At 11:58 AM 2/3/2010, you wrote:
Thanks for thinking about this problem. I do not know where the sensitivity comes from. But I know mold has been around for 940 million years, and we have only been around for about 4 million. Se we evolved in an environment that contained mold pretty much in its present form.
I can't resist replying before I've read the entire thread. I actually read on one site that molds are more like 1400 million years old.
The mold toxins are designed to kill other molds. They can be extremely harmful to humans.
They are also extremely harmful to other species. Rabbits and horses are quite sensitive, cattle are somewhat less sensitive, but still have problems. Pigs will fail to thrive if mold toxins are present at certain levels in their feeds. It is very interesting to read about molds and mold toxins in pet and livestock feeds. With livestock the emphasis is on how much contaminated feed can be incorporated into a livestock diet without causing death, failure to thrive, or failure to reproduce, which I found somewhat alarming. Also some level of mycotoxin contamination is allowed in even human foods, mainly in grain products of all kinds. Things may have changed in the years since I last researched this, but so far as I found then, there is no "standard" for any animal or human food which requires undectable levels of mycotoxins or mold spores. Mycotoxin contamination in commercial foods have killed dogs and cats, too.
I read somewhere that a few micrograms of concentrated dose of the toxins will kill a human in less than 24 hours. The toxins disappear from the body, so the death looks like it was from natural causes.
Some mycotoxins cause GI ulceration and bleeding, which would be detectable at autopsy, if anyone looked for it.
We are only collateral damage in the biological warfare that has been going on forever. So we had to develop mechanisms to deal with the toxins, else everyone would have been too sick to hunt or do any of the other things we did back then.
I've read some info on some health lists that implies that this could partly be due to what is assumed to be higher levels of glutathione in pre-agricultural and pre-human ancestors. Our intake of molds and mold toxins as well as anti-nutrients surely skyrocketed with the advent of cooking pots and grain growing. There is, I've read, much evidence that grain eating coincides with fossil evidence of increased disease and smaller stature in humans.
The problem seems to be that a high concentration of spores can destroy the cells that metabolize the toxins, so they are free to roam.
I believe they can also cause or exacerbate permanent GI tract damage. I saw this in my little bunny, who already had a compromised GI, and was the most seriously affected by the mycotoxin contaminated feed incident. He was trying to die every week or two for over two months. When I finally twigged that it could be mycotoxins in their feed, and bought all new pellets and hay from different suppliers/brands, the constant stasis events he was having stopped like turning off a water tap. My other 3 rabbits suddenly experienced huge improvements as well, symptoms they were having that I simply had not recognized just stopped. I felt really guilty that I had been so focused on keeping the one alive that I had not noticed that all were having problems.
When the mechanism that normally handles the spores is damaged, the body has no way to get rid of them except through the skin. This is most unpleasant. I often have to take a shower several times a day.
Are you taking any measures to increase glutathione (the body's major detoxifier), or growth hormone? I have had a lot of improvement in my own GI tract function from taking L-glutamine.
sol
