Explaining Biotoxin Illness

September 25, 2017 

 ReferencesSurviving Mold


 We are all familiar with bacterial illness. We have experienced sore throats, or skin infections, or sinusitis and have been diagnosed and treated with antibiotics. We have also seen traumatic illness, and have had X-rays and casts or stitches for cuts. We understand metabolic illness with thyroid and sugar and other metabolic parameters. But biotoxin illness? Even the spell checker tries to correct me and call it biotin illness. I mean, BIOTOXIN. 


This is a whole new field of medicine that will become part of internal medicine or family medicine in the future. For now, it's just being elucidated and clarified. Here goes my stab at it. This will likely take several weeks to make it a clear story. In introducing this topic, one has to give credit to Ritchie Shoemaker as the first to understand the new field, the paradigm shift. 


He was a family physician in Pocomoke, Maryland who persisted in believing his patients who said their were ill in the midst of a pfiesteria bloom on the Pocomoke river. The CDC and Johns Hopkins both came to town for the mystery illness and could not name anything to explain the sick folks symptoms. Dr Shoemaker is now clinically retired but actively teaching new physicians to understand the huge new field through his web site, www.survivingmold.com


One of his patients had terrible diarrhea with the mystery illness. He gave her cholestyramine, an old fashioned cholesterol drug now known to be useless for cholesterol and used mostly to control loose bowels in folks with funny guts. She got better in two days. Not just her stool was better, but her fatigue, her brain fog, her aches, and pains - all went away. And then, other patients also got better with cholestyramine. 


So, what is biotoxin illness? It is a constellation of symptoms brought on by toxins made by a variety of sources. We are still finding them. Mold in water-damaged buildings is likely the most common, with about 30-50% of American buildings being damaged with measurable mold detritus. It's not the mold spore, but the fragments and protein of many different molds, actinomycetes, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), inflammagens and other yet-to-be-identified components that set off the syndrome. Other causes include the aforementioned pfiesteria, a water-based dinoflagellate. Lyme disease, spider bites, eating Lion Fish, red tides, the antibiotic CIPRO, multiple wasp stings, beruli ulcer, and probably many more. 


In weeks to come, we will explain how it may be that some 500,000 Americans are getting Alzheimer's with mold toxin as a participant. Most folks are likely fine until they have some trigger that sets them off. Some antecedent event makes them more vulnerable. And they have to be capable of being vulnerable. Turns out roughly 24% of us are genetically "vulnerable". Our immune systems are unable to see and tag those toxins that will make us ill. We can even measure and find those folks with HLA testing, the same testing you do to see your self-identifying proteins that make you you when you need to get an organ transplant. 


There are patterns Dr Shoemaker has identified that represent the vulnerable and susceptible. The rest of us, 70% are capable of seeing mold toxins and have no trouble getting rid of them. Then there are 2% of us that are catastrophically sensitive. And what does this illness look like? Simply stated, they check out at ok by typical modern medicine. They express fatigue, brain fog, joint pains, rashes, diarrhea, cough, and so many other symptoms that their doctors dismiss them as psychiatric. The house of medicine calls it fibromylagia, or chronic fatigue. And if I told you that 80% of chronic fatigue folks had mold in their urine, would you sit up and pay attention? This needs to be a whole new branch of medicine. Every doctor should know it. It affects 25% of us.


 WWW.what will work for me. I'm trying to wrap my head around this way of thinking. It's a whole new field. If you stick with me, I'm going to keep defining it for you, and learning it for myself. I feel like someone turned on the lights. I've tested about 50 people with unexplained fatigue and illness. I'm batting 90% mold as best I can tell. Biotoxin illness. Even my spell-checker doesn't recognize the word. 


  Pop Quiz

  1. Biotoxin illness is caused by rare bacteria or weird molds? T or F                       Answer: No. It's is caused by the immune reaction to proteins and broken bits of DNA, or to foreign compounds that alert our innate immune system in a human that doesn't have the genetic ability to adapt. (Lion fish, red ted, ciguatera, Pfiesteria, mold, CIPRO, Buruli ulcer, wasp stings....and probably many more)
  2. Most of us get sick to these biotoxins when exposed. T or F                              Answer: False. Fully 70% of us have immune systems that see the toxins, tag it, excrete it, done.
  3. We can get a simple blood test to measure our risk of biotoxin illness. T or F           Answer: Well, if you consider transplant tissue typing a simple test, sure. But right now it costs some $ 600 bucks and takes a week to get back.
  4. Mold illness may play a role in many common illnesses, like Alzheimer's.                 Answer: True. But unfair. We haven't gotten to that yet. Just a hint.
  5. So you mean to tell me that that whacko person who walked into our church and said, "I can't stay here, this place is bad for me," wasn't whacko?                     Answer: Hang your head in humility. They were likely one of the 2% who is exquisitely sensitized. Be grateful you don't live in their skin. And make sure your home is not water damaged.

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