active mold toxins. These sensitive people need to be extra careful with mold because they do not remove the toxins from their systems as well as the non-sensitive people. They have to be sure to live in a home that has no hidden indoor mold. They cannot work or go to school in a moldy structure. They need clean low dust environments with air scrubbed with MERV 11 air filters. They also need to take mold toxin binding agents such as Cholestyramine. (Dr. Rosen believes the fat binder Chitosan and pharmaceutical charcoal may also have some mold toxin binding effects).

Mold toxins can produce hundreds of different body problems. This list is just some key examples. Again, some patients with mild exposure or who are not extremely sensitive to mold toxins may just have a handful.

Brain

• Headaches
• Poor memory
• Trouble concentrating
• Trouble learning
• Trouble finding words
• Disorientation
• Seizures
• Trouble speaking fast
• Trouble with understanding fast
• Trembling
• Vocal or Motor Tics
• Serotonin changes
• Abnormal reflexes
• Strokes
• Edema or swelling in the brain
• Scarring of Brain seen on MRI's
• PET and SPECT scans show hypoperfusion
• EEG abnormalities

Brain and Psychiatric

• Mood swings
• Mania
• Irritability
• Impulsivity
• Increased risk taking
• Decreased speak smoothness
• Poor stress coping
• Increased verbal fighting
• New lateness
• Poor empathy
• Poor boundary awareness
• Immaturity
• Spacey
• Rigidity
• Poor insight
• Poor insight into illness
• Decreased productivity
• Unable to process trauma or interpersonal pain
• Increased narcissism
• Forgetfulness
• Poorly organized or obsessively organized
• Dead creativity
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Panic Attacks
• Decreased attention
• Eccentric personality
• A delay in a Child's developmental milestones
• Increased alcohol consumption or increased drug use

Eyes

• Light sensitivity
• Red eyes
• Blurred vision
• Tearing
• Eye pain

Hearing

• Sound sensitivity
• Decreased hearing

Mouth

• Metallic taste
• Saliva with blood streaks

Nose and Sinuses

• Chronic infections
• Sniffing
• Tingling nose
• Nasal itching
• Stuffy nose
• Runny nose
• Blood streak in saliva or nasal mucous

Throat & Lungs

• Erosion of membranes
• Shortness of Breath
• Sore throats
• Cold or Flu symptoms
• Chest pain
• Wheezing
• Voice changes

Stomach and Intestines

• Ulcers
• Indigestion
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Sloughing and death of intestinal villi
• New Reaction to wheat or dairy
• Diarrhea
• Belly pain
• Bile duct disease

Liver

• Fatty liver
• Liver cancer
• Abnormal liver lab tests
• Jaundice or yellowing

Skin and hair

• Numbness
• Tingling
• Hair loss
• Diverse and severe rashes
• Itching
• Blisters
• Biopsies with no clear cause
• Burning skin sensation

Muscles & Joints

• Cramps
• Stiffness
• Joint pain
• Cartilage damage

Heart & Blood Vessels

• Heart Muscle damage
• Heart muscle inflammation
• Chest pain
• Abnormal ECG
• Red or pale skin

Reproductive Tissue and Genitals

• Increased Testicular cancer
• Vaginal irritation
• Decreased sperm production
• Erectile dysfunction

Hormones and Hormone Tissue

• Low DHEA
• Low MSH
• Low Free Testosterone
• Low Androstenedione
• Low Cortisol
• Abnormal cortisol regulation
• Damage to Adrenal glands (Makes Cortisol, DHEA and ADH)

Overall body

• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Malaise
• Eccentric weight gain
• Occasionally Eccentric thinness
• Bizarre pain
• Ice pick pain
• Lightening bolt pain
• New chemical sensitivity
• Spinning sensation/Dizziness
• Increased thirst
• Frequent urination
• Shocking sensation
• Sweats
• Temperature variation
• Appetite swings
• Easy bleeding or bruising
• Swelling
• Trouble walking or running easily
• Reduced coordination
• Rapid pulse
• Low temperature
• Jerky movements
• Abnormal Blood Pressure (low or high)
• Fever
• Chills
• Increased tumors

Laboratory Test Results

• Liver tests are abnormal
• Liver growths that do not have clear biopsy results
• Increased creatine-kinase level
• Blood glucose too high or too low
• Low or high white blood cells
• Anemia
• Increases Eosinophils
• Blood in the urine
• Inflammation labs are high, e.g. TNF-a, C-reactive protein, C3a
• Immune system function problems
• Bone marrow labs abnormal
• Natural Killer Cells that kill cancer decrease in number
• Epstein Barr virus, present in everyone, has high levels
• Auto-immunity labs which show the body is attacking itself, are abnormal, e.g. ANA, ASM, MBP (blood), Myelin antibodies from Spinal fluid
• Red Blood cell abnormalities
• Homocysteine over 10
• Depressed Immunoglobulin (antibody) levels
• Macrophages do not work correctly

Pregnancy

• Fetal abnormalities (Birth defects)

Body Chemical Changes

• Decreased Protein making
• Decreased DNA manufacturing
• Decreased epinephrine, adrenaline, norepinephrine and dopamine

If you think that the state and Federal government is happy about indoor mold physicians, you are being funny. Pharmaceutical companies with their stranglehold on medicinal innovations, which only promote their new drugs, are fully disinterested in mold illness. Frankly, clinically irrelevant medical agencies, large corporations and the insurance corporations dislike articles with this material. Having taken an oath to help the suffering, I have no understanding why they do not care about mold injured people, and dislike physicians trying to help patients that many merely insult and degrade with false psychiatric labels. I guess trying to save billions of dollars is more important than helping the victims of mold.

As I write this, New Orleans is under water and those homes will no doubt be unable to be remediated. Bacteria with toxins in their outer walls and toxic mold will fill these structures. Do you really think that government is really good at offering cutting-edge clinical medicine? If the various levels of government including state and Federal agencies, cannot get water bottles to a single stadium, do you really think they have all of medicine covered? The need for massive State and Federal interventions was clearly known to be needed, long before the disaster of Katrina hit New Orleans, because of exceptional weather monitoring, which made it highly likely New Orleans would be buried in water. If these were doctors running the care, they would have all been sued and their licenses attacked. While I salute the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Coast Guard, the National Guard, the Police, the EMTs, the military and the Southern Baptist Interventions, the fact that after so many days so little has been done, shows you cannot count on your government to make all your survival decisions, and I would add they cannot decide what is wise for your personal medical decisions. Sincere people who are not in favor of death, were not able to get services in place fast, when it was clear they would be needed fast--not in four or five days.

If they cannot even get citizens water bottles, food bars and tolerable shelter, do you think they really are going to be intellectually and clinically on top of all the components of your mold illness? The hurricanes in the past twelve months created indoor mold in many homes, and many in the State and Federal government still have not fully appreciated the magnitude of the simple EPA principle that musty and visible mold is not ever acceptable.

Dedicated to the lost in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.