Re: Mold could be a killer

[Guest guest]

Barbara

The Fresno Bee

banderson@...

I enjoyed reading your article on the controversy of health effects of

living with mold. You did however make two comments on which I would like to

comment. The first: " People have been co-existing with mold since they lived

in caves and slept on straw mats on damp ground. " That is quite true.

However, mold was recognized long ago as being harmful, in the fourteenth

chapter of Leviticus, or at least that could be implied based on the way

other Jewish laws were presented. Depending on which Bible version is read,

the word mold may be referred to as plague or mildew. In extreme cases, the

house had to be destroyed and all its stones taken to an unclean place

outside the town.

A second comment: " Not all molds are harmful. Penicillin, derived from a

mold, has saved hundreds of thousands of lives since its discovery in 1928.

Only a fraction of the more than 1,000 types of molds found in homes release

mycotoxins, or poisons, that are known to cause allergic reactions. " It is

quite true that penicillin is made from penicillium mold. Molds are also

used to make soy sauce, citric acid (aspergillus niger) and many other

modern chemicals. Yeasts, a sub class of molds, are used to raise bread

dough, brew beer, wine, and other alcoholic drinks, yogurt, and many

cheeses. All are considered to be beneficial. However, prolonged exposure to

any of these molds can lead to respiratory medical conditions such as

baker's lung, brewer's lung, woodworker's lung, etc. Prolonged exposure to

ANY mold at sufficient levels can lead to allergic sensitization. Even molds

growing in air conditioning systems (the modern wonder often prescribed to

prevent such problems) can lead to such sensitization. Mycotoxin is not

necessary for allergic sensitization.

Though invasive mold colonization with mycotoxins, such as aspergillosis,

valley fever, or histoplasmosis, can be lethal, allergy problems also lead

to significant discomfort, nearly all cases of chronic sinusitis (search the

Mayo Clinic web site), hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and asthma.

Inadequately treated, or continued exposure even with treatment, can

increase the sensitization to such molds. And yes, mold induced asthma

attacks can be fatal.

Your article did considerable good, in bringing to public

conscientiousness the fact that mold is a real health issue. It is also

something which usually only becomes a problem after attenuation, something

which only happens with water problems. Mold certainly needs to be

respected, but can be controlled with proper building design, construction,

and maintenance.

Gil Vice

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7925327p-8801559c.html

Mold could be a killer

By Barbara

The Fresno Bee

(Published Sunday, December 21, 2003, 5:40 AM)

The day Seniff found out that a black mold inside her

Visalia rental home might have killed her 16-month-old son was the day she

left.

When Rob Seniff got home from his job at a cheese processing plant

that day two years ago, the Seniffs fled the house, leaving everything --

furniture, linens, pots and pans and two dogs in the back yard. A neighbor

agreed to feed and water the pets until the Seniffs found another home.

They wouldn't go back to retrieve a few belongings until last month,

after a wrongful-death and personal-injury lawsuit had been settled for

$2.35 million. The Seniffs claimed water leaks in the home allowed mold to

grow, exposing their son, Brice, to toxins that caused bleeding in his lungs

that led to his death.

.......continued

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[Guest guest]

The days of considering a reaction to mold to be nothing more than an

allergic response are over.

Dr Jens Ponikau at the Mayo clinic has identified a systemic response

to inhaled fungal toxins and is reclassifying " Allergic Fungal

Rhinosinususitis " as " Eosinphilic Fungal Rhinosinusitis " .

A new, more accurate diagnostic test has been developed.

http://www.lsu.edu/highlights/033/sin.html

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