Biotoxin Illness Part II: How the Weird Symptoms Come About
October 02, 2017Biotoxin Illness II: The Weird Symptoms and How They Come About
References: Surviving Mold, Dr Thomas,
To understand the "weird" and protean symptoms of Biotoxin Illness, you need to first understand how it comes about. The toxins enter the body in many ways, probably mostly through breathing in via lungs or nose, but also through tick bites or insect stings, or even skin surface contact. In the case of molds, it's not the spores growing but the proteins and DNA fragments of dead mold organisms that set off the problem. And it's not just mold but also all the other organisms that live in water-damaged buildings like actinomycetes, mycobacteria, and their proteins and DNA.
All that "gunk" is foreign to the human body. And we react to it. Now, our immune system has two layers. Our "innate" system is very primitive and reactive. It just fires off and sets off indiscrete reactions. It sends out chemicals to call in troops to help it out and starts a cascade of reactions called the complement system. It doesn't have any long lasting memory. That is the "adaptive" system that develops specific antibodies and has memory. The innate system is programmed into you, and is responsible for telling your "friend or foe". That's the problem with mold. 24% of us can't recognize the biotoxin. It's as if we can't see it, or have dark glasses on. Two percent of us are downright blind and have an immune system that is totally clueless.
In those folks the mold toxin stays in the body, and keeps circulating again and again in a cycle from blood, to liver, to excretion in the bile, to reabsorption in the bowel back into the blood where there is another whack at the brain. The damage to your brain comes about because of non-discript secretion of chemical messages that circulate everywhere, but in dysfunctional levels, all because of the innate immune system activation. These biotoxins are by and large fat soluble, so the brain is a natural destination. It's that programming you can measure for and test. Every cell in your body has labelling proteins that your innate immune system knows makes you you.
Those are called HLA alleles or haplotypes. They are what we measure when we test you for a transplant to make sure we put in an organ that looks close enough to you to pass muster. Folks sensitive to mold have a variety of alleles that just don't see the mold toxins. Their immune recognition is kaput, and the toxin just persists and persists. The subsequent action of the innate immune system is to proceed to damage your brainstem, your bodies hormonal gearbox. Now you will understand why the symptoms are weird.
We are disturbing a very primitive immune system. So, your doctor does some standard tests and finds nothing. You tell her/him that you have: diarrhea, abdominal pain, persistent fatigue, numbness, extreme thirst, disorientation, metallic taste, watery eyes, congested sinuses, shortness of breath, weakness, body aches, headache, sensitivity to light or sound, Trouble learning new info, dizziness, cough, impaired memory, difficulty with word finding,heightened skin sensitivity tingling/pins and needles. If you have 7 of these, it's a slam dunk. This leads you to see doctor after doctor and nothing is found. But you walk into a water damaged building, and in 5 minutes, you feel sick. That is the cardinal symptom of biotoxin illness.
WWW.what will work for me. My ears are getting tuned to recognizing the desperate tone of voice of folks who have seen many physicians and been told they are fine. We need to all learn this stuff. It's a journey of discovery that will change much of the way we do medicine. It will be a department at the local medical school in time.
Pop Quiz
- Your innate immune system is very specific and focused. T or F Answer. False as false can be. Very diffuse and non-specific
- Folks susceptible to mold illness have an over reactive immune system. T or F Answer: Both T and F. Because their antibody system can't label and mark the toxins, they keep circulating and setting off the innate immune system, creating a cycle of damage.
- Can you name three symptoms from the list above that someone you know may have and hasn't found an answer? Answer: Just look. It's happening to folks all around us
- The toxins in mold that make all this mess are easily identified. T or F Answer: False. We really don't have a clue yet what they are. In Pfisteria we have identified it. But most other illnesses, it's a field waiting for research and clarity.
- Until we know how to identify the toxins, what is the first logical step? Answer: do a simple screening test to see if their is signs of damage, and then test the home and workplace (school) to see if there is ongoing exposure. You can't get better if you are in a dangerous place.