Understanding Environmentally Acquired Illness.
How can mould affect your health?
It’s important to state that we at Mould Focus aren’t medically trained practitioners, so don’t offer medical advice! We should also point out that there are potentially other particles within your indoor air pollution, such as bacteria, VOC’s and other allergens, that have the potential to cause ill health. However, Mould growth within a building has long since been linked with poor health and property damage.
How does mould survive inside your home?
Mould spores are everywhere and there is a complex relationship between mould and the indoor environment.
Mould needs a food source and moisture to grow. Where these conditions are present, moulds can germinate and colonise.
Spores can germinate after only 12 hours in some conditions and some grow in 24 to 48 hours.
Unfortunately, houses offer an ample food supply for moulds including plasterboard, wood, insulation and paper.
When the materials become damp, settled spores can become growing moulds and potentially toxic.
When surface mould is disturbed, mould spores become airborne and can enter the human body through inhalation and touch.
Mould Focus follows international standards, are accredited remediators and are able to help you protect your home and improve your health.
SURVIVING MOULD
If you have made it this far into the website the chances are you may be experiencing health conditions that aren’t commonly known. Although it’s gaining awareness, many people and doctors in the U.K are still unaware that exposure to mouldy environments may cause more than respiratory issues. There are many medical practitioners that are here to help, armed with many new studies available to help them treat you. Mould Focus work alongside many physicians, nutritionists, naturopaths and psychologists, based in both the U.K and America, with a wealth of experience treating mould or Building Related illnesses. Our role at Mould Focus is to identify mould growth and give the correct recommendations on how to reduce the risk of mould exposure and poor health.
Ritchie Shoemaker, MD, is one of the leading physicians and researchers studying illness related to mould exposure. He has written extensively on how mould exposure contributes to a range of health problems including CIRS. CIRS stands for Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and is sometimes referred to as Mould Biotoxin Illness.
Dr Ritchie Shoemaker’s websites and books are the go-to resource for anyone suffering from biotoxin illness as well as for medical professionals treating the condition. Certification in the ’11-Step Shoemaker Protocol’ is available through www.survivingmould.com which is where many patients go to first when seeking treatment for biotoxin illness.
Step 1 of the 11-Step Shoemaker Protocol is to ‘Identify and eliminate mould exposure’
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World Health Organisation.
The World Health Organisation States “Healthy indoor air is recognised as a basic right. People spend a large part of their time each day indoors: in homes, offices, schools, health care facilities, or other private or public buildings. The quality of the air they breathe in those buildings is an important determinant of their health and well-being. The inadequate control of indoor air quality therefore creates a considerable health burden.”
“Sufficient epidemiological evidence is available from studies conducted in different countries and under different climatic conditions to show that the occupants of damp or mouldy buildings, both houses and public buildings, are at increased risk of respiratory symptoms, respiratory infections and exacerbation of asthma. Some evidence suggests increased risks of allergic rhinitis and asthma. Although few intervention studies are available, their results show that remediation of dampness problems can reduce adverse health outcomes. There is clinical evidence that exposure to mould and other dampness-related microbial agents increases the risks of rare conditions, such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis, allergic alveolitis, chronic rhinosinusitis and allergic fungal sinusitis. Toxicological evidence obtained in vivo and in vitro supports these findings, showing the occurrence of diverse inflammatory and toxic responses after exposure to microorganisms – including their spores, metabolites and components – isolated from damp buildings. While groups such as atopic and allergic people are particularly susceptible to biological and chemical agents in damp indoor environments, adverse health effects have also been found in nonatopic populations.”
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NHS.
The NHS answers the question “Can damp and mould affect my health?”
“Yes, if you have damp and mould in your home you’re more likely to have respiratory problems, respiratory infections, allergies or asthma. Damp and mould can also affect the immune system”
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British Lung Foundation.
The British Lung Foundation says “You probably know it can be harmful to breathe in polluted air when you’re outside. The same is true for when you’re indoors. We spend about 90% of our time indoors – at home, work, school, or when we go to shops or restaurants”
“Indoor air pollution is dust, dirt, or gases in the air inside buildings such as your home or workplace that could be harmful to breathe in. Poor indoor air quality has been linked to lung diseases like asthma, COPD and lung cancer. It has also been linked to increased risk of heart disease and stroke.”