Mold-related illness is an area of medical science that is only recently beginning to be spotlighted. Today, more and more people are being exposed to water damaged and mold infested buildings, due in part by global warming and poverty. Moreover, newer high tech “tight buildings” with inadequate ventilation are exacerbating the problem.
◙ By law, buildings can be condemned due to mold infestation. However, the people exposed and harmed are not recognized by the medical community as being ill from this mold exposure. Many unwittingly have become permanently injured, as well as financially destitute due to medical and remediation expenses.
◙ The medical community is minimally informed about the apparent dangers from mold exposure. It is currently NOT the standard of care to even ask whether a patient was exposed, let alone run tests for such exposure, or more importantly, provide education and training on how to recognize and/or prevent such exposure.
◙ For decades, anecdotal reports have coupled human disease with intense or chronic mold exposure, especially in flood damaged areas, as caused by hurricane Katrina.
◙ Diagnosing mold infection is difficult and often inductive even with the finest medical procedures and laboratories. In the best medical institutions, it is difficult to prove scientifically that mold is present in tissues even with optimal samples. Molds are both difficult to detect by microscopy and to grow in the laboratory from human specimens. Better diagnostic methods are urgently needed.
◙ Although research in animals on infectious complications and toxic effects of the dangerous molds is substantial, research defining the medical impact on humans is scarce due to ethical restraints. Both the public and medical communities remain largely uninformed. Funding for this serious public health threat remains sparse.
◙ By law, buildings can be condemned due to mold infestation. However, the people exposed and harmed are not recognized by the medical community as being ill from this mold exposure. Many unwittingly have become permanently injured, as well as financially destitute due to medical and remediation expenses.
◙ The medical community is minimally informed about the apparent dangers from mold exposure. It is currently NOT the standard of care to even ask whether a patient was exposed, let alone run tests for such exposure, or more importantly, provide education and training on how to recognize and/or prevent such exposure.
◙ For decades, anecdotal reports have coupled human disease with intense or chronic mold exposure, especially in flood damaged areas, as caused by hurricane Katrina.
◙ Diagnosing mold infection is difficult and often inductive even with the finest medical procedures and laboratories. In the best medical institutions, it is difficult to prove scientifically that mold is present in tissues even with optimal samples. Molds are both difficult to detect by microscopy and to grow in the laboratory from human specimens. Better diagnostic methods are urgently needed.
◙ Although research in animals on infectious complications and toxic effects of the dangerous molds is substantial, research defining the medical impact on humans is scarce due to ethical restraints. Both the public and medical communities remain largely uninformed. Funding for this serious public health threat remains sparse.
