The Fundamentals of Mold-Related Illness: When to Suspect the Environment is Making a Patient Sick

Fung, Frederick; Hughson, William G.

doi:10.3810/pgm.2008.04.1764

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…87 However, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refutes the association between S. altra and severe illness based on lack of evidence and poor aerosolization of the fungus. 88 The Post-Gazette correctly pointed out that the most common symptoms of mold exposure are allergic and respiratory. The person featured in the articles experienced morning headaches, sore throat, and fatigue.…”

Section: Moldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…88 Contact with the nasal mucosa and conjunctiva may stimulate the trigeminal nerve causing local discomfort. Trigeminal stimulation may be the mechanism for headache associated with molds in this context.…”

Section: Moldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The consensus from the medical community is that mold-related illness is exaggerated and most claims are characterized by absence of objective evidence of disease or distinctive pathology. 88,[93][94][95] Unfortunately, most "epidemiologic studies" regarding indoor mold exposure lack a control group, are based on self-reporting rather than examination, and do not implicate any particular type of mold. The odor of mold may trigger headaches but there is no convincing evidence that mold is related to migraine.…”

Section: Moldmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Migraine and the Environment

2009

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Migraineurs often describe environmental triggers of their headaches, such as barometric pressure change, bright sunlight, flickering lights, air quality, and odors. Environmental aspects of indoor space and workplaces are also implicated in migraine experience. Comprehensive migraine treatment programs emphasize awareness and avoidance of trigger factors as part of the therapeutic regimen. As migraine has a substantial economic impact, remediation of correctable environmental triggers may benefit employee attendance and productivity among migraineurs. Few controlled studies in the literature, however, confirm environmental influences on migraine and headaches. Although some are controversial, migraineurs worldwide consistently report similar environmental triggers. This article addresses commonly mentioned environmental triggers with a discussion of their pathophysiology and proposed preventive measures. Objective: To examine the epidemiological evidence for commonly‐mentioned environmental migraine triggers, discuss their possible role in the pathophysiology of migraine and propose preventive measures to avoid or minimize exposure. Background: Migraineurs often describe environmental triggers of their headaches, such as barometric pressure change, bright sunlight, flickering lights, air quality and odors. Environmental aspects of indoor space and workplaces are also implicated in the migraine experience. As migraine has a substantial economic impact, remediation of correctable environmental triggers may improve attendance and productivity among migraineurs in the workplace. Methods: We reviewed the literature addressing indoor and outdoor environmental factors which are commonly implicated as migraine triggers. Results: Although some factors are controversial, migraineurs worldwide consistently report similar environmental triggers. However, few studies confirm environmental influences on migraine and headaches. Research to date indicates that migraineurs have lower thresholds for light‐induced discomfort, sine grating distortion and illusions, noise tolerance and olfactory sensitivity compared to the general population. Conclusion: There are conflicting studies supporting the validity of patient‐reported environmental migraine triggers. Prospective studies are needed to determine the extent that external stimuli influence the migraine process. Decreased thesholds for light, noise, olfactory and visual stimuli in migraineurs may be minimized by modifying the work, home and classroom settings.

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Section: Moldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moldmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Migraine and the Environment

2009

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“…It was estimated that 250 million episodes per year of respiratory infection in the United States could be attributed to bioaerosol exposure (Cox and Wathes 1995). The relationship between the microbial contamination of air and negative health effects, including lung irritation, rhinitis, cough and asthma, has been reported in many studies (Burge 1990;Spengler et al 1993;Koskinen et al 1995;Fung and Hughson 2003;Herr et al 2003;Fung and Hughson 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Sampling Time on the Overall Performance of Portable Microbial Impactors

Mainelis¹,

Tabayoyong²

2010

Aerosol Science and Technology

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In this study we analyzed the sampling time effect on the overall performance of seven portable impactors (SMA MicroPortable, BioCulture, Microflow, MAS-100, Millipore Air Tester, SAS Super 180, and RCS High Flow) as well as a stationary impactor (BioStage) when collecting airborne bacteria and fungi from 2 to 30 minutes indoors and outdoors. Their performance was compared against the reference BioStage impactor collecting samples for 2 minutes. When bacteria were collected outdoors, the average concentration ratio of all test samplers relative to the reference sampler was 0.64, but it decreased to 0.04 when bacteria were collected for 2 min first and subsequently exposed to particle-free air for 28 min (30 min total sampling time). For fungi, the average concentration ratio decreased from 0.35 to 0.03 under the same conditions. When the test impactors sampled particle-free air first and then collected bioaerosols outdoors for 2 min, the concentration ratio for bacteria averaged for all test samplers decreased from 0.77 (agar plates not exposed to particle-free air and particles collected for 2 min) to 0.04 (agar plates exposed to particle-free air for 28 min first and then particles collected for 2 min). For fungi, the relative recovery averaged for all samplers decreased from 0.45 to 0.03 under the same conditions. The effects of sampling time and impactor model were statistically significant for all experimental conditions. Thus, the data obtained in this study suggest that when impactors are used for the collection of airborne bacteria and fungi, sampling times should be as short as reasonably possible to minimize the under-representation of airborne microorganism concentration which could be a factor of 10 or higher for prolonged sampling times.

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“…In particular, excessive fungal growth may cause allergies, mycotoxicoses or serious mycoses Fung and Hughson, 2008 . Levels of fungal spores in the ambient air have been correlated with the number of asthma patient visiting to the emergency department Dales et al, 2000 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Fungi from an Indoor Environment using Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) Method

Nakayama¹,

Yamazaki²,

Yo³

et al. 2017

Biocontrol Sci.

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Loop-mediated isothermal amplification LAMP is a useful DNA detection method with high specificity and sensitivity. The LAMP reaction is carried out within a short time at a constant temperature without the need for thermal cycling. We developed a LAMP primer set for detecting a wide range of fungi by aligning the sequences of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene of Candida albicans Ascomycota , Cryptococcus neoformans Basidiomycota , and Mucor racemosus Mucorales . The threshold of C. albicans rDNA as template with our LAMP primer set was in the range of 10-100 copies per a reaction. In this study, we evaluated the correlation between colony forming units CFU and LAMP detection rate using the LAMP method for environmental fungi. The LAMP method should be a useful means of detecting fungi in indoor environments, disaster areas, or even in confined manned spacecraft to prevent allergies or infections caused by fungi.

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The Fundamentals of Mold-Related Illness: When to Suspect the Environment is Making a Patient Sick

Cited by 12 publications

References 7 publications

Migraine and the Environment

Migraine and the Environment

The Effect of Sampling Time on the Overall Performance of Portable Microbial Impactors

Detection of Fungi from an Indoor Environment using Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) Method

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