Mold and Mycotoxins

The silent threat disrupting hundreds of millions of human lives.

Mold, a type of fungi, decomposes organic matter and facilitates its transformation. Some molds thrive in anaerobic environments, devoid of oxygen, while others prefer aerobic conditions with oxygen. Those favoring dark, humid areas with poor air circulation, such as inadequately insulated walls, pose significant health risks. They can produce mycotoxins while competing with other molds. Our confinement in spaces with stagnant, oxygen-depleted air exacerbates molds effects on the human body. Dark, humid spaces with organic materials like wood or paper walls provide ideal conditions for harmful molds to flourish and infiltrate our living areas. Undetected slow leaks can persist for years until they are identified and addressed. Persistent moisture or leaks can lead to mold growth within 24 to 48 hours. Despite being imperceptible, air movement from various sources like doors, HVAC systems, and fans disperses mold spores throughout the home.

When mold/mycotoxins gain access to the body via our airways the symptoms will vary due to diverse genetic vulnerabilities meaning we all remain susceptible to the effects of water damaged buildings. We are ADDITIONALLY vulnerable if we are in the 25% of the population with variations in the HLA set of genes. Inadequate nutrition, stress and trace mineral status may set the stage for mycotoxin susceptibility even more effectively than genetics can because they affect genetic expression. Regardless of all this, we may still experience some or many of these symptoms as a result of chronic exposure to mycotoxins.

Neurological and Mood

ADD and/or ADHD
Cognitive impairment
Loss of motor coordination
Vertigo
Tinnitus
Brain Fog
Depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts
Insomnia
Headaches
Metallic taste in mouth
Lyme disease symptoms (yet a negative Lyme disease test)

Immune Dysregulation

Immune Hyperactivation
Eczema, psoriasis, or rashes
Fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome
Fibromyalgia, muscle weakness, and joint pain
Thyroid disorders
Long Covid / Vaccine Injury

Endocrine & Adrenal

Infertility
Low Libido
Low Testosterone
Frequent Urination

Digestive

Food sensitivities
Histamine and lactose intolerance
Leaky gut
Recurrent Candida overgrowth

Respiratory

Shortness of breath
Sinus infections, allergies, asthma

Nutrient deficiency related symptoms

B1 deficiency (beri beri) causing heart palpitations or lethargy.
Hair loss
Dry skin

Symptoms in Children

Detachment anxiety
Poor balance (will appear more wobbly than usual as they walk around)(not all mycotoxins cause this)
Autism spectrum disorder
Attention Deficit Disorder or Hyperactivity
Colic
Poor digestion
Unexplained coughing / Asthma
Chronically runny nose, eyes, sinus and ear infections
Sick from every outbreak

Attributing responsibility to mold can be challenging due to several factors. Individuals may live in water-damaged buildings for years before experiencing symptoms. Mold can secrete mycophenolic acid, an immune suppressant, which can mask symptoms until the mold becomes pathogenic months or years later. Symptoms can also appear gradually, disappear, and re-emerge due to opportunistic co-infections, particularly in individuals with weakened immune systems. If left unaddressed, mycotoxin exposures can contribute to various health issues including cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes, and neurological disorders like Alzheimer's by disrupting the blood-brain barrier.

The neglect of the mold issue for decades can be attributed to agnotology—the deliberate creation and perpetuation of ignorance or doubt. This can occur through the suppression of information, dissemination of misinformation, or manipulation of public opinion. Robert N. Proctor coined the term "agnotology" to describe the study of how ignorance is produced and maintained, particularly in scientific knowledge and public discourse.

Recognition of mold's health risks began to emerge in the late 20th century, notably with the publication of the Institute of Medicine's 2004 study titled "Damp Indoor Spaces and Health." This report solidified the association between indoor mold exposure and respiratory issues, allergies, and other health problems.

Tackling mold not only addresses a significant health hazard but also reduces the burden on the liver, kidneys, and immune system, potentially improving overall health.

Ensuring a Healthy Indoor Environment, involves addressing common areas where mold thrives.

Window sills, under sinks, crawl spaces, showers, toilets, basements, and washing machines.

Foods, including peanut butter, corn, coffee beans, cocoa bean and other grains can contain aflatoxin and ochratoxin A.

Prevent - Busted Pipes - Toilet , Tub and Sink Overflows - Poor bathroom Ventilation - Leaky Windows - Inadequate Weather Striping - Broken or inadequate seals - Unmaintained Caulking - Missing Insulation - Roof Damage - Water Intrusion into Ductwork via Rooftop HVAC system
HVAC systems must be maintained because they are the lungs of the home. Often the bottoms of HVAC systems can be damp and create a home for mold. Yearly servicing and ductwork cleaning can go a long way to prevent this.
Humidity above 50% promotes the growth of mold in at risk places. Especially windows prone to condensation that have broken seals.
Utilize HEPA air filtration.
Air/heat exchanger systems that bring in fresh air from the outside can enable your home to breath with little heat loss.

Over half of all buildings contain mold, regular air quality testing is essential due to the hidden nature of most mold growth. However regular maintenance of roofs, HVAC system, bathrooms, sinks, doors and windows should take priority over testing and other renovations.

It would be important to have a professional mold inspection done so you can be aware of the true extent of the problem in your home. They will have special tools, insight and experience on assessing suspect areas and actually finding mold. The last thing you want is to miss a problem and have a hidden source of mold. The inspector should be spending hours not minutes in your home to investigate all suspect areas.

Remediating Mold

Depending on the size of the source sometimes it can be better to just leave the environment or call a professional to deal with the problem. Remove everything from the source room and seal it off from the rest of the house, remember to seal off ductwork and cold air returns. Remove affected drywall, floor boards and carpets from the area of concern, use a window as an exit if needed. Items such as couches, pillows, mattress's and rugs may have to be discarded based on the level of mycotoxins coming from the source. Everything else must be well cleaned with microfiber towels and a vinegar water solution. Discard towels after use. Maintain low humidity and make sure any sources of external moisture, condensation or leaky pipes are fully corrected before closing in walls. Avoid re-introducing carpet to the area or anywhere in the house and use washable area rugs in places only where it is required. Clean the rest of the home and items inside of it. Mycotoxins released by mold travel into every area of the home. This is especially true if you find yourself to be sensitive to mold.

Detoxifying Mycotoxins from Mold

Riboflavin: Repairs oxidized glutathione and cobalamin while serving as a cofactor for the MTHFR enzyme. Glycine: Is a precursor nutrient for glutathione along with cysteine and glutamic acid it is also one of the major building blocks of collagenous tissue. Manganese: Is a cofactor mineral for the enzyme glutathione synthetase (GSS) and the stability of lysil oxidase for collagen formation. Selenium: Supports glutathione in its efforts to reduce hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. Molybdenum and Taurine: help aid in the function of the transsulfuration pathway so that we can enable greater production of glutathione. Copper: Important for cytochrome c oxidase, maintenance of all steps in the electron transport chain and collagenous tissue formation. Zinc: Important for the production of Retinol Binding Protein critical for liver health and protection from vitamin A.

Copper, Zinc, Manganese, Collagen and Vitamin C are crucial for rebuilding the gut barrier, nerves and bile ducts. Small amounts of flush niacin B3 (nicotinic acid) taken with a binder like activated charcoal can help release and sequester mycotoxins in the bile and towards fecal excretion. Sunlight crucial for infrared to improve mitochondrial function and UV rays for vitamin d production. Typically avoid drugs of any kind and especially any drugs containing acetaminophen like Tylenol or cough medicine or NSAID's they directly inhibit glutathione our most important mold detoxification pathway. Avoid cinnamon, vanilla, quercetin, resveratrol and carrots. They affect stage 2 Cytochrome P450 enzymes for detoxification of things other than mycotoxins from mold. This is important because we want to keep the load of other toxins as low as possible while we deal with reducing mycotoxins.

Lab Tests that may Correlate with Mold and Mycotoxin Exposure

Access to mycotoxin urine testing can be very pricey. So its important to begin with simple testing that you may be able to obtain from a doctors office at little or no cost first to reveal the possibility that we are being affected by mycotoxin exposure.

Functional Iron Deficiency

Requesting a full iron panel can be useful in detecting a functional iron deficiency. This is defined as a regular or high ferritin level paired with low serum iron. This is hint that we have an infection affecting the porphyrin pathway, the pathway utilized by the body to synthesize heme. In almost all situations supplementing iron is inappropriate due to its ability to feed bacterial and fungal overgrowth. Iron is easy to source from diet in the form of animal products, many have low levels of iron overload especially males that should be balancing dietary iron intake with calcium.

Special Note for users of Life Labs, doctor may have to state clinical diagnosis. ***When both serum iron and ferritin are ordered together without a stated clinical diagnosis, only serum ferritin will be tested. Accepted clinical diagnoses include chronic inflammation, chronic kidney failure, iron overload, iron excess, hemochromatosis, hemosiderosis.***

Thyroid

While the body is detoxifying it is common to see swings in thyroid function, some may go hyperthyroid and some may go hypothyroid.

Neutrophils and White Blood Cells

These may be elevated in some individuals as a healthy response to infection, some individuals with HLA variations may not be able to mount this healthy response as their immune system may not recognize mycotoxins as a threat. This can be an issue that leads to CIRS, more on that below.

eGFR an Indicator of Kidney Function

This may drop in some affected individuals as mycotoxins can cause kidney damage, once removed from contaminated environment healing of kidneys can occur.

Visual Contrast Sensitivity Test

This test is performed on each eye to detect if we have a biotoxin affecting the nervous system that would result in a drop of visual contrast sensitivity. This test was initially developed by the US military to assess performance of aircraft pilots. It happened to be incredibly useful as a test to assess if an individual is developing a chronic inflammatory reaction. It can be done for free at vcstest.com or by a qualified health practitioner.

Genetic Sequencing

Certain variations on chromosome 6 can indicate vulnerability to mycotoxin exposure. Nebula.org can provide full genome sequencing. With the raw data received it is possible to go over them with a genetic councilor to assess risk.

Urine Mycotoxin Test

Finally if you've done all the tests and you would like a direct result it may be useful to have a urinalysis of urine completed. However a serious issue with urine mycotoxin tests are that they can cost up to 500$ CAD and give a false negative. This is because our detox pathways can be so shutdown that the amount of mycotoxin in urine is undetectable and gives us a false diagnosis, this can often be the result of HLA variations affecting the body's ability to excrete mycotoxin via the kidney route towards urine. It may be recommended that the cost of this test be put towards remediating living environment or leaving contaminated environment.

Link to a urine mycotoxin test from Mosaic (formerly Great Plains Laboratories) https://mosaicdx.com/test/mycotox-profile/

A few more immune related health markers to test for rather than the urine mycotoxin test. Indicators of exposure and development of CIRS are... high C4a, low C3a, high MMP-9, high TGF b-1, low MSH, low ADH, low or high VEGF, low VIP, low T-Reg Cells and an infection of MARCoNS.

Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome

What is Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome?

Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) is a complex condition characterized by a breakdown of the immune system in response to repeated exposure to biotoxins. Biotoxins, such as those produced by mold or other environmental sources, can overwhelm the immune system and disrupt its normal functioning. This disruption leads to a chronic state of inflammation, where the immune system is unable to properly regulate and resolve the inflammatory response. The immune mechanism behind CIRS involves various components of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. When biotoxins enter the body, they can trigger an immune response, resulting in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. These signaling molecules attract immune cells to the site of inflammation and promote the recruitment and activation of other immune mediators.

Within the adaptive immune system, T regulatory (Treg) cells play a crucial role in immune regulation and tolerance. However, in CIRS, the balance of Treg cell function can be disrupted. Treg cells normally help maintain immune homeostasis by suppressing excessive inflammation and preventing autoimmunity. In CIRS, there may be alterations in Treg cell numbers, function, or signaling, leading to an impaired ability to control the inflammatory response.

In addition to the adaptive immune system, certain neuropeptides, such as vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), are involved in immune regulation. VIP exhibits potent anti-inflammatory effects and helps modulate immune responses. However, in the context of CIRS, VIP levels may become dysregulated or depleted, compromising its ability to effectively control inflammation.

Similarly, MSH, another neuropeptide with anti-inflammatory properties, may also be affected in CIRS. Reduced MSH levels or impaired MSH signaling can contribute to an imbalanced immune response and hinder the resolution of inflammation. The dysregulation of VIP and MSH, along with other immune factors, contributes to the chronic inflammatory state observed in CIRS.

As CIRS progresses, this dysregulated immune response and chronic inflammation can become a more permanent situation. Prolonged exposure to biotoxins, individual susceptibility, genetic factors, and other underlying health conditions all contribute to the persistence of the condition. The continued exposure to biotoxins sustains the inflammatory cycle, perpetuating immune dysfunction and impairing the body's ability to return to a state of balance.

How can we mitigate Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome?

Vitamin D has been shown to play a vital role in supporting Treg cell development and function. Adequate levels of vitamin D are associated with the promotion of Treg cell function, thus contributing to immune balance. In addition to vitamin D, several other nutrients have shown potential in supporting immune function and alleviating chronic inflammation in the context of CIRS. These include omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants (such as vitamins C and E), magnesium, zinc, and selenium. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in wild fatty fish, have anti-inflammatory properties and may help modulate the immune response.

Magnesium is involved in various immune processes and has been associated with anti-inflammatory effects. Zinc and selenium play important roles in immune function and can support the body's defense against pathogens and inflammation. These nutrients, along with a well-balanced diet rich in ruminant animal proteins, quality fats, and fruits can provide a solid foundation for supporting immune health in CIRS.

Who develops CIRS and how do we diagnose and assess risk for this?

Individuals with variations in the HLA-DR set of genes are specifically at risk for developing CIRS

Visual Contrast Sensitivity testing can be 98% accurate, this can be done with a professional trained in executing the test or personally at vcstest.com

Cytokine testing: Cytokines are immune system signaling molecules. Testing cytokine levels can provide insights into the inflammatory response and potential imbalances in the body.

Mold antibody testing can help build an understanding around how your immune system is reacting.

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