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This is not to argue that there aren’t some genuine cases, but rather to point out that most cases are for those
who have the imaginary condition syndrome, and at best theirs is an allergic reaction.
This
year (2018) the HOA board approved spending over $40,000 to treat mold inside our shower walls and have the walls repaired
(4 showers). My argument at the board meeting didn't convince the members that this is another imaginary condition.
I argued that the mold is harmless based on science and that inside the walls the mold can't get out. Neither
argument carried the day. The contractor who is doing the work has a government certification as to training which
permits them to kill the deadly mold and save us from serious illness.
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Existence of toxic mold syndrome
questioned
By Will Boggs, MD Fri Oct 14, 3:33 PM ET,
Reuters News Service
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Mold and dampness can cause coughing and wheezing, but there
is little evidence to support the existence of the so-called toxic mold syndrome, according to a report by researchers at
the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Toxic mold syndrome
-- illnesses caused specifically by exposure to mold -- continues to cause public concern despite a lack of evidence that
supports its existence, researchers explain in the September issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Several
critical reviews have failed to find scientific support for toxic effects from breathing in mold spores as a viable mechanism
of human disease, they add.
Dr. Barzin Khalili and Dr. Emil J. Bardana, Jr. describe
the clinical characteristics of 50 patients with complaints of illness they attributed to mold exposure in their home or workplace.
The patients had been referred by a defense attorney in a civil litigation or by insurance adjusters representing worker's
compensation agencies. There was no consistent set of symptoms, the authors report,
with patients having an average of more than eight symptoms. Most patients reported a family or personal history of allergy
or asthma. Three quarters of the patients had abnormal physical examination results,
the researchers note, with inflammation of the eye or skin and congestion occurring most commonly. Thirty patients had other non-mold-related illnesses that could explain most, if not all, of their mold-related
complaints, the report indicates, and nearly two thirds of the individuals had evidence of a previously diagnosed mood
disorder.
"In fact," the investigators write, "when the entire
history and objective evidence were scrutinized, a number of well-established and plausible diagnoses emerged that explained
many, if not all, the complaints." In a commentary in the journal, Dr. Abba I.
Terr from UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco contends that toxic mold disease is "the latest in a series of environmentally
related pseudo-illnesses" that include multiple chemical sensitivity, also known as idiopathic environmental intolerance,
and chronic fatigue syndrome, which was attributed at one time to infection with Epstein-Barr virus. "Since these authors have determined that the patients they describe do not have a mold-related disease
but are nevertheless seeking compensation for presumed illness through a legal process that has defined it in those terms,
toxic mold disease is truly a diagnosis of litigation," Terr concludes.
SOURCE: Annals of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, September 2005.
Would be invalids: about 1/3rd of the people are capable
of imaginary illnesses, and of them about 20% have developed major neurotic patterns of behavior associated with the imaginary
illnesses. Thus in a sort of filtering system, the neurotic individuals
are much more likely to seek medical intervention and they make up nearly all who seek monetary rewards. The article above confirms this filtering process.
The
issue of mold-caused allergies has no satisfactory answer because of the lack of an accurate method of testing and the number
of molds capable of producing illness. A few clinic cases of illness do not prove
the much larger alleged sub-clinical situation. The article above calls to question the self-diagnosis
of toxic mold syndrome, and concludes that the majority of people examined had allergic reactions (not reactions to toxins). Allergic reactions are in most instances difficult to pinpoint through observations,
or confirm by laboratory tests—jk.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Humor sent 3/2018
At our meetings (3-2018) I have grumbled about a
scam concerning mold and the lack of science in support of it.
The computer has a better memory than I: Twelve
and a half years ago I posted on my
medical website a currently emerging scam, toxic mold syndrome, another example
of imaginary illness. It has now progressed to a condition. The
reductio ad absurdum is that those who live in areas with deciduous trees
should wear respirators when they go out in the fall because of all the mold
spores from decaying leaves. Children shouldn’t
play in the leaves, gardeners rake them
up, otherwise they would like dogs, cats, and wild animals suffer, suffer in silence.
Evolution has failed to protects from
microscopic fungus spores. It must be
that the mold in our walls is far more deadly now (but not a century ago) than
those in the woods, and thus the area being treated in our bathroom has a
plastic barrier, and mold abaters must wear respirators while exposed.
Unfortunately the treatment is worse than the
condition; good money gets immured in our walls to clear up an imaginary serious
health problem; one which has become beyond disproving: mold in our walls.
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Allergy and "toxic mold syndrome”
Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2005 Feb;94(2):234-9.
Edmondson DA, Nordness ME, Zacharisen MC, Kurup VP, Fink JN.
Division of Allergy/Immunology, Department of Pediatrics,
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA. dedmonds@mcw.edu
BACKGROUND: "Toxic mold
syndrome" is a controversial diagnosis associated with exposure to mold-contaminated environments. Molds are known to induce
asthma and allergic rhinitis through IgE-mediated mechanisms, to cause hypersensitivity pneumonitis through other immune mechanisms,
and to cause life-threatening primary and secondary infections in immunocompromised patients. Mold metabolites may be irritants
and may be involved in "sick building syndrome." Patients with environmental mold exposure have presented with atypical constitutional
and systemic symptoms, associating those symptoms with the contaminated environment. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the clinical
features and possible etiology of symptoms in patients with chief complaints related to mold exposure. METHODS: Review of
patients presenting to an allergy and asthma center with the chief complaint of toxic mold exposure. Symptoms were recorded,
and physical examinations, skin prick/puncture tests, and intracutaneous tests were performed. RESULTS: A total of 65 individuals
aged 1 1/2 to 52 years were studied. Symptoms included rhinitis (62%), cough (52%), headache (34%), respiratory symptoms (34%),
central nervous system symptoms (25%), and fatigue (23%). Physical examination revealed pale nasal mucosa, pharyngeal "cobblestoning,"
and rhinorrhea. Fifty-three percent (33/62) of the patients had skin reactions to molds. CONCLUSIONS:
Mold-exposed patients can present with a variety of IgE- and non-IgE-mediated symptoms. Mycotoxins, irritation by spores,
or metabolites may be culprits in non-IgE presentations; environmental assays have not been perfected. Symptoms attributable
to the toxic effects of molds and not attributable to IgE or other immune mechanisms need further evaluation as to pathogenesis.
Allergic, rather than toxic, responses seemed to be the major cause of symptoms in the studied group.
Inhalational mold toxicity: fact or fiction? A clinical review of 50 cases
Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol.
2005 Sep;95(3):239-46.
Khalili B, Bardana EJ Jr.
Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
97239, USA. barzinkhalili@yahoo.com
BACKGROUND: Three
well-accepted mechanisms of mold-induced disease exist: allergy, infection, and oral toxicosis. Epidemiologic studies suggest
a fourth category described as a transient aeroirritation effect. Toxic mold syndrome or inhalational toxicity continues to
cause public concern despite a lack of scientific evidence that supports its existence. OBJECTIVES: To conduct a retrospective
review of 50 cases of purported mold-induced toxic effects and identify unrecognized conditions that could explain presenting
symptoms; to characterize a subgroup with a symptom complex suggestive of an aeroirritation-mediated mechanism and compare
this group to other diagnostic categories, such as sick building syndrome and idiopathic chemical intolerance; and to discuss
the evolution of toxic mold syndrome from a clinical perspective. METHODS: Eighty-two consecutive medical evaluations were
analyzed of which 50 met inclusion criteria. These cases were critically reviewed and underwent data extraction of 23 variables,
including demographic data, patient symptoms, laboratory, imaging, and pulmonary function test results, and an evaluation
of medical diagnoses supported by medical record review, examination, and/or test results. RESULTS: Upper respiratory tract,
lower respiratory tract, systemic, and neurocognitive symptoms were reported in 80%, 94%, 74%, and 84% of patients, respectively.
Thirty patients had evidence of non-mold-related conditions that explained their presenting complaints. Two patients had evidence
of allergy to mold allergens, whereas 1 patient exhibited mold-induced psychosis best described as toxic agoraphobia. Seventeen
patients displayed a symptom complex that could be postulated to be caused by a transient mold-induced aeroirritation. CONCLUSION:
The clinical presentation of patients with perceived mold-induced toxic effects is characterized by a disparate constellation
of symptoms. Close scrutiny revealed a number of preexisting diagnoses that could plausibly explain presenting symptoms. The
pathogenesis of aeroirritation implies completely transient symptoms linked to exposures at the incriminated site. Toxic mold
syndrome represents the furtive evolution of aeroirritation from a transient to permanent symptom complex in patients with
a psychogenic predisposition. In this respect, the core symptoms of toxic mold
syndrome and their gradual transition to chronic symptoms related to nonspecific environmental fragrances and irritants appear
to mimic what has been observed with other pseudodiagnostic
categories, such as sick building syndrome and idiopathic chemical intolerance.
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