Health and Medical Information

Archive for October, 2008

If you hear of an illness that ends in mycosis, it was probably caused by a mold. Those who are particularly at risk to contract this class of diseases are those with compromised immune systems and this often occurs in people who have a cancer of the blood, chemotherapy patients, those with HIV or AIDs, anyone with serious blood disorders.

Even those these diseases are far more likely to affect those with compromised immune systems, they can develop after a person has surgery or any other invasive procedure. It can also be transmitted by contaminated surgical instruments.

Generally the first symptoms of these mycotic diseases are those that are similar to the flu, such as chills, coughing, pain in the muscles and the joints, and fever.

Medications that are antifungal can cause some of these symptoms, as well, even though the fungal infection that it is intended to treat cause these exact same symptoms.

These drugs can also cause kidney damage and end up affecting the eyes, skin, or liver and a doctor will probably ask for labwork often in order to catch some of these serious side effects before they become out of control.

Some of the diseases that can be caught from a mold are histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, coccidioidomycosis, candidiasis, blastomycosis, and aspergillosis. These are serious fungal diseases and should be treated as such.

Aspergillosis is caused by molds in the Aspergillus genus and tends to be found in many places including buildings, plants, food, water, and soil.

Blastomycosis is caused by Blastomyces and is found soils that are rich in nutrients and very moist. It has been known to affect both animals and humans.

Candidiasis is caused from the mold Candida and can cause mouth infections or genital yeast infections, but it is even more serious when it ends up invading the bloodstream. Candida is found in the intestines naturally, however.

Coccidioidomycosis is caused by the mold coccidioides and this is found most often in the dry soil in the southwestern United States, and central and South America. It starts as a flu-like disease, but can infect the lungs and infect the other organs in the body, including the brain.

Cryptococcosis is caused by Cryptococcus and associated the most with Eucalyptus trees and bird droppings. It typically begins in the lungs, but has no symptoms until it spreads to the rest of the body.

Histoplasmosis is caused by Histoplasma and tends to infect the lungs. Like other fungal infections, it includes flu-like symptoms and can spread to the rest of the body.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood and water damage cleanup and
water damage restoration> companies across the united states.

Most people love a beautiful blanket of snow on their lawn during the wintertime, but they are not aware of the fact that there can be a very unwelcome visitor lurking underneath that snow. The worst thing is, they probably will not know about it until the snow is already melted and the disease has done its damage.

Snow mold typically becomes a problem when the blanket of snow does not melt for a long period of time. The mold begins to grow when a thick, wet blanket of snow falls on ground that is not frozen.

The symptoms of snow mold generally consist of circular patches of dead grass that are usually 3 to 12 inches in diameter. In extreme cases, you might not be able to tell that these patches are circles at all because most of the grass has died. Pink snow mold, caused by Microdochium nivale, can look white initially and when it matures, it turns from a pale pink to a deep salmon-like color. Gray snow mold, caused by species in the genus Typhula, is anywhere from gray to white in color. It is a good idea to determine whether you are dealing with gray or pink snow mold, because gray snow mold does not tend to damage more than just the blades of the grass. Pink snow mold can completely kill the roots if it is left untreated.

Snow molds are usually active around temperatures just above freezing in somewhat wet conditions. It can grow not only when snow covers a lawn, but also when autumn leaves cover it for a long period of time, as well. Any kind of grass can be affected by this disease, but it has been noted that Kentucky bluegrass lawns are some of the least likely to suffer severe damage.

If you want to prevent snow mold from growing on your lawn, one of the best things that you can do is take care of it around the end of summer. As long as the grass keeps growing, you should keep having it mowed. If you apply any fertilizers to your lawn during the fall, you should apply them over six weeks before you expect the grass to stop growing. Nitrogen fertilizer should not be used around the time the grass stops growing or it will cause a burst of growth and give the mold more to feed on while the snow is on top of it.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood and water damage cleanup and
water damage restoration> companies across the united states.

Whether you are indoors or outdoors, mold is always there. No matter where you are, there is no such thing as an environment on the planet earth that is considered to be mold-free.

Wherever there are the three things that mold need to survive, there will be mold, even though you might not be able to see it. Mold is only visible to the human eye when colonies of it start to grow. Just what does mold need to grow?

Mold needs nutrients. In an outdoor environment, this would be organic matter such as dead plants or animals. This is a necessary natural event that has to take place to get rid of the some of the debris that builds up on the forest floor.

In the indoor environment, molds often feed on building materials. These can include cardboard, paper on both the sides of drywall, soap, fabrics, and other kinds of dust.

Moisture is also required by mold in order to survive. In order to begin decaying organic matter and digesting it, it needs moisture. Mold often grows inside the home during the summer when moisture becomes trapped inside the house and in the house in the winter when certain areas become drafty and condensation builds up in areas.

Something else mold needs to survive is very simple and we all have a lot of it, whether we realize it or not. Mold needs time to grow. It can start to form a colony as soon as 24 hours up to ten days after it gets enough of the nutrients and moisture that it needs to survive.

The longer you allow something such as a wet towel or wet piece of clothing to lie on the floor in the back of your closet, the more time you are giving mold to start growing on it.

One last thing that molds tend to need in order to continue growing is heat. Not all molds need a significant amount of heat in order to grow, but many do.

Molds have been known to survive at extreme temperatures and remain dormant, but not actually continue growing. They can be exposed to temperatures around 2 degrees Celsius and still only become dormant instead of dying like some other organisms would do.

So it is easy to see why mold has had a major influence on our current and past history on earth. No matter what mother nature throughs at it, it just keeps surviving with the times

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
South Carolina Water Damage Restoration and and other states such as
Chicago Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.

One of the most dangerous molds that a person can have growing in their home or place of business is the one that we have all come to associate with the term toxic black mold.

This is Stachybotrys chartarum and it is sometimes simply called stachy for short. The media has made it famous in the past few years and it has been largely responsible for the resurgence of the awareness of the dangers of mold.

The health consequences of this mold living in your home are fairly dangerous and can even end in death in some extreme cases.

This mold is fond of growing on such things as wood that has been water damaged or in some cases, on paper or cardboard that has been piled up and allowed to be wet.

It does not grow on plastic or on non-porous surfaces such as tile in the bathroom or the kitchen or on concrete or counter tops. Any wood or cellulose-based items that have been wetted and let to dry naturally will eventually become contaminated with mold and will probably end up spreading to the rest of your household.

This particular kind of mold needs almost non-stop moisture or humidity to continue to live. It is typically a greenish-black color, slimy, and wet when it is found in the home and it needs such things as cotton, wood, or paper to grow for very long.

Even though the wet spores of this mold do not get into the air very easily, if it is let to try, these spores will enter the air in your home as soon as the air is stirred by a fan or an air conditioner and this can be very hazardous.

This is one of the most dangerous kinds of mold that you can come into contact with. It has been known to kill a persons brain cells and cause sicknesses that can have a similar effect as Alzheimers Disease.

Symptoms of this include dizziness or disorientation of any kind, such as blanking out or forgetting what you were doing while you were in the middle of doing it or memory loss.

If you are not old enough to be at risk to have Alzheimers Disease, it is advised that you see your doctor as soon as possible. If you are concerned that mold may exist, conduct some do-it-yourself mold tests in your home in order to rule out or identify mold as the cause.

Some common symptoms of mold exposure have been known to be pneumonia, headaches, bloody noses, or any other kind of respiratory issue.

Mold also aggravates pre-existing conditions such as asthma or emphysema. Exposure for long periods of time can cause kidney failure, liver failure, or bleeding of the lungs in babies.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood and water damage cleanup and
water damage restoration> companies across the united states.