Mold in Europe Questions

I know some mold illness patients in the UK say that it's worse than the US because so many houses are much older, but the newer houses in the US are made from materials that grow the more toxic molds, so it might just be different species of mold creating any differences people notice. (For example, Stachybotrys loves to grow on the drywall used in newer construction but not on the plaster in older construction.) Every location with humidity above 60% will be growing mold of some sort because it's a part of the natural environment.

The Shoemaker protocol is not used very often anymore, but Shoemaker did some important work publicizing the issue of mold illness, and identifying biomarkers and symptoms that comprise CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome). Some follow the Brewer Protocol for mold treatment instead. Personally I found Neil Nathan's perspective in the book Toxic to be enormously helpful.

It makes sense to try to figure out whether you are being exposed to mold in your living space. Lots of things increase the amount of mold in a space, especially any history of roof leaks or plumbing leaks, indoor humidity above 60% (including basements), carpets, and old or secondhand furniture that might be contaminated. You can test your living space with a dust cloth collection kit from Mycometrics, and that will show you all of the molds present in your home and their amounts. (They do ship to Europe.)

Aspergillus fumigatus can also colonize the body if someone has a weakened immune system, so you might want to try antifungal drugs or herbs that target that specific fungus and then use binders to help move it out of your system once you are no longer being exposed.

I have been doing a bit more digging into this topic and wanted to share what I have found

While i haven't found anything that fully contradicts what I posted above regarding my scepticism of general hidden and systemic distributed mold colonisation in people with lyme, it does seem there is at least some evidence for colonisation of the nasal passages with mold species.

It should be noted that even this evidence is not complete - more suggestive - there are for instance no studies I have found showing actual fungal growths up there - but proxies to suggest some form of colonisation have been found.
These proxies include mold species being cultured from the nasal swabbings or discharges of sick peoples noses - which in itself is not super surprising - as we are all inhaling countless fungal spores all the time - but the study also found evidence of allergic reactions in the mucous in the same patients – suggesting these peoples immune systems were reacting strongly to the presence of the fungal species.

Other studies found anti mitochondrial antibodies in persons suffering with history or mold exposure / exposure to water damaged buildings. There have also been studies showing peoples mold toxin levels have stayed elevated long after they have been removed form the area of exposure – suggesting there might be some ongoing internal source of such toxins in these patients.

So, its still not fully clear what exactly is going on up there (despite surgeons going in there and having a good look around / removing tissue etc) – whether these people really have an actual live colony of fungal species in their nasal passages, perhaps combined with bacterial species in a biofilms – or whether they are simply reacting to the presence of spores from the air we breathe and have perhaps suboptimal ability to detoxify these mycotoxins.

So if there is any colonisation in humans with these species - it seems the nasal passages are the most likely place for it to take up residence – rather than a systemic infection.

This blog article by Dr Todd Maderis details some of the evidence for chronic sinus infections with fungal species. He is certainly a believer. he treats it with nebulised antifungals and EDTA to break up biofilms.
https://drtoddmaderis.com/sinus-colonization-in-mold-illness

small study - 6 of 6 patients with history of mold exposure have anti mitochondrial antibodies https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32088666/

larger study - Fungal cultures of nasal secretions were positive in 202 (96%) of 210 consecutive chronic rhinosinusitis patients. Allergic mucin was found in 97 (96%) of 101 consecutive surgical cases of CRS
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10488788/

i found it interesting - and it diverged enough from what i had already posted that i thought it was worth updating

i hope its of some help