Tha’rs mold in them thar hills

Is mold toxicity the new cash cow for unscrupulous practitioners?

Mold, fungi, yeast. They are literally everywhere. Yeast are so ubiquitous that you can make sourdough bread starter just by leaving some warm water mixed with flour out in the open for a few days. Yeast from the environment will populate the liquid and ferment the flour. Likewise, mold and fungi are found anywhere there is a dark, mildly humid environment. This has not changed from time immemorial.

What has changed is that now we are blaming all sorts of ills and medical problems on these universal agents. All manner of symptoms are blamed on exposure to “toxic” mold. Take your pick: cough, nasal congestion, skin irritation, wheezing, fever, muscle aches, joint pain, asthma, shortness of breath, headache, confusion, “brain fog”, depression, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and much, much more. Even cancer and death have been attributed to mold exposure.

In medicine, we have known for decades that in some instances patients may become ill from a variety of molds and fungi. Few are pathogenic (disease causing) on their own. Most are what we call opportunistic, i.e. they take advantage of an already compromised individual. In almost all instances of infection, the patient is already ill or has some other reason to have a weakened immune system. Patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, transplant patients on anti-rejection drugs, and those with chronic illnesses are susceptible to molds and fungi that would not make a healthy person sick.