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Three hundred years ago in certain parts of Africa, if a man had a rash or a serious cough, it would have been thought to most likely be a spiritual attack. A hundred years ago, it would most likely be thought to be an infection and perhaps maybe still a spiritual attack.
However, in the present day; a continuous sneeze, persistent itching and a whole lot of other illnesses can now be traced to a wide range of causes; from a simple bacterial infection to a complex and maybe untreatable viral infection to a whole lot of others causes. However, a vast majority of these simple illnesses can now be traced to a simple negative reaction by the body to something it does not like, simply called an Allergy.
An Allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction by the body to foreign substances that in similar amounts and circumstances may not affect other people. The substance that causes the allergic reaction is simply referred to as an allergen. It may be a number of things; dust, fur, a particular type of food, bites from particular insects and certain drugs to mention a few.
An allergen varies from person to person meaning that what causes an allergic reaction in Mr. A may not affect Mr. B at all. This is a major reason why it is very important to know one’s specific allergens.
Some symptoms of allergies may include reddening of the eyes, mild and severe itching, runny nose, skin infections and even asthma attacks. Allergies may be deadly in some instances leading to conditions like anaphylactic shocks which may in turn lead to death.
Allergies, as simple as they may seem, contribute a whole lot to worldwide deaths as a result of ignorance, carelessness and the lackadaisical attitude of majority towards their allergens.
The best way to handle allergies is to prevent them. You should learn what your allergens are and avoid them. However, due to the imperfection of man and his inability to have a hundred percent control of his environment, allergens may not be totally avoidable. Therefore, people should try to learn more about the nature of their allergies and their respective first aid treatments.
For example, a man who gets breathing difficulties when exposed to dust or a damp environment should try as much as possible to avoid dusty environments and damp and moldy places. This is because mold spores could irritate him and set up a toxic reaction in his system. He should get face masks, inhalers and over the counter drugs for his condition just in case.
Allergic symptoms may however, persist in some cases; it would then be advisable to seek out a professional medical practitioner to confirm if it is really an allergy and how best to treat it.
Allergic reactions affect a high percentage of the population. In fact, according to the CDC, about 25.7% of adults and 18.9% of children in the US have seasonal allergies. The health system, apart from providing cures can also help the society by the frequent enlightenment of the general masses in order to be more conscious of this individualistic natural selection process of the body. Awareness may reduce the frequent hospital visits due to allergies.
One of the major causes of allergies is mold infestations. If you suspect your home is infested, you should immediately seek help from a professional mold inspection company. The Mold Facts is one of the best mold inspection company in Los Angeles, serving Pasadena, Santa Clarita, Santa Monica, Valencia, Oxnard.
If you have no idea about what mold is and how mold exposure can harm you or your loved ones, you are in the right place. The unwanted growths and patches of many colors and fuzzy smells on the walls of our houses inside and outside is MOLD.
There are hundreds of species and types of molds that make us go through many bad experiences like health problems and property damage. You will find complete information on Mold related allergies and mold exposure and including symptoms and treatment.
Mold is a type of fungus that can grow in any place that holds even a little bit of moisture for a long time. Mold manifests as growths and patches of many colors on the walls of our houses. You may see these patches on the inside or outside. These patches typically have a musty smell.
Many unpleasant connotations of ‘Mold & Fungus’ includes damp basements, water leaks, musty odors, poisonous mushrooms and an athlete’s foot among many others.
But there are also some positive aspects of molds too. Mold is also responsible for the creation of many foods and penicillin. Without the Mold and fungi to break down things, the world as you see it, would be buried in waste and leaves and grass.
Mold causes many allergic reactions, which sometimes result in death. You must know where Mold actually comes from and what it is capable of doing to a human body and your property if precautionary measures are not taken on time.
Mold just seems to appear from nowhere and cause problems in our homes. However, there is more to where it comes from.
Mold spores are everywhere in the air, both indoors and outdoors. They are like tiny seeds that float around waiting for the right conditions to start growing and multiplying. Here are some common conditions that contribute to mold growth:
Other than being unsightly and smelly, mold can cause many potential problems. It damages the things and materials it grows on, compromising the structural integrity of your home.
For the sake of human health mold from all places must be eliminated. Such places include schools, homes, and businesses. It is essential to take care of human health, quality of life and structural integrity by preventing mold from growing indoors.
Various types of mold can trigger allergies, with some being more common than others. These include:
This type of mold species has a pink, orange, or white appearance with a slimy or fuzzy texture. It often grows in humidifiers, cooling coils, drain pans, and window sealants. It can also grow in carpets and on the walls. Acremonium may cause allergic reactions, such as respiratory problems, skin irritation and eye problems.
This mold type is dark brown or greenish-black with a velvety texture. It is commonly found outdoors in soil and plants. It can also be present in damp indoor areas such as basements and showers. Alternaria may cause sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion and asthma attacks.
This mold species is green, black, or yellow in color with a powdery or fuzzy texture. Aspergillus is widespread and can be found indoors and outdoors. It often grows on dust, paint, and building materials. It causes health conditions such as asthma attacks, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA), and other respiratory issues.
Penicillium has a blue-green, white, or yellow appearance with a fuzzy texture. It is popular for its role in the production of the antibiotic penicillin. This mold is common in water-damaged buildings, carpets, and wallpapers. Penicillium can cause skin irritation, eye problems, and respiratory problems.
This mold species is olive green, brown, or black with a suede-like velvety texture. It is commonly found on plants, soil, and decaying organic matter. It can also thrive in indoor environments, especially on fabrics and damp surfaces. Cladosporium can cause sinusitis and asthma attacks.
Drechslera has a pink, orange, or brown appearance with a powdery or fuzzy texture. It is common in plant material, soil, and decaying vegetation. It can become airborne and cause allergies when present indoors. Such allergies include skin irritation, eye problems, and respiratory issues.
This mold species is black with spiky spores, often mistaken for dirt. It is less common than other fungi types but may grow in damp areas indoors. Like other mold species, Epicoccum can cause respiratory problems.
Also, known as black mold, stachybotrys is black and slimy. It is often associated with water-damaged buildings. It can grow on materials like wood and paper.
You can find it on leaky roofs, attics, basements, and walls. This mold type can cause asthma and respiratory problems. Prolonged exposure can lead to more serious health problems
Trichoderma is initially white, turning green as it matures. It has a powdery texture. It grows in soil and on decaying wood. It can also grow on damp surfaces indoors, especially in areas with water damage.
Trichoderma causes respiratory issues, such as sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, and asthma attacks. Skin irritation and eye problems are also possible.
Recognizing signs of mold in your living or working space is crucial, as exposure to mold can lead to allergic reactions and respiratory issues. Here are common indicators of mold presence:
The most obvious sign is the presence of visible mold on surfaces. Mold can appear in various colors, including black, green, white, or brown, and often forms in damp or humid areas.
Mold produces a distinctive musty smell. If you notice a persistent, unpleasant odor, especially in areas prone to dampness, it could indicate the presence of mold even if it is not immediately visible.
Any signs of water leaks, water damage, or dampness in your home or office increase the likelihood of mold growth. Check for water stains on walls, ceilings, or floors, as these areas are conducive to mold development.
Mold can cause paint or wallpaper to peel, crack, or discolor. Pay attention to any changes in the appearance of walls and ceilings, as these may indicate a moisture problem.
Excessive condensation on windows, pipes, or walls can create a conducive environment for mold growth. Monitor these areas, especially in bathrooms, kitchens, and basements.
If you or others in your space experience unexplained allergic symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, itchy eyes, or skin rashes, mold exposure may be the cause.
Prolonged exposure to mold can lead to respiratory problems, including coughing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing. If you have asthma or other respiratory conditions, your symptoms may become worse.
If the air in your space feels consistently stuffy, mold could be a contributing factor. Consider using air purifiers to help reduce airborne mold spores.
Different tests performed indoors and outdoors conditions can tell if there is mold presence in and around the houses or buildings.
Mold tests can compare the indoors and outdoors conditions for a positive or negative result. You will find out if there is mold inside your home even when it is not visible or in closed and inaccessible areas of the house.
Here are common approaches to testing for mold:
A thorough visual inspection of your living or working space can often reveal visible mold growth. A professional inspector will look for mold on walls, ceilings, floors, and areas with water damage.
Air sampling involves collecting air samples to measure the concentration of mold spores in the indoor environment. This can be done through impaction, cassette sampling, or using an air pump.
Surface sampling involves collecting samples from suspect surfaces. This can include swabbing or tape lifting from areas with visible mold. The samples are then analyzed to identify the types and concentrations of mold present.
DIY mold testing kits are available for home use. These kits typically involve collecting air or surface samples and sending them to a laboratory for analysis. While convenient, results may not be as accurate as those obtained through professional testing.
Be sure to use high-quality and reliable mold testing kits. Here are some of the best mold testing kits you can consider.
Mold Armor’s DIY Mold Test Kit is designed for easy and quick mold testing in your home. The kit includes all necessary components to collect samples and provides clear instructions for users.
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ImmunoLytics offers a comprehensive DIY Mold Test Kit designed to detect and quantify mold in indoor environments. The kit provides users with the tools to collect samples easily and send them to a professional laboratory for analysis.
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PRO-LAB’s DIY Mold Test Kit is a budget-conscious option for those looking to assess mold presence in their homes. The kit includes multiple testing methods, providing flexibility for users.
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It is important to consider the limitations of mold testing. The presence of mold spores is not always the cause of any human illness. However, the test may help in the identifying the presence of mold spores at a particular moment in time.
On the other hand, these tests cannot tell the exact time when a human is exposed to the mold spores. And at times even presence of the spores does not mean exposure. Mold spores being present it in the air does not mean these spores are also inhaled.
As already mentioned, mold can quickly grow in damp and moist indoor environments. People who spend their most of time such environments complain about experiencing health problems. These health problems include respiratory effects, headaches and many other physical symptoms.
Mold produces allergens, (allergy-causing substances) that are irritating for sensitive individuals. Mold itself is not toxic. However, it produces mycotoxins that are harmful to your health.
In a study by IOM (The Institute of Medicine) found that a person will most of the time never get allergic or show any changes in health after staying in a damp indoor place for a long time. But experts also pointed out the chances of getting respiratory illness: cough, asthma symptoms, wheeze, and nose and throat symptoms.
The study also found little evidence against the claims like shortness of breath and asthma problems in people who never had such issues. The same study also found no evidence or symptoms of shortness of breath in healthy children after staying in damp indoor places for a long time.
Many claims of other symptoms like irritation, cancer, lung disease, and skin problems were rejected. But other health effects led to a conclusion of making damp indoor places a subject to discuss for a public health problem.
These other health effects include:
Hypersensitive pneumonitis is also reported as a result of long-term exposure to mold-affected areas. Vulnerable people with this particular kind of immunological condition are the targets of mold toxins, which has an effect similar to pneumonia. But conclusive evidence is yet to be found.
Numerous studies have explored the diverse health effects associated with mold exposure, particularly in relation to respiratory allergies and asthma. The presence of various factors in damp indoor environments makes it challenging to conclusively attribute respiratory issues to mold.
Determining whether respiratory symptoms are directly caused by mold and its spores or by other factors requires a comprehensive evaluation. Before implicating mold as the primary culprit for conditions like asthma, a systematic process of elimination is crucial.
Patients undergo an assessment to identify pre-existing health issues and illnesses that may coincide with mold exposure. Only after eliminating other potential causes is the possibility of mold-induced illness considered.
A medical diagnosis is required to decide whether the patient is suffering from asthma, infection or allergic reaction. These diagnoses can sometimes never tell what triggered the actual allergic reaction, infection or asthma problem.
In some cases, individuals may test positive for mold allergies without exhibiting symptoms. Nevertheless, the treatment procedure remains the same regardless of the trigger.
To understand why an individual may develop symptoms resembling mold-related issues, an environmental assessment can be conducted. This assessment aims to determine if the affected person has been exclusively exposed to mold in a specific location, ruling out other potential triggers. Some respiratory conditions that may develop due to mold exposure include:
It is a lung disease and best known as “Farmer’s lung,” because of the association with the tremendous amount of exposure to the fungi and found in grain and feed. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is not limited to agricultural settings. It is also linked to bird droppings and exposure to mold toxins in homes and damp environments.
When mold becomes a prominent factor in causing hypersensitivity pneumonitis, a crucial aspect of treatment involves removing individuals from environments that pose a high risk to their health.
There is no doubt that removing people from damp places solves the problems for many. Instances have been observed where individuals developed symptoms upon exposure to damp environments and experienced significant relief when removed from such settings.
The risk of respiratory problems increases because of spending time in buildings affected by dampness and mold. But this is yet to be proved. There are many other fungal infections that are actually not a result of direct exposure to any kind of mold or its emissions. Such conditions include:
Apart from allergens, mold can cause other health effects to vulnerable people. For example, mold can cause skin and mucus membrane infections. However, other than people with a special kind of immune deficiency against mold, it causes no systematic infections to people.
There are many guidelines and techniques to remove Mold and keep your places dry to stop any mold activity inside your house of any other building space.
Some of the prevention tips from Mold are:
To mitigate mold-related issues, it is advisable to recycle or promptly dispose of unused and unwanted papers and books. By doing so, you minimize the potential for mold to infiltrate and compromise the integrity of these items.
Allergy tests are different types of tests that are used to find out whether or not a person is allergic to a certain substance, toxin, food, or medication.
Skin testing is the most effective method of diagnosing allergic diseases. The test is simple to perform, quick and effective. The skin contains some cells involved in the allergic processes, the same as those located in the nostrils or in the lung (Langerhans cells).
These cells can therefore also react with allergens, the substances that precipitate an allergic reaction. Therefore, skin testing aims at reproducing a local reaction with the possible allergy-causing agent.
What is the Prick Test?
The Prick Test is a diagnostic procedure designed to identify potential allergens causing a patient’s allergy. This test involves applying drops of various allergen extracts to the forearms and using a lancet to prick the skin, allowing a small portion of the drop to penetrate.
The result is the formation of a papule, a slightly swollen and red area, at the site of the suspected allergen. While the Prick Test is suitable for individuals of any age, it’s worth noting that visualizing and assessing the results in individuals with dark skin can be more challenging.
Before starting a Prick Test, the patient should be informed about the technique, banishing the general fear that all allergy tests are performed by needle pricks.
What is the Prick-Prick test?
This allergy test is a variant of the Prick Test. It is called Prick by prick or prick-prick and is performed using natural products directly, not commercially available extracts. It is a very common test for patients with food allergy. This is why sometimes the allergist asks the patient to bring a sample of certain foods (raw and/or cooked) to the next appointment for this test.
What are intradermal tests?
These tests are called intracutaneous, better known as intradermal (ID) tests. The allergen is administered into the outer layers of the skin using a needle such as an insulin needle. The advantage of the intradermal injection is that it is more reproducible and more sensitive.
Intradermal allergy tests are more likely to be used when they are being done to find out if the patient is allergic to something specific, such as bee venom or drugs in the beta-lactam family, such as penicillin, cephalosporins, carbapenems, etc.
They are usually done when the Prick Test performed is negative. Sometimes they require a late reading, at 24 and 48 hours, depending on the patient’s previous history.
What are epicutaneous tests?
The epicutaneous diagnostic tests, or patch tests, are the only specific tests to identify the substances that cause allergic contact dermatitis.
What is a provocation or controlled exposure test?
Provocation type allergy tests are performed when the diagnosis has not been reached with skin tests or blood tests. They serve to confirm that a medication, which may be important to use in the future, is well tolerated. They are never performed with the intention of causing a serious adverse reaction.
They involve the administration of increasing doses of a drug given by mouth, injected into a vein, or injected intramuscularly or subcutaneously, with an interval of 1 hour between doses. It is done with great caution and under the strict control of health personnel.
Controlled exposure tests, in addition to medication, can be performed with food. It consists of administering the suspected food, initially in a small amount and then with larger amounts, always under medical control, to act quickly if necessary. It is used as a decisive diagnosis and also to determine food tolerance.
How is a conjunctival provocation done?
This involves introducing a drop of the suspected allergen into one of the conjunctivae (in one of the eyes) at different concentrations, and comparing it with the other conjunctiva after 15 minutes.
The conjunctival provocation test is performed to confirm the diagnosis that conjunctivitis is actually due to an allergy.
Are these procedures risky?
Allergy testing procedures do have risks. That is why it is important that all procedures are performed under strict medical supervision.
During the test, allergic reactions such as the one that caused the consultation may occur; to a lesser, equal or greater extent. Allergic reactions can occur in:
These reactions can appear immediately or after a few hours. The patient must remain under observation in the hospital for the necessary time.
At Fun Guy Mold Inspectors, we employ a highly professional approach to ensure the removal of mold with precision. We deliver quality and value to our clients. Our comprehensive mold removal process covers every nook and cranny, mitigating the risk of future mold-related issues. Here’s how we can assist you:
Our mold inspections are conducted with expertise, utilizing the insights of third-party professionals. This ensures a thorough examination, leaving no area unchecked. Post-inspection, our team addresses any lingering concerns, clearing the site for subsequent construction or other purposes.
As a certified mold inspection company, Fun Guy Mold Inspectors boasts a team of skilled mold inspectors. Our experts specialize in various aspects, offering assistance in testing for mold allergens and identifying other mold-related health problems, such as asthma and biological particulates that can trigger allergy symptoms.
Our services go beyond mere mold removal. We conduct inspections to identify environmental conditions conducive to mold growth, pinpointing potential triggers for allergy and asthma-related symptoms. By addressing both the root causes and immediate concerns, we provide a holistic solution to mold-related issues.
Allergy Test Today > > Call 888.470.0470.
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This guideline from ASHRAE gives facility managers and building operating staff a strong foundation on which to improve the performance of all buildings. “Modern air conditioning systems protect the health, comfort and productivity of building occupants,” ASHRAE Presidential Member Bill Harrison Attention all Facility Managers and Building Operators, Updated 04-09-2012.