allergic to mold vs. suffering from toxicity?

[Guest guest]

Would you please define for me the

difference between being allergic > to mold vs. suffering from

toxicity?

Date: 12-01-2001 01:08

By:ph P. Klein, Sr., M.D.

You have asked an excellent and difficult question. I will answer it

from a clinical point of view from my own experiences, from

experience gained by discussing symptoms with those afflicted and

from my reading of the literature.

Allergic symptoms to mold would include sneezing; a running and

itchy

nose; watering and itching of the eyes; nasal stuffiness;

respiratory

symptoms such as wheezing and coughing, especially in asthmatics;

itching of the skin.

Toxic symptoms are due to mycotoxins on the mold spores. They can

include: memory loss ; attention deficit/concentration problems ;

personality changes such as irritability or depression; neurological

disorders such as tremors; tingling or burning of nose, mouth;

chronic fatigue; dizziness; nausea/vomiting; bleeding in the lungs;

suppression of the immune system; headache; flu-like symptoms; red

eyes (without watering or itching); incoordination; muscle spasms

and cramps; damage to internal organs. Toxic symptoms from these

mycotoxins have similarities to toxic symptoms from poisoning.

Stachybotrys spores produce multiple mycotoxins, including

trichothecenes. Trichothecenes have been produced commercially for

use in biological warfare. These are strong neurotoxins. Mycotoxins

are nearly all cytotoxic, disrupting various cellular structures

such

as membranes, and interfering with vital cellular processes such as

protein, RNA and DNA synthesis

If you were to meet a person suffering from allergy to mold, that

person would most likely complain of symptoms similar to those

of `hay fever'. Those symptoms are detailed above under " allergic

symptoms " . The symptoms would most likely be described as annoying

(with varying degrees of annoyance); they would not, however, be

described as devastating. Their symptoms would be rather straight

forward , easily observable and easily understandable.

If you were to meet a person suffering from toxicity due to mold

mycotoxins, your first impression might be that the person is

affected by a mental problem. Your first thought might be that the

person would be best off consulting a psychiatrist or a

psychologist. The person might have a lot of vague symptoms –

symptoms way out of proportion to what you could observe – symptoms

that might be difficult for the affected person to explain and for

you to understand. But, the underling theme, if you listened

carefully, would be that of toxicity. Most likely the toxic person

would complain of extreme fatigue, weakness, tiredness, flu-like

symptoms, and often respiratory problems: but not usually coughing

or

wheezing. Instead, he/she would complain of terrible burning or

soreness in his/her lungs, possibly aggravated with exertion or

exercise. And, instead of telling you that the experience was one of

annoyance (to a lesser or greater degree) as allergy sufferers would

tell you, the toxic sufferer would more likely describe her/his

experience as a hellish nightmare.

The toxic sufferer's behavior would more likely be that of a frantic

effort to get away from the contaminated source and an almost

paranoiac effort to rid themselves of contaminated materials. This

is in stark contrast to the allergic sufferer who would most likely

find the offending mold to be more of a nuisance rather than a

substance sent from hell.

I hope this will be of help to you.

ph P. Klein, Sr., M.D.