What should you know about Asthma and Mold?
Asthma is a disease that has no boundaries. It can affect the old as well as the young; affecting the lungs, it makes it difficult to breathe for millions of Americans. It is incurable, chronic and can be life threatening.
Here are some interesting statistics:
- Asthma rates have tripled during the last 20 years, and many can be directly linked to mold exposure
- Mold contributes to poor indoor air quality, which is the cause of 94% of all respiratory problems
- 35% of all adult onset asthma patients can be attributed to workplace mold exposure
- Thousands of lawsuits over mold are filed every year
Asthma in a nutshell…
Inside our lungs we have small tubes through which air passes called airways. The airways of an asthma sufferers are typically inflamed and swollen, which makes them sensitive to things and situations such as illness, weather, smoke, dust, and many other pollutants.
These “triggers” cause the airways to create extra mucus and become even more swollen making breathing extremely difficult and the person then has what is called an asthma attack.
The role of mold
This is where mold enters into the picture. As we know, mold is a fungus that is always present indoors and out. As it grows, it reproduces by growing tiny spores that are expelled and travel through the air until they find a damp, warm place to take root and begin growing and producing even more spores.
These mold spores contribute to poor air quality in our homes, businesses and other buildings. As people who suffer from asthma breathe in spore infested air, their airways become irritated and breathing becomes difficult, sometimes almost impossible.
Everyone, but especially people who have asthma, should avoid prolonged and constant contact with mold.
If you have recently developed asthma, or your symptoms seem to be increasing, you should consider the idea that you are being exposed to mold, and it’s making you sick.
Existing inflammation and autoimmune diseases (such as allergies) in the body can be worsened by mold spore exposure. Here you can find more info about whether a mold allergy can make your asthma worse.
We pay so much attention to what we drink and eat, and how much time and money we spend on physical exercise. Breathing, which is the most basic of all metabolic activities, gets sidelined and forgotten. In order to keep a healthy body we must remember to take care of our immediate surroundings and make sure that the quality of the air we breathe is as high as possible.
Indoor air quality is a big topic and doesn’t involve only fixing mold spore but other particles as well. However, mold can be particularly hard to spot and it’s a living organism that changes and grows over time. It’s not a problem that appears over night and it’s not a problem that can be solved easily.
Many people don’t even tie their slowly-emerging health problems to mold exposure precisely because it’s a problem that grows slowly but surely over time and gradually becomes pervasive to a point where it becomes a serious health hazard.
Make sure your environment is healthy and safe for breathing…Call us right away for a Free Assessment and we will perform mold testing and inspection directly on the premises.
