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Alzeheimer's Disease
& Mold| In addition: the environment of persons with Alzheimer's should be living in a mold-free environment so that the effects of toxic mold don't complicate and worsen the already deteriorating mental abilities of residents of moldy areas. Below printed is an interesting email letter received by Mold Inspector about toxic mold making matters worse for an Alzheimer's patient. |
Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the gradual spread of sticky plaques and clumps of tangled fibers that disrupt the delicate organization of nerve cells in the brain. As brain cells stop communicating with one another, they atrophy — causing memory and reasoning to fade
1. Tangles and plaques first appear in the entorhinal cortex, an essential memory processing center needed for making new memories and retrieving old ones
2. Over time they move higher, invading the hippocapus, the past of the brain that forms complex memories of events or objects
3. Finally the tangles and plaques reach the top of the brain, or neocortex, the "executive" that sorts through stimuli and orchestrates all behavior. [The above illustration and explanation are from Time's] www.time.com.
Email letter to Mold Inspector about Alzheimer's and Mold Contamination
[July 9, 2003]
Q.
My husband and I have resided in Cambria, California for a little more
than three years. We have been in our present home which is close to the
ocean for two years. For about 8 months my husband has complained to a
physician about having difficulty with remembering peoples names. Last
month, the doctor said that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's
disease. There is a house next door to us, 6 feet between our homes, that
has a siding problem where the siding is deteriorating and there is a
"black matter" that is covering sections of the building. The owners are
aware of the problem with the deterioration of the siding but have
never openly discussed the problem of the "black matter" which is quite
unsightly and has also drawn the attention of the other residents in the
area. It has been so bad at times that they have had to tar patch
the extremely damaged areas and then painted over those areas which they
think makes the damage less obvious. There are certain areas on the
second story of the house that are not easily accessible and are therefore
not tended to and are a concern to our family.
Our
bedroom window, which we leave open at night for comfort, is very close
to a section of the building that has this problem with the "black
matter" on the structure. If
this is possibly a mold problem, could this be injurious to ones health
and is it possible that this may be causing my husband difficulties with
remembering names of people leading a physician to believe that my
husband is in the early stages of Alzheimer's?
I am requesting your opinion to our concern and your recommendation as to
what you feel is best regarding which type of testing can be done to rule
out whether the problem next door could possibly be harmful to our family.
A. Living in or close [in your case] to mold infestation can cause Alzheimer-like brain tissue destruction and make Alzheimer's patients worse from the combination of Alzeheimer's Disease and toxic mold health destruction. Your first step is to collect a sample of that moldy-like substance [with your neighbor's consent, of course] and to submit that sampling to our mold laboratory for mold analysis and identification. It is very possible for mold contamination in the nearby house to cross-contaminate your home and to make your family very sick. Thus, you also need to test all rooms of your home, basement, crawl space, attic, and the air flow out of heating-cooling ducts for possible presence of elevated levels of mold spores, which, if present, are a strong sign that you have an indoor mold problem. You can use either one of Certified Mold Inspectors [ http://www.moldprofession.com ] or use our Do It BEST Yourself mold test kits with our expert mold lab analysis [ http://www.moldmart.net ].
[Aug. 14, 2001]
Q.
I just found your website and read with interest some of your
solutions. We got a call not 2 hours ago on a lab sample we submitted
about 9 days ago. They excitedly told my wife that it showed 50%
stachybotrys, 30% ampycillium, and 20% caystrum? What do I do? We live in
a townhouse, and we are on a lease purchase. We were to close by the end
of September. I discovered the mold when we changed the toilet wax seal in
the upstairs bathroom. There was a slow leak from this that landed on the
kitchen ceiling and caused some black spots. When I called the house
inspector to make a return visit, he punched a hole where the mold was. He
noticed something that looked like dog hair, and ask me if I had given
them a bath recently. It was mold. I was shocked. Now we know it was
really the bad stuff. It seems pretty sure that the lady who owns this
townhouse has no insurance. She let it stay vacant for over a year. The
water was left on. My wife and I have an Alzheimer's patient living with
us. (mother-in-law) She has been acting stranger than normal. As I write
this, she is asking me if I have seen two little kids wandering around. We
have no little kids. She has been very aggressive toward strangers. Do I
need an attorney? A doctor? Help us, please.
A. You need to have a
Certified Mold Remediator find and
remove the toxic mold infestation from your home as soon as possible. To
find one in your area, please visit:
Mold
Remediator.
To find a Certified Mold Inspector or Mold Remediator in your area, or to be trained & certified as a mold inspection, testing, remediation, and prevention expert, please visit: Mold Professional.
Learn to do your own property mold testing and mold remediation--- or become a Certified Mold Inspector & Certified Mold Remediator! For info, please click on: Mold Training.
