Wednesday, October 3, 2012


Mold Illness

For the record, my use of the term "mold illness" needs to be clarified: 

It’s merely an expression for a sub-category of biotoxin illness, a jargon term, a shortcut I use, one that connotes that this illness is an acute and chronic, systemic inflammatory response syndrome acquired following exposure to the interior of a water-damaged building (CIRS) with resident toxigenic organisms, including, but not limited to fungi, bacteria, actinomycetes and mycobacteria as well as inflammagens such as endotoxins, beta glucans, hemolysins, proteinases, mannans, c-type lectins and possibly spirocyclic drimanes, plus volatile organic compounds(VOC's). There is no one element that is a causative of mold illness. It is the end result of countless aspects of innate inflammation merging together.

While molds themselves may be associated with human illness, in my opinion the secondary metabolites of microbial growth and inflammagens from those microbes are of greater overall importance. Until we have a way to identify the specific interaction that each individual component of the "biochemical stew" found inside Water Damaged Buildings can cause, we can only look at exposure to the entire interior environment as the cause of the illness.


-Ritchie Shoemaker, MD

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