'Hysteria' and sick buildings

[Guest guest]

This has been a great debate with people arguing from different

perspectives but basically agreeing that there is a health problem

for some people when they encounter elevated levels of airborne

irritants such as mold spores, often in certain buildings.

The strong reactions people are expressing on this list are borne of

intense frustration that no-one seems to want to help them - that is

the function in part of these lists - I help run one specialising in

Aspergillus health problems and it seems very therapeutic to some of

the participants.

Much anger in my opinion is caused by the very nature of science and

medicine. In the main medicine will wait until a clear disease or

syndrome has been described and authenticated by the scientific

process. This process can be very slow and in the meantime there is

a 'vacuum of information' into which pour many people who have not

been helped by the medical profession despite suffering greatly from

some unknown agent of malaise.

Frustration is intensified when the first reports of progress are

published suggesting a cause for some of the suffering - in this case

it is molds (there are many more examples - chronic fatigue syndrome

was at this stage 10-15 years ago in the UK). Everyone looks at the

predicted symptoms and sees some that they suffer from and of course

take an intense interest as they have been thrown a lifeline of a

possible cure. Some may have found the cause of their particular

health problem and some may not, but everyone wants answers now.

In the case of Aspergillus & some others I notice that there seem to

be many more reports being published on this subject now than there

were even a year ago - the scientific process has started to

accelerate in this field, it will get more attention and more funding

over the next few years (especially with all the extra

attention 'hysterical' people generate) - there is much hope for

sufferers to look forward to over the next 5 - 10 years.

In the meantime if sick buildings make you sick and time spent away

from those buildings makes you feel better then get out of that

building. I realise that this is far from a simple solution for many

people but in all honesty I cannot see that it is ever going to be

healthy to stay in an environment full of dust that you are allergic

to and who knows what effect toxins made by mould and bacteria are

having - maybe none, maybe a significant health effect for

particularly badly polluted buildings.

There are several useful articles on sick buildings on the website I

help run at http://www.aspergillus.man.ac.uk/patients. I would

appreciate any suggestions for additions to the website on this

subject - we are an independant charity-funded website whose sole aim

is to provide good information for people suffering from Aspergillus

diseases, and that may include the sick building scenario.