Imagine this scenario. A general practitioner sees a dramatic rise in the number of patients with mold illness. He sees so many patients he decides to leave his practice and open a specialized clinic aimed at treating mold exposure. Such is the case of Dr. Scott McMahon of Roswell, New Mexico. The rise in mold illness is due in large part to a mold problem at Goddard High School. According to television station KRQE:
Goddard High has had a problem with mold in the past. Now Dr. Scott McMahon, who's been practicing medicine in Roswell for 18 years, plans to open his own clinic treating only patients suffering from mold sickness.
Symptoms can include:
• Extreme fatigue
• Severe headaches
• Nausea
• Brain Fog—cloudy thoughts, forgetfulness, and confusion
Mold can accumulate anywhere there is water. Most of his patients have a genetic predisposition to getting some form of mold sickness. McMahon can test for that predisposition with a simple blood test, and the infection can be treated.
He said he's treated 34 patients with proven lab tests who've attended Goddard. He plans to treat others and anyone else who think they might be sick after being exposed to any type of mold.
McMahon's practice will open in February.
Goddard High School has been at the center of a mold controversy since 2008, when parent Paul Taylor sued for the right to properly test the school building after his daughter became ill. Mr. Taylor won the right to test and found high levels of toxic mold. (See this blog entry for more.) A lawsuit seeking injunctive relief was dismissed in October 2010, with the judge strongly urging the school district to properly address the mold issue. Paul Taylor has since been involved with the new website Surviving Mold.
To view the news story, which includes an interview with Dr. Scott McMahon, click here.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Genetic Susceptibility
Why do some people become chronically ill following an exposure to toxic mold, while others recover quickly? I received an email this week from an individual who vacated a stachybotrys-infested office three weeks ago and is already much better. We left our home two years ago and are still working on our recovery. Numerous factors contribute to the mystery, such as the level and duration of the exposure, prior exposures, and the age of the individual. The biggest factor, however, involves genetics.
This factor is known as "genetic predisposition" or "genetic susceptibility." A staggering 25 percent of the population is genetically wired to have a tough time ridding itself of the deadly microbes associated with water-damaged buildings. For this group of individuals, the invading pathogens are not "tagged" and cleared by the body. Instead, they run freely. The body is then left to deal with the attackers in any way it can—which leads to inflammation, so often at the root of chronic conditions.
I remember the day our doctor shared the results of our genetic testing. The pieces of our family's health puzzle suddenly fit together. Chris has one of the susceptible genes. I have two multisusceptible genes. I fall into the "dreaded genotype" group: double 4353, a category shared by 7 percent of the population. The implication? Each one of our children will have difficulty clearing these toxins. No wonder we were having a tough time recovering!
The test is a blood test and is available through Lab Corp, and can be ordered by any physician. It's listed on the Biotoxin Pathway Order Sheet located at this website. The test looks like this on the order sheet:
Test: HLA
Lab: Lab Corp
Spec: Yellow, refrig
Code #: 012542
DX Codes: 279.10, 377.34, 279.8
Interpreting the test results is complicated, but not impossible. The Rosetta Stone, developed by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, offers a summary of the various susceptible genetic types, with directions for interpretation. Dr. Eric Gordon describes the process in his overview of Dr. Shoemaker's work, titled Biotoxins, Innate Immune Response, and Lyme. Click here for his excerpted summary.
My lab results appear below as an example. DRB1 is 4. DQB1 is 3. DRB4=53. 4353 is multisusceptible.
As Dr. Gordon states in his overview, this genetic piece helps eliminate some of the guesswork involved in recovery. For those who have not been injured, this type of genetic awareness can help avoid a serious exposure and consequential health issues.
This factor is known as "genetic predisposition" or "genetic susceptibility." A staggering 25 percent of the population is genetically wired to have a tough time ridding itself of the deadly microbes associated with water-damaged buildings. For this group of individuals, the invading pathogens are not "tagged" and cleared by the body. Instead, they run freely. The body is then left to deal with the attackers in any way it can—which leads to inflammation, so often at the root of chronic conditions.
I remember the day our doctor shared the results of our genetic testing. The pieces of our family's health puzzle suddenly fit together. Chris has one of the susceptible genes. I have two multisusceptible genes. I fall into the "dreaded genotype" group: double 4353, a category shared by 7 percent of the population. The implication? Each one of our children will have difficulty clearing these toxins. No wonder we were having a tough time recovering!
The test is a blood test and is available through Lab Corp, and can be ordered by any physician. It's listed on the Biotoxin Pathway Order Sheet located at this website. The test looks like this on the order sheet:
Test: HLA
Lab: Lab Corp
Spec: Yellow, refrig
Code #: 012542
DX Codes: 279.10, 377.34, 279.8
Interpreting the test results is complicated, but not impossible. The Rosetta Stone, developed by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, offers a summary of the various susceptible genetic types, with directions for interpretation. Dr. Eric Gordon describes the process in his overview of Dr. Shoemaker's work, titled Biotoxins, Innate Immune Response, and Lyme. Click here for his excerpted summary.
My lab results appear below as an example. DRB1 is 4. DQB1 is 3. DRB4=53. 4353 is multisusceptible.
As Dr. Gordon states in his overview, this genetic piece helps eliminate some of the guesswork involved in recovery. For those who have not been injured, this type of genetic awareness can help avoid a serious exposure and consequential health issues.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Mold in New Homes
Why are so many mold problems found in newer homes? Some theorize the housing boom a decade ago resulted in too many homes going up too quickly. The Columbus Dispatch featured an article on this very issue last month. The article, titled "Newer, poorly constructed homes more likely to harbor fungus," quotes David Stubbs, a specialist in building systems and indoor air quality. Stubbs believes new-home mold problems often come down to poor workmanship.
"If I built a house 80 or 100 years ago, I was a true craftsman," said Stubbs, who lived in central Ohio before becoming director of facilities planning and construction for Clarke County Schools in Georgia. "I'd build one house a year. ... We don't build like that today. We take shortcuts."
Other explanations for the rise of mold problems in newer homes include:
• Oriented strand board, which became a common sheathing material for homes about 20 years ago, absorbs and transfers water more readily than plywood, which was the sheathing of choice for older homes. Even when plywood is used today, it is more likely to be three-ply plywood instead of the four- or five-ply used in earlier homes.
• Stucco is thinner than it used to be, with less cement, and is frequently poorly installed, with two thin coats instead of three thick ones.
• Many homes built during the housing boom used a paper vapor barrier, which can be difficult to properly install, instead of Tyvek or other wraps commonly used in the past few years.
• Newer homes are typically built in empty fields, offering no protection from wind, rain and sun - especially a problem on western exposures.
• Homes built in the past 20 years tend to be tighter than older homes and therefore more likely to trap moisture inside if not properly ventilated, creating what Tom Flood, the president of Air Technology in Hilliard, calls a "giant petri dish." This was especially a problem in the 1980s and '90s, when builders commonly put plastic between the studs and drywall as a moisture barrier.
• During the housing boom, homes didn't receive the attention from swamped inspectors that they might have otherwise.
Steve Verssen, owner of Vertech, a Cincinnati inspection service that has been involved in central Ohio mold cases, recalls teaching a group of home inspectors three or four years ago in a Columbus-area home under construction. A building inspector drove up, jotted down some notes on a clipboard and drove off, without ever approaching the home.
"When things were busy, that's what happened," Verssen said.
He thinks some mold problems might be caught if inspectors scrutinized the envelope of a building before it is covered by siding - including the sheathing, the weather wrap and window flashing - in addition to the mechanicals and structural items. (Some city inspectors examine building envelopes, but such inspections are rare.)
Zacks (Benjamin Zacks, a principal in the Zacks Law Group in Columbus) agrees and urges homebuyers to test for mold or moisture if they have any doubts, even if the home passed city inspections.
"People think if the house has a bill of occupancy, it's safe," he said. "But it might not be."
Homeowners who do find mold and hope for relief from their insurance companies are likely to be disappointed. According to the Ohio Insurance Institute, most companies dropped standard mold coverage from their language eight or 10 years ago because of the volume of claims.
The entire article can be found by clicking here.
"If I built a house 80 or 100 years ago, I was a true craftsman," said Stubbs, who lived in central Ohio before becoming director of facilities planning and construction for Clarke County Schools in Georgia. "I'd build one house a year. ... We don't build like that today. We take shortcuts."
Other explanations for the rise of mold problems in newer homes include:
• Oriented strand board, which became a common sheathing material for homes about 20 years ago, absorbs and transfers water more readily than plywood, which was the sheathing of choice for older homes. Even when plywood is used today, it is more likely to be three-ply plywood instead of the four- or five-ply used in earlier homes.
• Stucco is thinner than it used to be, with less cement, and is frequently poorly installed, with two thin coats instead of three thick ones.
• Many homes built during the housing boom used a paper vapor barrier, which can be difficult to properly install, instead of Tyvek or other wraps commonly used in the past few years.
• Newer homes are typically built in empty fields, offering no protection from wind, rain and sun - especially a problem on western exposures.
• Homes built in the past 20 years tend to be tighter than older homes and therefore more likely to trap moisture inside if not properly ventilated, creating what Tom Flood, the president of Air Technology in Hilliard, calls a "giant petri dish." This was especially a problem in the 1980s and '90s, when builders commonly put plastic between the studs and drywall as a moisture barrier.
• During the housing boom, homes didn't receive the attention from swamped inspectors that they might have otherwise.
Steve Verssen, owner of Vertech, a Cincinnati inspection service that has been involved in central Ohio mold cases, recalls teaching a group of home inspectors three or four years ago in a Columbus-area home under construction. A building inspector drove up, jotted down some notes on a clipboard and drove off, without ever approaching the home.
"When things were busy, that's what happened," Verssen said.
He thinks some mold problems might be caught if inspectors scrutinized the envelope of a building before it is covered by siding - including the sheathing, the weather wrap and window flashing - in addition to the mechanicals and structural items. (Some city inspectors examine building envelopes, but such inspections are rare.)
Zacks (Benjamin Zacks, a principal in the Zacks Law Group in Columbus) agrees and urges homebuyers to test for mold or moisture if they have any doubts, even if the home passed city inspections.
"People think if the house has a bill of occupancy, it's safe," he said. "But it might not be."
Homeowners who do find mold and hope for relief from their insurance companies are likely to be disappointed. According to the Ohio Insurance Institute, most companies dropped standard mold coverage from their language eight or 10 years ago because of the volume of claims.
The entire article can be found by clicking here.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Good News for Travelers
Hotel chains are catching on to the growing numbers of people with allergies and chemical sensitivity.
According to the New York Times, two hotel chains, Hyatt and Fairmont, are designating permanent allergy-friendly rooms, with medical-grade air purifiers and chemical- and fragrance-free bath products.
The Times article states:
Thirty-eight percent of hotels offer some kind of allergy-friendly service in guest rooms, a 14 percent increase in the last two years, according to the 2010 Lodging Survey prepared for the American Hotel and Lodging Association by STR, a hotel research company.
The trend toward improving indoor air quality is part of the larger green movement that began with nonsmoking rooms, said Ray Burger, founder of Pineapple Hospitality, which administers a “green” hotel certification program and operates freshstay.com, an online booking site for smoke-free rooms. The Web site plans to add icons soon for hypoallergenic rooms, and to show what chemicals are used in cleaning products, paints, sealants and bath products.
Hyatt recently announced plans to create hypoallergenic rooms in all of its full-service hotels in North America. The rooms, which will soon total about 2,000 in 125 properties, cost $20 to $30 extra a night and are intended to eliminate up to 98 percent of allergens and irritants. A medical-grade purifier continuously circulates air, Hyatt said.
“This was a market really underserved,” said Tom Smith, vice president of rooms for Hyatt.
The number of allergy sufferers is believed to have gone up substantially since the late ’70s, said Dr. Darryl Zeldin, senior investigator and acting clinical director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Roughly half of Americans are sensitive to at least one common allergen. Different testing methods may account for some of the increase, but better hygiene resulting in less exposure to bacteria is also thought to play a role, Dr. Zeldin said.
Brian Brault, chief executive of Pure Solutions, the company that installs and maintains Hyatt’s hypoallergenic rooms, said more than 200 hotels nationwide, including properties at several major brands, had Pure Solutions rooms, but Hyatt was the first to offer them across its brands. Some hotel conference centers also use the technology, he said.
The Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel has had an entire hypoallergenic floor since 1999, and other Fairmont properties have long provided services to guests with allergies. But the chain is in the final stages of a pilot program for permanent hypoallergenic rooms that it plans to introduce gradually this year.
“We’re looking at the bigger picture,” said Paul Kingsbury, director of housekeeping for the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The approach will include featherless duvets and pillows and chemical- and perfume-free bath products, as well as in-room mini bars from which all nuts have been removed and room service meals that cater to various food allergies. All Fairmont chefs have been trained to prepare a vast array of special dietary and allergy-specific meals.
Fairmont’s hypoallergenic rooms will cost about $25 extra a night.
Mr. Kingsbury recalled a patron who had a terrible reaction because she saw, through a small rip in a duvet, some fibers that she mistook for down. The duvet contained no feathers, but “sometimes even the perception of an allergen can be harmful,” he said. “Knowing things are set up properly is a big comfort for the guests.”
Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean of the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University, said that because more people were being found to have allergies, it made business sense for hotels to provide a greater number of allergy-friendly rooms. But the rooms also have great general appeal.
“There are many people who request special rooms, not because they have allergies but because they believe those rooms will have a higher degree of sanitation and cleanliness,” Mr. Hanson said. “It’s a way for hotels to invest a little bit more for a room but get a premium for both occupancy and rate.”
Mike Piazza, a partner at the law firm Greenberg Traurig in Irvine, Calif., said he did not realize he had allergies until one night on a business trip, “I woke up and I couldn’t breathe.” It turned out he was allergic to down. “I called the front desk to get a foam pillow,” he said. “Then I was fine.”
Lisa Abbott, a marketing consultant for nonprofit groups in Oakland, Calif., who suffers from multiple chemical sensitivities, has learned the benefits firsthand of good air quality in a hotel room.
At home, she rarely takes the morning rush hour train, to avoid “breathing in a soup of fumes and fragrances” from deodorant, hair products and freshly laundered clothing. Traveling, she said, has “always been dicey.” But she stayed in one of Hyatt’s new rooms on a recent trip to Chicago. “The air is purer,” she said. “I slept great. I felt energized both days of conferences. It has just completely opened up my travel options.”
The entire article can be viewed by clicking here.
According to the New York Times, two hotel chains, Hyatt and Fairmont, are designating permanent allergy-friendly rooms, with medical-grade air purifiers and chemical- and fragrance-free bath products.
The Times article states:
Thirty-eight percent of hotels offer some kind of allergy-friendly service in guest rooms, a 14 percent increase in the last two years, according to the 2010 Lodging Survey prepared for the American Hotel and Lodging Association by STR, a hotel research company.
The trend toward improving indoor air quality is part of the larger green movement that began with nonsmoking rooms, said Ray Burger, founder of Pineapple Hospitality, which administers a “green” hotel certification program and operates freshstay.com, an online booking site for smoke-free rooms. The Web site plans to add icons soon for hypoallergenic rooms, and to show what chemicals are used in cleaning products, paints, sealants and bath products.
Hyatt recently announced plans to create hypoallergenic rooms in all of its full-service hotels in North America. The rooms, which will soon total about 2,000 in 125 properties, cost $20 to $30 extra a night and are intended to eliminate up to 98 percent of allergens and irritants. A medical-grade purifier continuously circulates air, Hyatt said.
“This was a market really underserved,” said Tom Smith, vice president of rooms for Hyatt.
The number of allergy sufferers is believed to have gone up substantially since the late ’70s, said Dr. Darryl Zeldin, senior investigator and acting clinical director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Roughly half of Americans are sensitive to at least one common allergen. Different testing methods may account for some of the increase, but better hygiene resulting in less exposure to bacteria is also thought to play a role, Dr. Zeldin said.
Brian Brault, chief executive of Pure Solutions, the company that installs and maintains Hyatt’s hypoallergenic rooms, said more than 200 hotels nationwide, including properties at several major brands, had Pure Solutions rooms, but Hyatt was the first to offer them across its brands. Some hotel conference centers also use the technology, he said.
The Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel has had an entire hypoallergenic floor since 1999, and other Fairmont properties have long provided services to guests with allergies. But the chain is in the final stages of a pilot program for permanent hypoallergenic rooms that it plans to introduce gradually this year.
“We’re looking at the bigger picture,” said Paul Kingsbury, director of housekeeping for the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The approach will include featherless duvets and pillows and chemical- and perfume-free bath products, as well as in-room mini bars from which all nuts have been removed and room service meals that cater to various food allergies. All Fairmont chefs have been trained to prepare a vast array of special dietary and allergy-specific meals.
Fairmont’s hypoallergenic rooms will cost about $25 extra a night.
Mr. Kingsbury recalled a patron who had a terrible reaction because she saw, through a small rip in a duvet, some fibers that she mistook for down. The duvet contained no feathers, but “sometimes even the perception of an allergen can be harmful,” he said. “Knowing things are set up properly is a big comfort for the guests.”
Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean of the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University, said that because more people were being found to have allergies, it made business sense for hotels to provide a greater number of allergy-friendly rooms. But the rooms also have great general appeal.
“There are many people who request special rooms, not because they have allergies but because they believe those rooms will have a higher degree of sanitation and cleanliness,” Mr. Hanson said. “It’s a way for hotels to invest a little bit more for a room but get a premium for both occupancy and rate.”
Mike Piazza, a partner at the law firm Greenberg Traurig in Irvine, Calif., said he did not realize he had allergies until one night on a business trip, “I woke up and I couldn’t breathe.” It turned out he was allergic to down. “I called the front desk to get a foam pillow,” he said. “Then I was fine.”
Lisa Abbott, a marketing consultant for nonprofit groups in Oakland, Calif., who suffers from multiple chemical sensitivities, has learned the benefits firsthand of good air quality in a hotel room.
At home, she rarely takes the morning rush hour train, to avoid “breathing in a soup of fumes and fragrances” from deodorant, hair products and freshly laundered clothing. Traveling, she said, has “always been dicey.” But she stayed in one of Hyatt’s new rooms on a recent trip to Chicago. “The air is purer,” she said. “I slept great. I felt energized both days of conferences. It has just completely opened up my travel options.”
The entire article can be viewed by clicking here.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Courtroom Air Quality in Question
Following the death of Judge Cheryl Alemán last month, three of her fellow judges in Florida's Broward County Courthouse have moved their chambers and asked for environmental testing. Suspicious that Judge Alemán's lung cancer may have been linked to toxic levels of mold and asbestos in the building, judges Susan Greenhawt, Patti Englander Henning, and Mily Rodriguez Powell, Alemán's neighbors on the ninth floor, moved to temporary second-floor offices earlier this month.
According to the Miami Herald:
"There were issues with a serious illness with one or more judges in the area," Englander Henning said in a telephone interview Monday. "Prudence suggested that we request to be moved until they can test and determine what the problem is and how it can be remedied. And obviously, it was a valid enough claim that they were good enough to move us."
The county launched a series of environmental tests last week. This week, attorneys suing the county on behalf of courthouse employees claiming exposure to toxic mold arranged for testing at the request of several judges.
"It's our perspective that this building should not be inhabited for work; it's making people sick," said Bob McKee, law partner of Walter "Skip" Campbell, a civil attorney and former state senator who has filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of court employees.
McKee said he and Campbell have hired independent experts to test chambers on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors at the requests of judges Victor Tobin, Charles Greene, John Bowman, Dale Cohen, Marc Speiser and Englander Henning.
Alemán, 52, died Dec. 2, just weeks after learning she had an aggressive form of lung cancer. She had visited the hospital with flu-like symptoms in early October and soon after was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
Alemán's husband, Omar, could not be reached for comment.
In the immediate aftermath of Alemán's death, the judges requested mold and asbestos testing in courtroom 995 and the ninth-floor chambers of Alemán, Greenhawt, Englander Henning and Rodriguez Powell, according to a Dec. 31 report reviewed by the Sun Sentinel.
"The judge occupying room 999 had recently succumbed to an aggressive lung cancer," according to the report by Miami-based Advanced Industrial Hygiene Services Inc. "The three judges in the 'quadrangle' of offices [all located in the same general area on the ninth floor] were concerned that the cancer may have been related to the indoor environmental condition in the courthouse.
"They suspected that asbestos-containing materials and mold contamination was present in the building and in their individual chambers."
Asbestos has been linked to mesothelioma lung cancer, and mold can lead to many health problems, including sinus infections and respiratory problems.
The report showed varying levels of fungal growth in the tested areas and asbestos fibers "above the regulatory limit" in Alemán's chambers and courtroom 995.
The report concluded that Aleman's chambers had a "very high concentration of indicator fungal spore types" that may be affecting nearby areas.
One week after that report was issued, the three judges moved to different chambers and the county launched its own round of tests, said Pete Corwin, assistant to the county administrator.
A survey about 1 1/2 years ago showed the existence of asbestos in the courthouse, he said.
"What we found is there is asbestos; but it is in ceiling tiles and floor tiles, but it's not in the air. We always knew it was there; it was just a matter of mapping where it is exactly," Corwin said. "We're doing everything we can to assure the people that it's safe and to do a very comprehensive test in the area."
In the past three years, the half-century-old main section of the courthouse has been the scene of nearly half a dozen floods. County commissioners have approved a new courthouse, but construction won't be completed until 2014, at the earliest.
The entire article can be viewed by clicking here.
According to the Miami Herald:
"There were issues with a serious illness with one or more judges in the area," Englander Henning said in a telephone interview Monday. "Prudence suggested that we request to be moved until they can test and determine what the problem is and how it can be remedied. And obviously, it was a valid enough claim that they were good enough to move us."
The county launched a series of environmental tests last week. This week, attorneys suing the county on behalf of courthouse employees claiming exposure to toxic mold arranged for testing at the request of several judges.
"It's our perspective that this building should not be inhabited for work; it's making people sick," said Bob McKee, law partner of Walter "Skip" Campbell, a civil attorney and former state senator who has filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of court employees.
McKee said he and Campbell have hired independent experts to test chambers on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors at the requests of judges Victor Tobin, Charles Greene, John Bowman, Dale Cohen, Marc Speiser and Englander Henning.
Alemán, 52, died Dec. 2, just weeks after learning she had an aggressive form of lung cancer. She had visited the hospital with flu-like symptoms in early October and soon after was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
Alemán's husband, Omar, could not be reached for comment.
In the immediate aftermath of Alemán's death, the judges requested mold and asbestos testing in courtroom 995 and the ninth-floor chambers of Alemán, Greenhawt, Englander Henning and Rodriguez Powell, according to a Dec. 31 report reviewed by the Sun Sentinel.
"The judge occupying room 999 had recently succumbed to an aggressive lung cancer," according to the report by Miami-based Advanced Industrial Hygiene Services Inc. "The three judges in the 'quadrangle' of offices [all located in the same general area on the ninth floor] were concerned that the cancer may have been related to the indoor environmental condition in the courthouse.
"They suspected that asbestos-containing materials and mold contamination was present in the building and in their individual chambers."
Asbestos has been linked to mesothelioma lung cancer, and mold can lead to many health problems, including sinus infections and respiratory problems.
The report showed varying levels of fungal growth in the tested areas and asbestos fibers "above the regulatory limit" in Alemán's chambers and courtroom 995.
The report concluded that Aleman's chambers had a "very high concentration of indicator fungal spore types" that may be affecting nearby areas.
One week after that report was issued, the three judges moved to different chambers and the county launched its own round of tests, said Pete Corwin, assistant to the county administrator.
A survey about 1 1/2 years ago showed the existence of asbestos in the courthouse, he said.
"What we found is there is asbestos; but it is in ceiling tiles and floor tiles, but it's not in the air. We always knew it was there; it was just a matter of mapping where it is exactly," Corwin said. "We're doing everything we can to assure the people that it's safe and to do a very comprehensive test in the area."
In the past three years, the half-century-old main section of the courthouse has been the scene of nearly half a dozen floods. County commissioners have approved a new courthouse, but construction won't be completed until 2014, at the earliest.
The entire article can be viewed by clicking here.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Toxicity and Mental Health
Heightened anxiety was one of my first clues that something was wrong in our home. Of course I didn't pick up the clues. It's only in retrospect that I see how the growing level of toxicity adversely affected my children.
Suddenly my elementary school age children were obsessed over quizzes, worried about being late, anxiety-ridden over homework. Other symptoms emerged. Paranoia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality changes, and depression. Emotional meltdowns became a daily part of our life. We found it difficult to make decisions, even small ones. We had a tough time filtering out various types of sensory stimulation.
Only now am I seeing how clearly toxicity is related to mental health.
Dr. Laura Mark, a Board Certified psychiatrist, writes about this in the book Surviving Mold. Her health began to deteriorate in 1995 at the age of 40, when she joined the staff of a state-run psychiatric hospital. Over the next five years she developed stabbing headaches, itchy rashes, joint swelling, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, abdominal pain, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, and memory loss. Others in her workplace complained of similar symptoms. She left the position and experienced improved health, until she took a job at a 200-year-old satellite clinic in a rural town. Her story continues from there. A story of compromised indoor air quality, declining health, and the impact of musty, moldy conditions on the clinic's patients.
Dr. Mark writes,
How much of patients' anxiety, apprehension, irritability, mood swings, explosiveness, cognitive dysfunction, neurologic (i.e. seizure and movement disorder) symptoms may have resulted from pre- or post-admission exposure? In the worst-case scenarios, how many of our long-term folks inevitably became long-term patients, with their life confined to an institution's four walls as a consequence of exposure to the water-intruded, chemically-saturated indoor air quality of the very institution charged with facilitating their recovery in a "safe" setting?
Dr. Mark has a passion to share the medical evidence linking inflammatory responses, and the resulting mental health impairments, with compromised indoor air quality.
She even looks back and sees that her health issues began during her childhood, long before her toxic encephalopathy was diagnosed in July 2007.
Might my genetic susceptibility to a whole host of toxic triggers (particularly musty, moldy, moist places) have contributed to the years of stuttering, crying, shyness, intermittent brain fog, irrational anxieties, and sleep disturbances? Were these things due to an underlying inflammatory response syndrome? Was I a "crybaby," or were those things a result of where I lived and went to school, what foods I ate, or what air I breathed?
Imagine what was happening to my patients' children, so often misdiagnosed and mislabeled, pigeonholed. If a teenager had an episode of suicidal gesture at age 15, that history was the first thing recited in a subsequent psychiatric evaluation. Yet if her gesture was due to frustration, sadness, chronic pain, and cognitive issues from exposure to a moldy bedroom, would we still label her as an adult with depression just because she had ideation of suicide years before?
I'm learning. I see so many themes now, starting from the need to educate physicians, the need to get the word out, the need to protect my patients from moldy buildings, and to preserve my own health. The learning has so many dimensions.
Indeed, education needs to happen at so many levels. It's easy to miss the signs of toxicity and focus on behaviors and mood issues. Who better to help us learn than a psychiatrist with the experience and dedication of Dr. Laura Mark?
Suddenly my elementary school age children were obsessed over quizzes, worried about being late, anxiety-ridden over homework. Other symptoms emerged. Paranoia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality changes, and depression. Emotional meltdowns became a daily part of our life. We found it difficult to make decisions, even small ones. We had a tough time filtering out various types of sensory stimulation.
Only now am I seeing how clearly toxicity is related to mental health.
Dr. Laura Mark, a Board Certified psychiatrist, writes about this in the book Surviving Mold. Her health began to deteriorate in 1995 at the age of 40, when she joined the staff of a state-run psychiatric hospital. Over the next five years she developed stabbing headaches, itchy rashes, joint swelling, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, abdominal pain, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, and memory loss. Others in her workplace complained of similar symptoms. She left the position and experienced improved health, until she took a job at a 200-year-old satellite clinic in a rural town. Her story continues from there. A story of compromised indoor air quality, declining health, and the impact of musty, moldy conditions on the clinic's patients.
Dr. Mark writes,
How much of patients' anxiety, apprehension, irritability, mood swings, explosiveness, cognitive dysfunction, neurologic (i.e. seizure and movement disorder) symptoms may have resulted from pre- or post-admission exposure? In the worst-case scenarios, how many of our long-term folks inevitably became long-term patients, with their life confined to an institution's four walls as a consequence of exposure to the water-intruded, chemically-saturated indoor air quality of the very institution charged with facilitating their recovery in a "safe" setting?
Dr. Mark has a passion to share the medical evidence linking inflammatory responses, and the resulting mental health impairments, with compromised indoor air quality.
She even looks back and sees that her health issues began during her childhood, long before her toxic encephalopathy was diagnosed in July 2007.
Might my genetic susceptibility to a whole host of toxic triggers (particularly musty, moldy, moist places) have contributed to the years of stuttering, crying, shyness, intermittent brain fog, irrational anxieties, and sleep disturbances? Were these things due to an underlying inflammatory response syndrome? Was I a "crybaby," or were those things a result of where I lived and went to school, what foods I ate, or what air I breathed?
Imagine what was happening to my patients' children, so often misdiagnosed and mislabeled, pigeonholed. If a teenager had an episode of suicidal gesture at age 15, that history was the first thing recited in a subsequent psychiatric evaluation. Yet if her gesture was due to frustration, sadness, chronic pain, and cognitive issues from exposure to a moldy bedroom, would we still label her as an adult with depression just because she had ideation of suicide years before?
I'm learning. I see so many themes now, starting from the need to educate physicians, the need to get the word out, the need to protect my patients from moldy buildings, and to preserve my own health. The learning has so many dimensions.
Indeed, education needs to happen at so many levels. It's easy to miss the signs of toxicity and focus on behaviors and mood issues. Who better to help us learn than a psychiatrist with the experience and dedication of Dr. Laura Mark?
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Mystery Diagnosis Follow-Up
Tom and Liana Jones' nightmare was documented this week on the television program "Mystery Diagnosis." Tom is a government research scientist. At one point in his career he worked on a project to detect haptens. (A hapten is a small molecule that can elicit an immune response only when attached to a larger carrier, such as a protein.) The target chosen for that particular study was the mycotoxin aflatoxin B1, which is emitted from the fungus aspergillus. It is also a known carcinogen.
Liana, a former children's pastor and school administrator, mother of five grown children, took a job with a property management company in 2001, soon after the company relocated to a 90-year-old building. In 2002 she moved into a second-floor office. She developed a skin rash (misdiagnosed as shingles). She had severe leg cramps at night. Her fingers locked up when she typed. She became severely fatigued. In 2003 a mole was removed from her left leg. The mole was found to be a Stage 1 melanoma. She developed a post-surgical infection that took ten months to heal.
Soon she had trouble seeing. She noticed memory lapses. She developed sinus problems, which led to breathing difficulties. She developed migraines. In April 2005 Liana went blind in her left eye. That same month a worker submitted an invoice for work done on her office building and mentioned, "There's mold in this building." Tom suggested a mold test, and the findings in Liana's office showed elevated levels of aspergillus/penicillium.
Meanwhile, an allergist suggested a CT scan for Liana's persistent sinus issues. The scan showed the likelihood of a mass. An MRI revealed a skull-based tumor. A biopsy was performed, and Liana was diagnosed with olfactory neuroblastoma. The mass appeared to be cancerous. Tom remained perplexed. Could a mold exposure possibly cause this? Was it possible the experts were wrong?
Liana went back to work part-time and began to expel pieces of black/green/yellow tissue from her sinuses. Tom took them to his laboratory for analysis and determined that the tissue samples contained fungal elements. Meanwhile, Liana continued her cancer treatments.
Tom took the lab results to mold specialist Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, who validated Tom's hypothesis that the mass was in fact a fungal infection.
From 2007 to 2008 Tom and Liana pursued help from other specialists, including Dr. Michael Gray in Benson, Arizona. Dr. Gray initiated an anti-fungal protocol that included anti-fungal nasal sprays. Tom suggested, and Dr. Gray agreed, that they incorporate coconut oil and colloidal silver into the treatment because of their anti-fungal qualities. The mass responded well, and in November 2008 Liana had surgery to remove the remainder of the mass and any remaining spores. On November 10 the final pathology came back "No Tumor Seen."
In the book Surviving Mold, Tom writes:
If I'd listened to the advice of "experts" and their suggested treatments of "cancer," when a mold infection was her problem, I think Liana would have been long gone.
Her story isn't just the usual "I was exposed to mold and now I'm desperately ill." The treatment for her illness nearly killed her. She went blind, and then got the cancer diagnosis; she received chemotherapy and radiation therapy for an illness she didn't have. Some of the best physicians on the East Coast were all wrong about her.
The episode of "Mystery Diagnosis" told this story well, in my opinion. It also brought back painful memories for me as I re-lived our son Reagan's unwarranted surgeries and continued dismissals by doctors. I did, however, wish there had been more emphasis on the rampant nature of illness caused by water-damaged buildings. Liana's story, while certainly rare as it pertains to the specifics of her mass, represents a whole host of individuals who have been misdiagnosed and unable to find help. Ninety-six percent of all sinus infections are fungal in nature, according to a study done by the Mayo Clinic in 1999.
Still, Tom and Liana have their lives back. And their nightmare will help many others make the critical connection between indoor air quality and health.
Below is a link to an excerpt from this January 5th episode of "Mystery Diagnosis," titled "Bizarre Nasal Growth."
http://www.oprah.com/mysterydiagnosis/Mystery-Diagnosis-Bizarre-Nasal-Growth-Video
Liana, a former children's pastor and school administrator, mother of five grown children, took a job with a property management company in 2001, soon after the company relocated to a 90-year-old building. In 2002 she moved into a second-floor office. She developed a skin rash (misdiagnosed as shingles). She had severe leg cramps at night. Her fingers locked up when she typed. She became severely fatigued. In 2003 a mole was removed from her left leg. The mole was found to be a Stage 1 melanoma. She developed a post-surgical infection that took ten months to heal.
Soon she had trouble seeing. She noticed memory lapses. She developed sinus problems, which led to breathing difficulties. She developed migraines. In April 2005 Liana went blind in her left eye. That same month a worker submitted an invoice for work done on her office building and mentioned, "There's mold in this building." Tom suggested a mold test, and the findings in Liana's office showed elevated levels of aspergillus/penicillium.
Meanwhile, an allergist suggested a CT scan for Liana's persistent sinus issues. The scan showed the likelihood of a mass. An MRI revealed a skull-based tumor. A biopsy was performed, and Liana was diagnosed with olfactory neuroblastoma. The mass appeared to be cancerous. Tom remained perplexed. Could a mold exposure possibly cause this? Was it possible the experts were wrong?
Liana went back to work part-time and began to expel pieces of black/green/yellow tissue from her sinuses. Tom took them to his laboratory for analysis and determined that the tissue samples contained fungal elements. Meanwhile, Liana continued her cancer treatments.
Tom took the lab results to mold specialist Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, who validated Tom's hypothesis that the mass was in fact a fungal infection.
From 2007 to 2008 Tom and Liana pursued help from other specialists, including Dr. Michael Gray in Benson, Arizona. Dr. Gray initiated an anti-fungal protocol that included anti-fungal nasal sprays. Tom suggested, and Dr. Gray agreed, that they incorporate coconut oil and colloidal silver into the treatment because of their anti-fungal qualities. The mass responded well, and in November 2008 Liana had surgery to remove the remainder of the mass and any remaining spores. On November 10 the final pathology came back "No Tumor Seen."
In the book Surviving Mold, Tom writes:
If I'd listened to the advice of "experts" and their suggested treatments of "cancer," when a mold infection was her problem, I think Liana would have been long gone.
Her story isn't just the usual "I was exposed to mold and now I'm desperately ill." The treatment for her illness nearly killed her. She went blind, and then got the cancer diagnosis; she received chemotherapy and radiation therapy for an illness she didn't have. Some of the best physicians on the East Coast were all wrong about her.
The episode of "Mystery Diagnosis" told this story well, in my opinion. It also brought back painful memories for me as I re-lived our son Reagan's unwarranted surgeries and continued dismissals by doctors. I did, however, wish there had been more emphasis on the rampant nature of illness caused by water-damaged buildings. Liana's story, while certainly rare as it pertains to the specifics of her mass, represents a whole host of individuals who have been misdiagnosed and unable to find help. Ninety-six percent of all sinus infections are fungal in nature, according to a study done by the Mayo Clinic in 1999.
Still, Tom and Liana have their lives back. And their nightmare will help many others make the critical connection between indoor air quality and health.
Below is a link to an excerpt from this January 5th episode of "Mystery Diagnosis," titled "Bizarre Nasal Growth."
http://www.oprah.com/mysterydiagnosis/Mystery-Diagnosis-Bizarre-Nasal-Growth-Video
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Mystery Diagnosis
The January 5th episode of the television program "Mystery Diagnosis" will address the issue of toxic mold. The program will feature mold specialist Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker as well as one of his patients, Liana Jones, who suffered a mold exposure and is featured in his newest book, Surviving Mold. The show airs at 8 p.m. EST on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Information on Dr. Shoemaker's book can be found at a brand new website designed to provide information and resources for those suffering from toxic mold exposure. The website SurvivingMold.com is a partnership between Dr. Shoemaker and the family of Paige Taylor, who was exposed to toxic mold at Goddard High School in Roswell, New Mexico.
To visit the new website and find out more about tonight's episode, click here.
Information on Dr. Shoemaker's book can be found at a brand new website designed to provide information and resources for those suffering from toxic mold exposure. The website SurvivingMold.com is a partnership between Dr. Shoemaker and the family of Paige Taylor, who was exposed to toxic mold at Goddard High School in Roswell, New Mexico.
To visit the new website and find out more about tonight's episode, click here.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Growing Incidence of Food and Chemical Intolerances
Just before Christmas our oldest daughter developed swollen eyes, a puffy face, and fatigue while in her workplace. Her reaction remained a mystery until she had a similar response in a grocery store near the floral department. The common factor? Poinsettias. Was her reaction an allergic response to the plant itself? Or a response to the chemicals sprayed on the poinsettias? In all likelihood the chemicals were the problem, as multiple chemical sensitivity is now a daily part of her life.
More and more people suffer from chemical intolerance, food sensitivities, and allergies. According to this abstract of a study published in November in Science of the Total Environment, scientists believe we are seeing a pandemic of these illnesses.
The prevalence of allergic-related diseases, food intolerance, and chemical sensitivities in both the pediatric and adult population has increased dramatically over the last two decades, with escalating rates of associated morbidity. Conditions of acquired allergy, food intolerance and chemical hypersensitivity are frequently the direct sequelae of a toxicant induced loss of tolerance (TILT) in response to a significant initiating toxic exposure. Following the primary toxicant insult, the individuals become sensitive to low levels of diverse and unrelated triggers in their environment such as commonly encountered chemical, inhalant or food antigens. Among sensitized individuals, exposure to assorted inciting stimuli may precipitate diverse clinical and/or immune sequelae as may be evidenced by clinical symptoms as well as varied lymphocyte, antibody, or cytokine responses in some cases. Recently recognized as a mechanism of disease development, TILT and resultant sensitivity-related illness (SRI) may involve various organ systems and evoke wide-ranging physical or neuropsychological manifestations. With escalating rates of toxicant exposure and bioaccumulation in the population-at-large, an increasing proportion of contemporary illness is the direct result of TILT and ensuing SRI. Avoidance of triggers will preclude symptoms, and desensitization immunotherapy or immune suppression may ameliorate symptomatology in some cases. Resolution of SRI generally occurs on a gradual basis following the elimination of bioaccumulated toxicity and avoidance of further initiating adverse environmental exposures. As has usually been the case throughout medical history whenever new evidence regarding disease mechanisms emerges, resistance to the translation of knowledge abounds.
The abstract can be viewed by clicking here.
More and more people suffer from chemical intolerance, food sensitivities, and allergies. According to this abstract of a study published in November in Science of the Total Environment, scientists believe we are seeing a pandemic of these illnesses.
The prevalence of allergic-related diseases, food intolerance, and chemical sensitivities in both the pediatric and adult population has increased dramatically over the last two decades, with escalating rates of associated morbidity. Conditions of acquired allergy, food intolerance and chemical hypersensitivity are frequently the direct sequelae of a toxicant induced loss of tolerance (TILT) in response to a significant initiating toxic exposure. Following the primary toxicant insult, the individuals become sensitive to low levels of diverse and unrelated triggers in their environment such as commonly encountered chemical, inhalant or food antigens. Among sensitized individuals, exposure to assorted inciting stimuli may precipitate diverse clinical and/or immune sequelae as may be evidenced by clinical symptoms as well as varied lymphocyte, antibody, or cytokine responses in some cases. Recently recognized as a mechanism of disease development, TILT and resultant sensitivity-related illness (SRI) may involve various organ systems and evoke wide-ranging physical or neuropsychological manifestations. With escalating rates of toxicant exposure and bioaccumulation in the population-at-large, an increasing proportion of contemporary illness is the direct result of TILT and ensuing SRI. Avoidance of triggers will preclude symptoms, and desensitization immunotherapy or immune suppression may ameliorate symptomatology in some cases. Resolution of SRI generally occurs on a gradual basis following the elimination of bioaccumulated toxicity and avoidance of further initiating adverse environmental exposures. As has usually been the case throughout medical history whenever new evidence regarding disease mechanisms emerges, resistance to the translation of knowledge abounds.
The abstract can be viewed by clicking here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)