Doctors Disagree About Mold Issue

[DLP]

Hi,

My mom has been diagnosed with mild AD. She began seeing a Bredesen-certified practitioner/medical doctor who told her that she had Type 3, with some Type 1 as well. Among other things, this doc specifically told her she had a mold infection. My father then presented the lab work to my mother's (mainstream) internist. After reviewing it, he said he disagreed and feels that my mother does NOT have a mold infection. My question is: has anyone else run into this issue, where two practitioners disagree about the existence of a mold infection? How does one figure out who is right?

Addressing the supposed mold infection will be very costly in terms of remediating their two houses. My dad would do anything for my mom, but he would like to try to get to the bottom of whether a mold infection actually exists before deciding on next steps.

Thank you in advance for any insights anyone can offer!

DLP

[Issie]

I have had mold issues and under treatment with a Shoemaker trained doc. Having had 2 Neuro Quant and definite signs of brain atrophy the question is did CIRS or Lyme cause these issues. We just about have the mold and Lyme at bay. But I still have MARCONS. Dr. Shoemaker is finding that MARCONS can also cause brain atrophy. We are addressing this more and see where it goes.

You can do an online test VCS.com and test to see if her vision is affected by mold or chemicals. It is not very expensive and well worth checking.

Issie

[dcox]

Welcome Issie!
Thank you for your information about mold and the VCS.com test, I have heard of it but have not checked it out personally yet. I'm glad you are beating the mold and Lymes with your Shoemaker trained doctor! MARCONS is a tough one due to the biofilm it produces this biofilm not only makes it hard to treat but it can hide or mask other organisms underneath it. Sounds like you are in good hands and will beat the MARCONS too. These types of issues can cause brain atrophy as Dr. Bredesen in his book "The End of Alzheimer's" classifies as Type 3 or toxic AD and is more common in people who carry the E3 allele rather than E4. I highly recommend his book as it is well written and offers hope to the AD, dementia and cognitive decline community. Here is a link to a series of posts you might be interested in: CIRS/Type 3 AD and Generalized Brain Atrophy per Dr. Bredesen

I encourage you to explore ApoE4.info, you will find great information, discussions (not everyone agrees on everything, giving the site well rounded perspectives), and a wonderful community of people who are avid believers in preventing, reversing and stopping AD.
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of the site: "How to" get the most out of the ApoE4.info website will help you use the site more efficiently; the Wiki page gives more in depth information on many topics that have been discussed; the Primer is a great place to start learning, it was written by one of our most active members, Stavia a doctor and E4/E4 herself.

We look forward to following your journey and learning from your experiences. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me or anyone else on the site, we are all in this together.

All the best in finding the answers to beating MARCONS!
Deb

[TheBrain]

My mom has been diagnosed with mild AD. She began seeing a Bredesen-certified practitioner/medical doctor who told her that she had Type 3, with some Type 1 as well. Among other things, this doc specifically told her she had a mold infection. My father then presented the lab work to my mother's (mainstream) internist. After reviewing it, he said he disagreed and feels that my mother does NOT have a mold infection. My question is: has anyone else run into this issue, where two practitioners disagree about the existence of a mold infection? How does one figure out who is right?

Addressing the supposed mold infection will be very costly in terms of remediating their two houses. My dad would do anything for my mom, but he would like to try to get to the bottom of whether a mold infection actually exists before deciding on next steps.

Thank you in advance for any insights anyone can offer!

Hi DLP,

I have not run into this issue, but I might in November. I’ll be seeing an MD at Duke’s Memory Disorders Clinic who is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology.

But I can say that it would help to know what testing your mother has had done, of herself and of her home, and what the results were. Based on the Ritchie Shoemaker, MD, view of mold illness/toxicity, it’s not really about a mold infection in the body. It’s about the toxins from mold causing havoc in the body. I have heard, though, that some practitioners believe mold can grow in the body. I personally have not come to believe that based on my own experience. However, some people use the term “mold infection” when they are really referring to “mold illness.”

I absolutely believe that mold toxicity is a real condition that can result in Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, many conventional doctors operate off of what they learned during their medical training, so they don’t believe in what’s been discovered in recent years. I’d suggest watching the free series Regain Your Brain. You can signup at https://regainyourbrain.awakeningfromal ... yb-trailer. The second episode features Dr. Bredesen, and he discusses the different types of Alzheimer’s, including the toxic form (Type 3 Alzheimer’s). Availability of that episode is ending soon, but you can probably catch it when they (most likely) have a replay day or days. Of course, this forum provides information about Type 3 Alzheimer’s as well as mold and what’s called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).

The fact that your mother has been seeing a Bredesen-trained doctor suggests she has had the appropriate testing. If that’s the case, I would trust that doctor over a conventional doctor.

[slacker]

My mom has been diagnosed with mild AD. She began seeing a Bredesen-certified practitioner/medical doctor who told her that she had Type 3, with some Type 1 as well. Among other things, this doc specifically told her she had a mold infection. My father then presented the lab work to my mother's (mainstream) internist. After reviewing it, he said he disagreed and feels that my mother does NOT have a mold infection. My question is: has anyone else run into this issue, where two practitioners disagree about the existence of a mold infection? How does one figure out who is right?

Hi DLP;

I agree with TheBrain that the Bredesen MD was most likely talking about mold toxicity and not mold infection. Regardless of terminology, a conventional mainstream MD will most likely not be familiar with the concept of mold biotoxin illness or how to interpret the tests typically run to determine its presence. I know that this is terribly confusing and dissatisfying.

I personally have been diagnosed with CIRS by a Bredesen trained MD, probably mold related, and have had 2 normal VCS (Visual Contrast Sensitivity) tests. So this test alone will not rule in or rule out the diagnosis.

So what to do? It's certainly an individual decision. I've decided to move forward with the very expensive mold remediation despite the level of uncertainty. For me, it's better to do something that is likely to help than to do nothing. My husband may not agree, but is willing to support my decision. Moving to another house in a part of the world that is damp and humid doesn't seem like a great option, due to high probability of mold being there as well. If your parents decide to move forward with remediation, please make sure that they are working with a company that includes small particle air cleaning. It adds to the cost, but also greatly increases the odds of a successful remediation. Just like conventional vs "out of the box" MDs, the same thing happens with traditional vs "Shoemaker approach" remediators. Please reach out if you need help finding someone.

I wonder if focusing on remediating one house at a time makes sense. Your mom wouldn't enter the second house until the remediation has been completed on the first, the remediation is deemed successful, and your mom's lab tests show improvement on CIRS/mold markers. And ideally, she also starts to improve. Would it be at all possible to put that second house off limits until the entire process is finished on the first?

[Tincup]

Hi,

My mom has been diagnosed with mild AD. She began seeing a Bredesen-certified practitioner/medical doctor who told her that she had Type 3, with some Type 1 as well. Among other things, this doc specifically told her she had a mold infection. My father then presented the lab work to my mother's (mainstream) internist. After reviewing it, he said he disagreed and feels that my mother does NOT have a mold infection. My question is: has anyone else run into this issue, where two practitioners disagree about the existence of a mold infection? How does one figure out who is right?

Addressing the supposed mold infection will be very costly in terms of remediating their two houses. My dad would do anything for my mom, but he would like to try to get to the bottom of whether a mold infection actually exists before deciding on next steps.
DLP

Dave Asprey of the Bulletproof blog speaks frequently about how mold impacted him for years and he spent many years trying to reclaim his health from living in a moldy basement in his parents' house growing up. He said they would run a humidifier which would then make him worse. My impression is that this heath reclaiming journey is a huge driver of what he does now.

A year ago, he wrote this blog post on the topic. One interesting approach he lists in the blog is a company that makes a beneficial probiotic that eats toxic mold. In a podcast with Dr. Frank Shallenberger, he mentions how using ozone therapy helped him regain his cognition. In the interview he references a book Shallenberger wrote on how to use ozone therapy DIY.

I don't have any experience with any of this, just passing on what I've heard.

[Julie G]

FWIW, Chris Masterjohn shares his story of mold toxicity here.

I have had mold issues and under treatment with a Shoemaker trained doc. Having had 2 Neuro Quant and definite signs of brain atrophy the question is did CIRS or Lyme cause these issues. We just about have the mold and Lyme at bay. But I still have MARCONS. Dr. Shoemaker is finding that MARCONS can also cause brain atrophy. We are addressing this more and see where it goes.

Waves, Issie! It's nice to see an old friend I'm with you on several counts. I had a Lyme infection, then learned I had Babesiosis. Both are likely under control; retesting with ArminLabs now. I feel markedly better. My newly renovated house has mold (HERTSMI-16) and I just got Dxed with MARCONS. So many of these things overlap. I've not been brave enough to get a NeuroQuant but may muster up the courage at some point... I'm curious if you've had your APOE status checked.

[Chameleon]

Mold illness and mycotoxins are definitely real. While Dr. Bredesen mentions this in his book he does kind of gloss over the difficulty in figuring out what to do about it. Chronic inflammatory response syndrome or CIRS is definitely real and is mostly caused by mold exposure. As other posters have said regular MDs either do not know how to treat this or won't acknowledge that it exists.
Many Bredesen trained doctors may know something about mold illness and how to treat it, but just like in many instances with lyme you may need to see a specialist if you have this.
To bring this down to some simpler terms, the analogy that I use with my clients is that picture yourself in a leaky boat. If you just keep bailing you're really not fixing the problem. You need to fix or plug the hole and then bail. In mold illness you need to find the source of the exposure in your home or workplace and fix that or move and you also need to detox your body. If you just try to detox that's like bailing the boat and you really not going to get the health gains that you need.
I recommend doing a dust test, which I believe is better and more accurate than an air sample. There are several companies out there that do this. One that I have used fairly frequently is Mycometrics. The nice thing is that you can take the dust sample and send it in. They will send you a report back. You may need some help interpreting the test, but it is a good place to start so you can start to discover where the exposure might be coming from.

[Issie]

Welcome Issie!
Thank you for your information about mold and the VCS.com test, I have heard of it but have not checked it out personally yet. I'm glad you are beating the mold and Lymes with your Shoemaker trained doctor! MARCONS is a tough one due to the biofilm it produces this biofilm not only makes it hard to treat but it can hide or mask other organisms underneath it. Sounds like you are in good hands and will beat the MARCONS too. These types of issues can cause brain atrophy as Dr. Bredesen in his book "The End of Alzheimer's" classifies as Type 3 or toxic AD and is more common in people who carry the E3 allele rather than E4. I highly recommend his book as it is well written and offers hope to the AD, dementia and cognitive decline community. Here is a link to a series of posts you might be interested in: CIRS/Type 3 AD and Generalized Brain Atrophy per Dr. Bredesen

I encourage you to explore ApoE4.info, you will find great information, discussions (not everyone agrees on everything, giving the site well rounded perspectives), and a wonderful community of people who are avid believers in preventing, reversing and stopping AD.
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of the site: "How to" get the most out of the ApoE4.info website will help you use the site more efficiently; the Wiki page gives more in depth information on many topics that have been discussed; the Primer is a great place to start learning, it was written by one of our most active members, Stavia a doctor and E4/E4 herself.

We look forward to following your journey and learning from your experiences. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me or anyone else on the site, we are all in this together.

All the best in finding the answers to beating MARCONS!
Deb

Thanks for the warm welcome and all the info. I already have his book, just haven't read it yet.

I look forward to learning more. Yet, sad that I have need to be here. Hoping MARCONS and other issues are my "cause" and we can reverse this.

Issie

[Issie]

My mom has been diagnosed with mild AD. She began seeing a Bredesen-certified practitioner/medical doctor who told her that she had Type 3, with some Type 1 as well. Among other things, this doc specifically told her she had a mold infection. My father then presented the lab work to my mother's (mainstream) internist. After reviewing it, he said he disagreed and feels that my mother does NOT have a mold infection. My question is: has anyone else run into this issue, where two practitioners disagree about the existence of a mold infection? How does one figure out who is right?

Addressing the supposed mold infection will be very costly in terms of remediating their two houses. My dad would do anything for my mom, but he would like to try to get to the bottom of whether a mold infection actually exists before deciding on next steps.

Thank you in advance for any insights anyone can offer!

I have heard, though, that some practitioners believe mold can grow in the body. I personally have not come to believe that based on my own experience. However, some people use the term “mold infection” when they are really referring to “mold illness.”
.

I saw Dr Fry before he retired and he at first thought I had a protozoa that could be gotten from mosquitoes (and other ways). It was in my blood with lots of biofilm surrounding it. We did a biopsy of one of my largest thyroid tumors and found it in the organ. He has since come to the conclusion that it is a mold/fungus. He started treating his patients with antifungals. This particular type fungus is known to cause tumors. I had many in my thyroid and also have a menigioma (brain tumor). We know this fungus was in there. Happy to say, some of my thyroid tumors are gone and the others have stabilized since treating for mold and fungus.

Issie