Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s

[TheBrain]

[On 9-7-17], I had my ADH and osmolality tested. My ADH was low <.8 (normal range per survivingmold.com: 1.0-13.3 pg/ml), but my osmolality was normal at 281 (but near the bottom of the range). Per a web site from a Shoemaker-trained practitioner, Natasha Thomas, MD: "In Biotoxin illness patients, a lack of regulation of salt and water balance is apparent when ADH is low (or too high) but osmolality is relatively high (or too low)." I don't have this pattern. My ADH is low, but my osmolality is normal (but lowish).

I've continued to wonder about my ADH and osmolality results. Now knowing I have mold illness/CIRS (see my mycotoxins test results), I've been reading more about mold illness. Today, I'm reading a paper written by Craig Tanio, MD. He recently became certified in the Shoemaker protocol (SurvivingMold.com), which addresses CIRS. Dr. Tanio was required to write this paper in order to become certified in this protocol.

Regarding ADH and osmolality, Dr. Tanio wrote:

ADH and osmolality are also biomarkers for hypothalamic-pituitary axis dysfunction and together manage serum osmolality. The hypothalamus contains osmoreceptors that shrink when serum osmolality is high and release ADH from the posterior pituitary. Dysregulated ADH / osmolality levels occur in 80% of patients with CIRS.

As mold is remediated, low ADH will normalize in many cases on its own. Both absolute or relative dysregulation can be seen.

• Absolute high: ADH > 13 or osmolality > 300
• Absolute low: ADH < 5 or osmolality <275
• Relative: ADH<2.2 when osmolality 292-300 or ADH > 4.4 Osmolality 275-278

I've used bold to point out the positive result that applies to me (my ADH was <.8).

Dr. Tanio is the most recently certified practitioner in the Shoemaker protocol, so perhaps some of these details evolve over time. However, Dr. Shoemaker's web site doesn't reflect this change. But I'm going with it...

[Julie G]

Fascinating, Alysson. FWIW, low ADH is also associated with chronic Lyme and associated co-infections. Mine is the same as yours. Out of curiosity, is your BP low? Do you deal with any orthostatic intolerance issues?

[TheBrain]

Fascinating, Alysson. FWIW, low ADH is also associated with chronic Lyme and associated co-infections. Mine is the same as yours. Out of curiosity, is your BP low? Do you deal with any orthostatic intolerance issues?

Julie, so your ADH is low. How is your osmolality? Are you saying you have the same pattern with both markers as me?

My BP tends to run low, though that wasn’t the case for most of my life. Since it started running low, it has been as low as, say, 98/60. I make a point of adding a lot of sea salt to my morning soup and on my veggies, and it’s fine now. I don’t know what would happen if I stopped the salt, but I’m not eager to experiment with that. I don’t eat many processed foods, so I don’t get much salt in my diet otherwise.

I did some reading about orthostatic intolerance, as I’m unfamiliar with the term. The symptoms of it mostly don’t resonate for me. However, I have noticed that at times, I’ll feel sort of sick tired after sitting for a while. What helps the most is walking. It feels like it gets the blood flowing better through my brain. Second best is laying down flat without a pillow under my head for 10-20 minutes. This symptom occurs infrequently, and I don’t know what it’s about. It’s probably a good time for me to check my BP.

How is your CIRS treatment going?

[circular]

My thoroughly uneducated hunch has been that ADH and osmolality must fluctuate a lot, even during the day (???), and that one reading probably isn’t as useful as the big picture for CIRS markers/sympyoms. I wonder what would happen if it were tested 3x/day for 7 days. My results were also a bit odd (not an expected pattern) but I forget them offhand. Did I just catch these in transition? Should I specifically target a treatment for just one result? (Rhetorical questions.)

[circular]

Here I am again, back with another nasal infection on my fourth culture. I haven't seen the antibiotic screen for it, but with the first three each had a different antibiotic sensitivity 'fingerprint' (my word), and they were identified in order from resistant to the fewest number of antibiotics to resistant to the most. Dr. Ackerley said the third one was like what they see alot in hospitals and hospice. She predicted the culture would not be clean (because if the BEG spray is going to work it should have worked by the end of the second I guess) and said no more BEG spray for me. I'm on to EDTA and silver spray. I asked if she had any concern about the silver getting in the brain and she wasn't worried, so for now I guess I'm going with that. Surely it hasn't been studied much (?), but she does understand a lot about the brain.

Meanwhile, I'm now scheduled for a dental CT scan with an integrative dentist. I have continued tooth sensitivity since the Oct root canal, which sometimes acts just like before that root canal but in a nearby area. Dr. Ackerley said the 3D dental CT scans can show whether the nasal (or other) infections are hanging out in dental bone (my words again - she was more technical), or something like that. One thing I'm confused by is that none of the culture reports identify a strain (???). I would think that would be important information to track. Maybe it just costs too much to ID the strain? That just seems odd and I haven't had a chance to ask her about it.

I'm also unsure whether the HLA-DR/DQ genes are involved in this sort of infection pattern. They talk about them being mold susceptibility genes, but they must go beyond that.

[slacker]

Recent webinar of interest, focusing on CIRS and gut issues. Both mold and MARCONs are discussed. I opted to skim the transcript rather than listen to the 1+ hour presentation.

http://www.moldillnessmadesimple.com/mi ... id-rahbar/

[TheBrain]

I thought I'd post some forum threads related to mold. You can also search the forum for "mold" to find other threads.

Mold and mycotoxins
Mold remediation experiences
My !POSITIVE! test results for mycotoxins testing through Great Plains Laboratory
ERMI (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index) test results on my home

[slacker]

Update on my mold adventure.
The local remediator, who seemed like he was going to shift a bit in the direction of doing a CIRS compatible remediation, decided that he was not willing to change his approach in any way. So I decided to get in touch with Larry Schwartz, a mold inspector out of the Northern IL area. I believe that he is involved with an new organization called American Academy of Environmental Medicine, and was also recommended by Dr Mary Ackerley in one of her CIRS webinars (recently posted on our website).
Here's a free podcast that covers a general overview from Larry. It's episode 3: Building Health 101.

Without going into excruciating details, Larry was knowledgeable, respectful, and thorough. Phone consult $200/hour. He did not repeat the information from the podcast once I told him I had listened to it. Larry thinks that the mold inspection already done by a local inspector looks pretty complete. Only caveat is that the local mold inspector didn't remove all the basement ceiling tiles, so there may be more areas that need remediation. Larry does not think that he needs to travel to us for additional mold inspection. He has trained teams of remediators in his area to travel to perform the remediation. These teams are separate businesses and not part of his company. I've submitted a floor plan and photos of the house so that they can do a cost estimate. Larry has shared his opinion on what belongings or furnishing will probably have to go given that they are porous or semiporous (like ceiling tiles), or mycotoxin traps (like carpet). Also talked a bit about what needs to be done to reduce the risk of further water damage.

Waiting to hear back. Larry appears to be very busy - there are not a lot of people who do what he does for CIRS patients.

[TheBrain]

Slacker, I’m glad you had such a positive experience with Larry Schwartz. I hope the estimate comes back as doable for you. Will it include small particle cleaning?

My husband and I had a consultation with Larry on Tuesday. We got lucky somehow. Our HVAC is off due to its fan being covered in mold; maybe that helped shorten our wait. I’ll report an abbreviated version of our experience in the next day or two.

[slacker]

Yes, the estimate will include small particle cleaning. Larry's approach is to perform traditional remediation with small particle air cleaning, then careful cleaning or disposal of the contents of the home. He's sent a document about how to determine which belongs to clean and which to get rid off, with a caveat not to get overwhelmed, but take it a step at a time. I appreciate his calm communication. It is so easy to get into freak out mode!

I look forward to you post.