Mycotoxin Test

Overview:

Mycotoxin Testing
Molds produce toxins known as mycotoxins. Molds are ALWAYS present in homes or workplaces that are water-damaged and they are ALWAYS producing mycotoxins. Even small amounts of mold growth in the air conditioning or ducts will result in the occupants being chronically exposed, constantly breathing mold spores and their mycotoxins, resulting in illnesses.

It is well established in medicine and science that exposure to molds and mycotoxins indoors is hazardous, and more so in children and the elderly. How a person reacts to molds and mycotoxins depends on that person s health status, if they have other health conditions, how long is or was the exposure, the person s genetic makeup, and the nutritional status of the patient.

Mycotoxin Testing Solutions

For the clinician, mycotoxin antibodies are the key to effectively diagnosing patients affected by molds. Whereas molds cause inflammation, mycotoxins bring about toxic reactions. The accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of mycotoxin antibody testing in serum are unsurpassed, unlike urine testing.

Mycotoxins are a secondary metabolite of mold spores; in other words, they are what mold spores produce to weaken and destroy your health. Mycotoxins are very strong and powerful and destructive to our organs and systems.

Mycotoxins can cause diverse and powerful toxic effects. They are:

• Carcinogenic: cause cancer
• Hepatoxic: toxic to the liver
• Immunotoxic: toxic to the immune system
• Dermatoxic: toxic to skin
• Teratogenic: cause fetal abnormalities
• Neurotoxic: toxic to the brain and nervous system
• Estrogenic: cause elevated levels of estrogen
• Hemorrhagic: cause internal bleeding and bruising
• Nephrotoxic: toxic to kidneys
• Mutagenic: cause genetic abnormalities

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A BLOOD ANTIBODY TEST FOR OCHRATOXIN

This mycotoxin’s major targets are: 

• Liver
• Kidney
• Brain
• Skeletal muscle
• Fat tissue
• Ochratoxin crosses the placenta.
• The highest Ochratoxin levels is found in breast milk

Studies have shown it causes leaky gut syndrome and changes what you absorb from the foods you eat. 

ANOTHER EXAMPLE: TRICHOTHECENE MYCOTOXINS

These mycotoxins are produced by the molds Stachybotrys chartarum, Fusarium, Trichoderma, and other molds. These mycotoxins are extremely toxic to humans and these are the most important ones:

• Satratoxin
• Verrucarin
• T-2 Toxin
• Vomitoxin

Blood tests for mycotoxins have been used for the last 20 years and are highly accurate.  The specificity and sensitivity of blood serum testing for the presence of IgG and IgE antibodies to mycotoxins in the blood are very high.  

MyMycolab tests for IgG and IgE antibodies for 14 mycotoxins for a total of 28 test results. Mycotoxins from:

• Penicillium (mycophenolic acid)
• Alternaria
• Aspergillus (gliotoxin)
• Stachybotrys
• Cladosporium
• Aspergillus auto-toxin
• 'Aspergillus/Penicillium neurotoxic mycotoxin
• Ochratoxin
• Satratoxin
• T-2 Toxin
• Vomitoxin
• Verrucarin and verrucarol
• Fumonisin
• Zearalenone

Penicillium produces mycophenolic acid, patulin, and gliotoxin. Alternaria produces alternariol and gliotoxin Vascular system (increased vascular fragility, hemorrhage into body tissues, or from lung: satratoxin. Digestive system (diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal hemorrhage, liver effects, caustic effects on mucous membranes: T-2 toxin; anorexia: vomitoxin. Respiratory system: respiratory distress, bleeding from lungs: trichothecenes. The nervous system, tremors, incoordination, depression, headache, tremors, seizures: trichothecenes. Cutaneous system (Skin): rash, burning sensation sloughing of skin, photosensitization: trichothecenes. Reproductive system; infertility, changes in reproductive cycles: T-2 toxin. Immune system: changes or suppression: many mycotoxins.

SYMPTOMS OF BEING AFFECTED BY MYCOTOXINS:

• Fatigue
• Short term memory loss
• Brain "fog"
• headaches
• Easily confused
• Blurred vision or visual episodes
• Seizures
• Loss of equilibrium
• Feeling "spaced out"
• Muscles and joint aches and pains
• Intolerance of bright lights
• Decreased libido
• Sores that will not heal, rashes
• Shortness of breath
• Cardiac arrhythmias
• Mood swings, personality changes
• Tremors
• Abdominal pain and discomfort
• Hair Loss
• Numbness and Tingling in hands/feet
• Nosebleeds
• Chronic sinusitis, severe nasal allergies
• Sleep disturbance
• Painful lymph nodes
• Low-grade fever or feeling hot often
• Uncomfortable or frequent urination
   

And:… pets get sick too…

LYME DISEASE
Many patients suffering from chronic Lyme disease may actually have mycotoxicosis. The symptoms are very alike, and when the treatment for Lyme, which is a bacteria, fails to help a person the reason may be that it is actually mycotoxins causing the problem.

AUTISM (ASD)
Children with autism frequently have elevated mycotoxin antibody levels as reported in a recent study of 172 autistic children. These antibody levels are included in the mycotoxin serum blood test panel.  

MYCOTOXINS ARE LINKED TO MANY OTHER ILLNESSES:

• Alzheimer's disease: exposure to molds and mycotoxins have been linked to Alzheimer's disease.
• Asthma: frequently asthma is a result of exposure to molds and mycotoxins, especially in children but also in adults.
• Fungal sinusitis: it has been demonstrated in studies that molds cause sinusitis and are much more common than was believed.
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS): studies have shown that exposure to molds and mycotoxins is a risk factor in MS.
• Obesity: the effects of mycotoxins on the gut bacteria (gut microbiome) can and frequently result in obesity.

WHY TESTING FOR IgG MOLDS IS NOT HELPFUL

Testing for antibodies to molds does not help at all. Say a person is 45 years old and went to summer camp for a couple of weeks when they were 12 years old. Let’s say that the room that person slept in a summer camp that had mold. That person’s immune system will build antibodies to those molds and they will always be present in the blood. So doing blood tests for molds doesn’t help in WHEN the person was affected by molds, which could have been years ago. Mycotoxins, being toxins made by molds, is much more relevant in medicine to see if a person is affected by them.