Part I of "Mold, the Ultimate Roadblock in the Healing Process"
By Dr. Paul Deglmann
Edited by Meghan Feir Walker
Perhaps you or a loved one has tried to live a clean, active, healthy lifestyle, but strange symptoms and health concerns have prevailed. Or maybe you started experiencing major health issues and haven’t found an answer as to why they started.
Many of our patients in the clinic have already seen several different doctors or practitioners who were unable to diagnose and treat their “mysterious” conditions. Sometimes they have tried to recover through supplements and medications, but they’ve seen little to no improvement.
These are scenarios we hear frequently, and mold is one of the most common causes of mysterious ailments and reasons why patients are prevented from living a healthy, energetic life.
In this article, we’re focusing on mold, mycotoxins, sources of exposure, and common symptoms of mold toxicity. Because mold is an extensive topic, we are going to do a three-part video and article series, so stay tuned for future installments.
To view the correlating video to this article, click here or the image below:
My own mold story
When it comes to mold illness, I can personally relate. In 2019, I started noticing that the skin on my face was getting more inflamed and my mid-back was increasingly getting stiffer and more sore. I eventually realized this was due to mold in our home.
We had lived in our home for years without realizing it had mold problems. After we moved in, we’d had no incidents of water damage and we couldn’t see or smell any visible, active mold issues. However, it was in every wall cavity of the basement, in our bedroom closet, and under the hardwood floors of our kitchen. The mold was already present prior to us owning the house. Being exposed to this environment led to various health issues and prevented me from getting better for years.
I know how overwhelming and stressful it is to discover you’re living or working in a moldy environment. It disrupts daily life, plans, and convenience, can cause great emotional distress, and can make a person feel like no house or place is safe.
While recovering from mold can be a daunting task, and remediation can feel like an impossible feat, you can get better if mold is causing your health struggles.
In my personal recovery journey, my inflammation markers have dropped and my back stiffness has improved. Overall, I am feeling better, but my skin still has its ups and downs and I still have mycotoxins in my body from that long-term exposure. I’m still putting in the time and effort to improve my health through various protocols. My story illustrates that healing can take time, but it is doable!
How does mold make you sick?
While mold can irritate anyone and lead to eventual health issues, certain groups of people are especially susceptible to its ill effects. For the most part, the only type of mold illness that is recognized by traditional medicine is a mold allergy. However, it’s not safe for anyone to have long exposure to mold.
Many people have true allergies to mold (where they test positive as having an allergy to it on an IgE allergy panel) and their reactions may include respiratory distress, headaches, irritated throat, nose, and eyes, and other symptoms. Mold can also trigger asthma symptoms. Those with mold allergies react to the spores and must be extra careful in the presence of mold.
Additional mold conditions exist, including a condition known as chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), which is often caused by mold illness.
If you ever visibly see mold growing on a surface, you are seeing a collection of mold spores, which can make you sick and give you symptoms.
There’s more to mold than meets the eye. Mold spores also release toxins called mycotoxins into the air, which are invisible and harder to detect. They have no odor, whereas active mold spores typically smell and are bigger.
What are mycotoxins?
Mycotoxins can negatively affect all systems in the body and are approximately 50 times smaller than mold spores. They can work their way into our lungs and alveoli (tiny air sacs at the end of the bronchioles) and become a systemic problem throughout the body.
Mold, Mycotoxins, Sources of Exposure:
How can mold exposure make us so sick when it’s everywhere outside?
Another common question patients ask me is why exposure to outdoor mold isn’t usually as serious as indoor mold exposure.
Many people have allergies to outdoor molds, but indoor molds and mycotoxins are even more serious because of the lack of open spaces and moving air.
Houses, particularly homes built today, are built extremely airtight. While this helps with draftiness in a home, it can create an even bigger problem when it comes to mold growth and a lack of airflow. It’s recommended that homeowners use dehumidifiers, particularly in basements, and keep the humidity in a home lower than 50% at all times. Anything over 50% relative humidity can contribute to mold growth.
Another problem is that materials used in home building are often exposed to the elements, and water-damaged materials are one of the main causes of mold and mycotoxin growth in a home.
Mold loves carbohydrates and cellulose, and some of the most common food sources for mold include drywall/sheetrock, lumber, insulation, cardboard, and even dust. Given that those are some of mold's favorite snacks, you can see how houses can create the perfect conditions for mold to thrive.
However, there are ways to ensure your home is as safe as possible. Along with keeping the humidity lower than 50% in your home, it’s important to keep it clean by dusting and vacuuming often, ensuring proper airflow, and cleaning up water spills or leaks as soon as possible. Water leaks that get cleaned up in less than 48 hours most often won’t cause mold growth.
Where can you get exposed to mold and mycotoxins?
The most significant mold exposure comes from water-damaged buildings, which, as mentioned before, is far worse than outdoor mold exposure.
While it might be common for basements to smell musty, it doesn’t mean it’s fine. That “basement smell” isn’t a good sign. If it’s musty and smells, mold is likely present.
Common areas of mold and mycotoxin exposure:
- House
- Cabin
- Any building you spend a lot of time in
- Work
- School
- Church
- Vehicle
- Camper/RV
- Any water-damaged building
Where in a house or building would you most likely have mold exposure?
Mold growth happens from active water/moisture issues or water intrusion that hasn’t been appropriately cleaned up and dried within 48 hours.
Some common water intrusions would be:
- Basement flooding
- Ice dams that caused water intrusion inside the house
- Attics from roof leaks, poor ventilation, blocked vents
- Pipe leaks
- Leaks from the ice maker of the fridge/freezer
- Other faulty appliances
- Clogged drains
- Faulty HVAC unit
- More
Can you get sick from food that contains molds/mycotoxins?
Mold and mycotoxin exposure from food can contribute to symptoms, but exposure to the air we breathe is a much bigger issue. While humans typically only eat a few times a day, the average person takes 20,000-23,000 breaths per day. When the air you breathe is contaminated, this poses a much greater risk of organ irritation and immune system dysfunction than eating some dried fruit that may harbor some mycotoxins.
Although indoor mold and mycotoxin exposure is much more serious, some foods contain higher amounts of mold and mycotoxins because of how they’re grown and/or stored. Here are some common foods that contain mycotoxins.
Common foods that contain mycotoxins:
- Grains
- Cereals
- Grapes
- Coffee
- Beer
- Wine
- Cocoa
- Dried fruits
- And More
I don’t recommend people eat copious amounts of food and beverages with higher amounts of mycotoxins, but eating and drinking occasionally won’t typically create severe, long-term symptoms.
Common Symptoms from Mold Exposure
Symptoms can vary significantly from person to person, depending on how sensitive each person is, but take a look at some common symptoms of mold and mycotoxin exposure.
Common symptoms of mold exposure:
- Cognitive symptoms
- Brain fog, memory issues, headaches, migraines, numbness/tingling
- Chemical sensitivities
- Food sensitivities
- Skin inflammation/irritation/rashes
- Fatigue
- Allergies
- Getting sick often or prolonged illness from infections
- Digestive or GI symptoms (gas, bloating, nausea, constipation)
- Respiratory symptoms
- More
Some people are so sensitive that they can walk into a building or part of a home and have an immediate increase in symptoms. For many others, these symptoms slowly accumulate over time, taking months for noticeable symptoms to show up.
Have you felt better when you’re away on a trip? This could be one clue that you are getting exposed to mold in your workplace or home and that a cleaner environment is providing a short reprieve in mold-related symptoms.
Dr. Paul’s basics for healthy living
When the body is in a healing environment where clean water, fresh air, and healthy food are available, our bodies’ immune systems can properly help us heal, repair, and recover.
Whether you’re recovering from mold illness and/or other conditions, or you just want to lead a healthy lifestyle, these basic tips can help you set up a clean, healthy environment for yourself and your family.
Dr. Paul’s basics for healthy living:
- Drink clean water
- Eat healthy food
- Get daily sunshine
- Move our bodies/exercise
- Manage our stress load
- Get adequate sleep
- Breathe clean air
While it can be difficult to follow these tips strictly, without fail, just try your best, and don’t stress about the rest.
Stay tuned for our next article and video on mold
In our next installment of this mold series, we will discuss the best ways to detect if you are exposed to mold, how to test for mycotoxins in the body, and why some people seem much more sensitive to mold and mycotoxins than others.
I hope you found this information helpful. You, too, can feel better after exposure to mold and mycotoxins!
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