Patient and Client Information Whether you’re with medical professionals or on your own, Building Forensics will help you identify important markers which can assist you in assessing your health and possible triggers and or causation in your home or at work. Typically, there are over 30 possible contaminates that can trigger 37 recognised health effects and mould is often mistakenly attributed to symptoms and causation. While Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) sometimes describes mould illness it can also describe other negative health issues such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and even Lyme, which are also classed as inflammagenic illness. With so many possible symptoms and so many sources of inflammagens it is extremely important to assess and limit testing and analysis if costs are to be contained within budgets but more importantly, we actually identify causation.
The first question should of course be are you displaying symptoms which conventional medicine can’t explain other than by mood swings or infuriatingly hypochondria?
A possibly more important question is are you suffering Building Related illness CIRS and a list of some symptoms are listed below? These are generally, but not always, caused by mitochondrial dysfunction often caused by toxigenic moulds and their mycotoxins. Unfortunately, new verified evidence by Dr Shoemaker has shown mould may be responsible for less than 13% of symptoms with some bacteria and other triggers being more the more likely causation of 87% of symptoms.
Dr Neil Nathan also addresses other elephants in the room, such as mast cell activation, carbon monoxide poisoning, and porphyria and even EMF..
This is a major reason for only using a qualified and certified Indoor Environmental Hygienist to assist in the most important aspect of getting better, ‘’identifying the causation’’ and then removing it.
A list of typical symptoms:
Fatigue Short term memory loss Brain "fog" Headaches Easily confused Blurred vision or visual episodes Seizures Loss of equilibrium Feeling "spaced out" Muscles and joint aches and pains Intolerance of bright lights Decreased libido Sores that will not heal, rashes Shortness of breath Cardiac arrhythmias Mood swings, personality changes Tremors Abdominal pain and discomfort Hair Loss Numbness and Tingling in hands/feet Nosebleeds Chronic sinusitis, severe nasal allergies Sleep disturbance Painful lymph nodes Low-grade fever or feeling hot often Uncomfortable or frequent urination Allergies to food Pets get sick too The major symptom of CIRS is fatigue! Inhalation, and skin (parenteral) absorption and ingestion are routes of exposure, and this can mean both surfaces and air must be tested. Testing methods can include, chemical residue, bacteria of differing types, VOCs, mVOCs spores, Hyphal fragments, house dust, and the list goes on. With all testing protocols having both benefits and shortfalls it is imperative that the correct method is utilised and most importantly in the right area. Jeff Charlton principal consultant and owner of Building Forensics is co-author of two Peer reviewed & published consensus papers with Dr Ritchie Shoemaker on these contamination and exposure issues. Building Forensics will, depending on requirements, review medical issues and propose the most economical and effective sampling regime tailored to your budget. Building Forensics do not offer medical advice but simply echo leading medical experts’ opinion that “No treatment is likely to be successful when exposure continues”.
In all recognised ‘’International’ treatments’’ for mould there is a three-step process
Detect causation. That means identify current or historic water damage and exposure routes. Remove cause. That means stop the damage getting worse e.g. stop a leak. Repair and remediate, decontaminate air and surfaces. A Medical Secret is: Right diagnosis and right treatment patients get better.
Wrong diagnosis and wrong treatment patients remain sick for months and years.
The following list of moulds can produce harmful mycotoxins. Penicillium (mycophenolic acid) Alternaria Aspergillus (gliotoxin) Stachybotrys Cladosporium Aspergillus auto-toxin Aspergillus/Penicillium neurotoxic mycotoxin Ochratoxin SatratoxinT-2 Toxin Vomitoxin Verrucarin and verrucarol The following list shows the species which produce differing mycotoxins
Penicillium produces mycophenolic acid, patulin, and gliotoxin. Alternaria produces alternariol and gliotoxin Vascular system (increased vascular fragility, haemorrhage into body tissues, or from lung: satratoxin. Digestive system (diarrhoea, vomiting, intestinal haemorrhage, liver effects, caustic effects on mucous membranes: T-2 toxin; anorexia: vomitoxin. Respiratory system: respiratory distress, bleeding from lungs: trichothecenes. The nervous system, tremors, incoordination, depression, headache, tremors, seizures: trichothecenes. Cutaneous system (Skin): rash, burning sensation sloughing of skin, photosensitization: trichothecenes. Reproductive system; infertility, changes in reproductive cycles: T-2 toxin. Immune system: changes or suppression: many mycotoxins The following table shows some of the effects of mycotoxins produced by the previously mentioned moulds.
Testing for Mycotoxins Many of our clients have urine tests analysed for mycotoxins and we show typical results below indicating high levels of Ochratoxin A. These may or may not be accurate on the day, but we are invariably asked to assess if the responsible mycotoxins seen in urine are in the house. We recommend you seek professional medical advice prior to this test.
You may be accurate peeing in a bottle but as you can see the dust analysis of just one swab from the whole house is in parts per billion.
The following lab reports shows Ochratoxin A is indeed present at 1.8ppb. There is an element of luck(or professional expertise) here.
