‘Tis the Season — Christmas Trees and Indoor Air Quality
Can a Christmas tree bring on an asthma attack? The answer is yes — a live one can. Live Christmas trees can carry pathogenic mold spores that proliferate rapidly in the cozy warmth of your living room. One study showed that indoor mold counts went from 800 to 5,000 spores per cubic meter by the fourteenth day a Christmas tree had been kept indoors. In terms of indoor air quality, this amounts to an explosion of mold growth — especially when you consider that the average healthy home tests at 600 mold spores per cubic meter. The study was initiated by researchers John...
read moreSinusitis — The Fungal Connection
Is chronic sinusitis caused by bacteria or mold? Studies continue to show that mold is now the prime suspect. The paradigm shift started in 1999 when the Mayo Clinic published a breakthrough study that indicated as many as 96% of sinusitis cases were caused by mold. http://www.mayoclinic.org/ent-rst/chronicsinus.html. The evidence has continued to gain ground with experts and researchers; however, as often happens with new evidence, acceptance of these findings by the medical community has been slow. A sinus expert in New York, W.S. Tichenor M.D. offers a detailed explanation of the...
read moreHigh Mold Counts – Outside and Inside
This year outside mold counts have been the highest on record in the Chicago area — on some days as much as fifteen times higher than normal. As a result, mold-allergic individuals suffer chronic upper respiratory irritation that feels like chronic cold symptoms. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-08/news/ct-met-historic-mold-counts-20120808_1_national-allergy-bureau-allergen-counts-allergy-sufferers. This would explain symptoms that worsen when you spend more time outside. But what does it mean if your allergy symptoms become worse when you spend more time inside? If you...
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