Mold-related health problems are very real and affect many people every single year. To make matters more complicated, mold issues are often misdiagnosed, undiagnosed, or left untreated in conventional medicine. So, let’s break down mold toxicity, and what that really means.
What is mold toxicity?
Mold is a common fungus that grows in places with a lot of moisture, such as roofs, pipes, and under wood and tile floors and ceilings. Different types of mold are around us all the time, but some are more dangerous than others and certain people are allergic to mold or sensitive to the naturally occurring toxins, called mycotoxins, that mold can emit. When you’re exposed to too much mold, mold that you’re sensitive to, or certain types of mold known to cause health issues, it can lead to a condition called mold toxicity.
Mold toxicity issues are commonly overlooked in conventional medicine. Why? Because mold toxicity can cause a wide range of symptoms that can be hard to describe if you have them and hard to piece together for your doctor, especially if they don’t have experience and training in mold issues.
What are the symptoms of mold toxicity?
The symptoms of mold issues can be divided into two main categories. According to McElroy, the first is an immune reaction to mold, which typically involves allergy-like symptoms such as sinus issues, runny nose, itchy skin and eyes, asthma, shortness of breath, and more. The second type of mold issue is a chemical and inflammatory reaction to mold. As McElroy explains, this is driven by mycotoxins, which can initiate an inflammatory cytokine-driven response in the body. And as you might already know about chronic inflammation, this can create symptoms that are vague, broad, and very hard to pin down such as:
- Cognitive difficulties (brain fog, poor memory, anxiety)
- Pain (especially abdominal pain, but can include muscle pain similar to fibromyalgia)
- Unexplained weight gain or weight loss
- Numbness and tingling in extremities or other areas of the body
- Metallic taste in the mouth
- Vertigo or dizziness
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
- Digestive issues (especially limited tolerance to food, persistent bloating)
- Significant fatigue that interferes with daily activities
- Changes in mood
- Excessive thirst and dehydration, bed-wetting in children
- Symptoms that resemble hormone imbalances (hair loss, rashes)
Why are mold issues difficult to diagnose?
Conventional medicine recognizes that mold can cause allergies but does not recognize that mycotoxins emitted by some species of indoor mold can cause a problem. This means that doctors unfamiliar with mold and mold treatment may miss one of the main types of mold reactions—the chemical and inflammatory reaction. This is for a few reasons:
- There is no gold standard in testing for mold
- There is no standardized treatment protocol or drug for mold toxicity
- There are very limited human-based studies looking at the connection between mycotoxins and human health
- The presentation of mold issues is very different among patients
- Not everyone exposed to mold mycotoxins will have a reaction to them
It’s no wonder mold illness can be hard to diagnose. Fortunately, holistic medicine providers consider environmental factors that affect health when evaluating patients and may have additional advanced training in treating mold toxicity.
One of the biggest challenges with mold is that mycotoxins can cause only some people to launch an inflammatory response. This unpredictable response can go on for years after a long-term exposure in a susceptible individual.
How do you test for toxic mold exposure?
All in all, there is no simple way to diagnose mycotoxin illness, but testing is typically the first step. Typically start patients with at-home tests and have a home inspection by a certified mold inspector. At-home tests should only be ordered once the environment is evaluated for the source of mold. The most direct way to test for mold toxicity is a urine test that measures for metabolites of mold and mycotoxins as well as glutathione levels (which can be depleted when you’re exposed to mold). Mold tests have some major drawbacks, including:
- False negatives and false positives are common
- They are not covered by insurance
- You can’t test all toxins — there are hundreds
- The levels found on tests don’t necessarily correlate with the severity of symptoms
These tests clearly aren’t perfect. In fact, sometimes patients who were really sick can have almost nothing show up on the test while their healthy spouse will register values off the charts, so having a clinician that’s willing and able to do some extra investigation into symptoms of mold and toxic mold exposure is key.