Monday, September 24, 2007

Mold Dangers

Insurance companies, as well as other various groups in the country, would be thrilled at the prospect of fooling you into believing that mold is not as dangerous as the media would tell you. However, mold is most likely even more dangerous than speculated. While mold has been around far longer than human beings, that does not mean it does not cause us medical and financial complications. And if anyone has tried to tell you that the problem is not as serious as stated, you may want to inform them of just how dangerous of a problem mold really is.

Mold affects far more than simply the appearance of your home. There are serious health ramifications as well. Some of these include, but are not limited to, fatigue, allergy symptoms, damaged vision, and sinusitis. The allergy symptoms are the most common health complication brought on and usually appear in the form of runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, and in some cases rashes. If these symptoms are not experienced when you are outside of your home, however, then it could be something in your living environment causing these reactions. It comes highly recommended that you see a doctor when you are able to determine that it is indeed something in your home causing these symptoms. There you can receive a proper diagnosis and recommendations on how to deal with the ailment.

It is very important that you protect pets and loved ones from mold, as well. It has been known to kill pets, and especially infants by way of lung bleeding. Elderly people, especially those who are in poor health and with respiratory problems, are at a high risk for health ramifications of mold. If someone is HIV positive, has AIDS, has any other kind of immunity debilitating diseases, or are recovering from surgery, then they are at extremely high risk for mold-related health problems.

In the region of Southeast Asia, some of the most dangerous infections are caused. This includes penicilliosis, which most commonly affects HIV positive and AIDS patients. It is caused by mold in the genus penicillium, a genus which is best known for including the species of mold used in penicillin, which was invented due to an accident in the 1940s.

Now, there are ways to make sure that your home and loved ones are safe from mold. A do-it-yourself home mold test taped to the grill of one of your air conditioning vents is a good idea. You can put tests in other rooms as well.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
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