The connection between mold and asthma has recently received some long overdue attention. If you or anyone you know has asthma, this is important.
Asthma is a very common and often very serious allergic disease. It can and does kill some people. Even when it isn’t life-threatening, struggling to breathe is just no fun at all. The rate of asthma has risen markedly in recent decades. Some of that is about exposures and some of it is about NOT being exposed to things that help children’s immune systems develop properly.
The underexposure side of the problem is known as the Hygiene Hypothesis. I’ve been writing about it for years (and) as a factor in the massive rise in asthma.
By the way – a hypothesis is an unproven theory. We need to change the name as the Hygiene Hypothesis is now well-established. The HH is NOT a hypothesis any more. Being around dirt, bacteria, catching some minor illnesses and avoiding antibiotics is the wisdom confirmed by the HH.
The Hygiene Hypothesis is about prevention and that makes it important. But what sets off asthma in somebody who already has the disease? There are many environmental allergens that trigger asthma attacks, including all kinds of well-known ones like pollens and animal exposures. The lesser known ones like electromagnetic field exposures and acetaminophen (TYLENOL) are more likely to be more subtly disturbing. The powerful connection between mold and asthma is becoming clearer. It is a big deal because mold is everywhere.
People with asthma don’t just respond to one allergen. One the one hand there are the 1) long term unsettling influences and the 2) push you over the edge ones.
The push you over the edge exposures are easier to identify because of the timing. After person is exposed, he or she quickly develops symptoms. The connection is obvious.
The underlying destabilizing factors, those long-term problem creators, are harder to figure out because they don’t announce themselves so dramatically. They are actually more important though. Foods and dust mites are biggies in that chronically disturbing category. Without the chronic disturbance they create, a person wouldn’t be sensitive to the acute, easy to recognize, exposure. Of course, as always, things are not quite so tidily black and white. The chronic disturbers can sometimes also create immediate problems, especially when the person with asthma has a huge exposure.
About a year ago, a study appeared showing that mold and asthma were a significant problem for men. That study didn’t confirm that women were also at risk.
An article just appeared in which the authors review all the pertinent studies published on mold and asthma since 1990 (17 studies in all). They found good evidence demonstrating the mold and asthma connections in a couple of ways for children and for adults, without regard to gender. They found that the likelihood of initially developing asthma was strongest with the highest environmental concentrations of specific mold species (Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Cladosporium). They also discovered a correlation between the highest levels of specific mold species (Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Alternaria) and the worst asthma symptoms.
This is exciting because it so strongly supports the connection between mold and asthma. Their recognition of the impact of specific mold species could be the real breakthrough. Molds are everywhere and it is impossible to entirely eliminate them. However, if only certain species of mold are at issue, reducing their concentrations is much more doable.
Carrying this even further, I return to my pet idea of environmental probiotics. Just like we can’t rid our bodies of micro-organisms, including bacteria and fungi/mold, the same is true of the environment. Something, some living organism, WILL take the place of those we eliminate. However, we are much more able to shift the balance of the organisms. Maybe we can make things better for patients, addressing the mold and asthma problem, by not only lowering mold levels overall but also by supporting good molds over the bad molds.