Introduction
“Living there was making me sick”
How often have we felt sick because of our environment? Damp and humid environments have always been something that humans try to avoid for their home or office. Musty and unkept dwellings have generally made people feel itchy, unwell, tired or uncomfortable. A bad smell in a house is usually a sign of toxic conditions.
A good building is well lit, airy, watertight and dry, well-ventilated and regularly cleaned. Under conditions of humidity, water seeping up the walls from the ground (rising damp) providing a home for microbes in our environment to flourish. A dark house with stagnant airflow can do the same. These organisms release toxins into the environment, harming our health slowly and quietly.
Typically, such houses or workplaces might breed small yeasts called mold. They are often a stain like colour or look dark or green on a wall or surface. Often they exist in pipes, behind air conditioners or furniture. Mold toxicity can lead to chronic symptoms for a person that are summarised as ‘Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome’ (CIRS) but we can refer to it generically as mold toxicity.
Note: CIRS sounds similar to Systemic Inflammatory Response System; This is a term use for septic shock whereby a patient has unstable blood pressure and needs hospital treatment. CIRS is a different entity related to mold but it sounds similar.
What is CIRS?
CIRS is a condition linked to environmental toxicity that causes fatigue, low sex hormones, obesity, frequent urination and gut problems.
How is CIRS caused?
When toxins enter the body, the body will employ the immune system to get rid of them. The body has a lot of trouble getting rid of toxins and so they often circulate around different pathways over time. Toxins from microbes in our environment are often called biotoxins.
In this process, the immune system gets activated or ‘switched on’ endlessly. The immune system then sends alarm signals to the rest of the body which have an effect on the hormone control centre in the brain, called the hypothalamus. Generally, under stress, these hormones are produced less effectively.
The hypothalamus controls thyroid hormone, sex hormones such as testosterone and oestrogen, adrenal gland hormones such as cortisol and also moderates the gut and immune system.
Biotoxins displace the leptin receptor in the hypothalamus; they bring down levels of a hormone called Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone or MSH.
This disruption to the hypothalamus and MSH has many effects; it encourages estrogen by enhancing aromatase (an enzyme that turns testosterone to estrogen in the body), toxin buildup (causing thirst and pee a lot), dysregulation of the water-retaining role of the kidney, production of cortisol and thus energy management and a reduction in testosterone.
This will lead to an increasing insulin due to the stress on the body
A patient may have minimal or flagrant amounts of these metabolic derangements in relation to a home mold infestation.
Summary
- Biotoxins stay in the body a long time
- The immune system gets activated
- The hormone glands do not work as well
- Biotoxins cause a hormone shift with MSH
- This leads to more estrogen, getting thirsty, lower energy
- This can cause insulin which makes us tired
You can read about relevant health topics by clicking the articles below:
- Insulin resistance
What are the symptoms of CIRS?
CIRS can often feel like being constantly run down, tired, achey and miserable. It has a lot of overlap with chronic fatigue syndrome and depression.
Those suffering from CIRS often describe:
- Difficulty with daytime energy
- Poor quality sleep
- Low testosterone
- Loss of muscle and vitality
- Chronic pain
- Gut problems.
CIRS mimics many other conditions in the body and may overlap with other issues; this is a diagnosis to consider after excluding other causes of similar symptoms.
How is CIRS diagnosed?
Firstly, alternative causes for these symptoms will be sought by a general checkup. Have a think about hormones, vitamins, gut issues, chronic infections and start to look for other causes.
If all other possibilities have been excluded and there is a suspicion for mold exposure, certain blood tests may aid an advanced diagnosis. They include:
- TGF Beta -1
- C4a
- MMP-9
- AGE (Heated unstable oils, fats)
- Mycotoxin urine test
Ultimately, the testing does not always confirm the diagnosis and these tests are not routinely performed in general practice.
What are the treatments for CIRS?
The first step is to deal with the toxins in the environment. Consider getting a professional cleaner or building biologist; these are professionals skilled in detecting mold and dusts and removing them from your home. It is important to remove the toxin as the first step in getting better.
Secondly, the individual should be seen by a health care provider to look for specific causes or contributory causes to the symptoms. This means a general check up to see what other things are contributing to the symptoms.
Thirdly, the patient should be educated on lifestyle treatments such as healthy eating and sleeping to enhance their body’s capacity to detox.
Finally, specific treatments are used based on the situation.
What specific treatments will help with mold toxicity?
Some treatments will focus on enhancing the body’s ability to detox; such as glutathione, broccoli powder, dandelion root, Cliver’s compound, echinacea (and many more) which all have an effect on detoxification pathways.
What this means is that these treatments will help remove the toxin from the body and help the body’s own defences and recovery when dealing with toxins.
Based on what the toxin is likely to be, specific treatments may be employed like charcoal or cholestyramine.
Cholestyramine is an old medication used for gall bladder issues. It is positively charged and is able to bind negatively charged compounds. Mould toxin is positively charged and thus the cholestyramine helps clear the toxins and is commonly employed alongside liver detox methods.
Finally, if mold is suspected, antifungals such as itraconazole or veroconazole may be used. This is to ensure that any fungus living in your gut is killed and removed.
