Mold and the Brain – How a Leaky Pipe Can Lead to a Leaky Brain

Dr. Jared Seigler Chiropractor

Dr. Jared Seigler is a Doctor of Chiropractic and has been a Certified Functional Medicine Provider for the past eight years. He is also trained in over 400 hundred hours of Functional Neurology to help promote growth, development, and healing of various regions in the central nervous system.   For the last four years,... more

Obviously, we need water to survive. Before a lot of modern technology, it wasn’t a coincidence that most civilizations either had or made access to water, a priority. All living organisms need water to survive and thrive, including pathogenic ones like molds. Issues with molds have been known for a long time. Even the Old Testament discusses how to properly remediate moldy structures and how to destroy the dwellings and personal belongings if that remediation fails.

Living with Mold

In the US, the EPA has estimated that up to one-half of all the buildings have been water-damaged. This can be a huge problem since avoidance is by far the best step when it comes to mold toxins, or what is commonly called mycotoxins. By definition, for something to be considered a toxin, it means there is an immune response to certain parts of that toxin that try to break it down or neutralize it. Not only do molds and their toxins cause what would be called inflammation, but they also attract the immune system’s weapons to try and eliminate the threat [1]. This creates a bigger immune response, which ultimately, may create even more problems than the original exposure.

The magnitude of this response will vary based on a number of factors, including the person’s genetic makeup and overall health at the time of the exposure, characteristics of the exposure, and even how and where the mold toxins attack. When I first met this 72-year-old that had a diagnosis of Parkinson’s, he had already maxed out on the medications and would still have tremors and his other symptoms. He was having trouble with the everyday ins and outs like eating and using a computer, but he even had to start sleeping in a different bed so he wouldn’t shake during the night and keep his wife awake.

Variations in what is called the human leukocyte antigen genes or HLAs account for a large portion of one’s immune response. Among the more well-known triggers of HLAs leading to immune responses, are molds and mycotoxins. Variations in these genes can account for why, in one family, a father may be diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but the mother doesn’t feel anything. She just complains that it “smells musty.” Everyone in the family is breathing in the mold, but genetic differences impact how each responds. Here we can see mold toxins on his test results.

Other factors that mediate this response include: what kind of toxin, how big of exposure, how long of an exposure, what else are the individual is exposed to, whether or not they also have any current infections or dysbiosis, and in general, what is their overall toxic burden? Is their cup already running over, or do they have some wiggle room?

Finally, how and where these exposures affect a person are named usually depends on who one speaks to. A kidney doctor may call it a “nephrotoxin” while a mycologist might call it “Aspergillus” and a toxicologist might call it “ochratoxin” but the end result is a mold produces toxins. Mold, in a wheat storage silo, for example, caused acute renal failure in an individual who inhaled these toxins [2].

How Mold Infects

There are several different kinds of molds and they all make different kinds of poisons. Even though several different kinds of mycotoxins have been found in the ventilation dust of buildings where people have experienced adverse health effects, the biggest threat is typically repeated episodes of water damage that promote fungal growth and then drier conditions which cause the release of mold spores to spread out. These dried out mold spores will now make little spears called hyphal fragments to stab through stuff [3].

They also have a tendency to not only make spears to stab, but they also secrete chemicals that can be viewed as chemical scissors that interact with the microbiome, promote the growth of Candida, and possibly use what illnesses or weaknesses that a person already has to get through the GI lining and into the bloodstream [4].

Not only is this something that we don’t want, but the damage doesn’t stop there, once in the blood, mold spears increase the risk for things like parasites [5], and if things get bad enough, they can take a step further and use those same spears and scissors to cut and stab through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) [6] [7]. Mycotoxins that reach the brain are responsible for a whole host of central nervous system disorders.

HLA Genes, Autoimmunity and the Brain

Remember those HLA, or autoimmune, genes? Once the mycotoxins reach the brain and as they start to attract the immune system to get activated, people with neurological autoimmunity will see an increase in how fast their immune system starts to target their own cells and tissue inside of their central nervous system. This is commonly called a “flare” [8]. The effects don’t stop there, however.

It is important to remember that the brain is composed of more than just neurons. The glial cells, for example, help the brain maintain the balance and make up the immune cells in the brain. Glial cells are negatively impacted by mold [9] and one of their favorite weapons happens to be histamine. Not only is histamine a weapon for the immune system, but it is also a messenger for the nervous system. Other than the inflammation caused, mold toxins cause neurons to be highly and chronically excitable, which in turn, causes oxidative stress [10]. Mycotoxins also have been shown to decrease oxygen in cells [11] and have been implicated in seizures [12].

This damage and excitation can be more problematic for specific regions of the brain than others. The cells that produce dopamine, called the substantia nigra, have been shown to die and slow down the production of that chemical messenger [13]. That dopamine goes to several areas of the brain. One of the more prominent is a set of nuclei called the basal ganglia. Here, dopamine is a messenger used to coordinate things like limb and facial movement, eye movements, as well as motivation, drive, and inhibition. All those symptoms that he is complaining of the stem from that region of the brain.

Not only did we need to remove more exposure as well as the mold toxins, but we also had to stimulate that part of his brain to promote neuroplasticity or growing new connections in areas of the brain to regain function. Of all the improvements he likes best, it is sharing the bed with his wife again without waking her up due to tremors and uncontrolled shaking.

There is also a link between mold toxins and decreased function in the hippocampus [14]. This is the area of the brain is responsible for short and long-term memory, as well as what is called working memory. This involves coordinating with the front of the brain to help a person remember things like the steps of a recipe. This hippocampus is associated with Alzheimer’s in the elderly, but also has been implicated in processes like autism as well.

Given how much time people are spending at home, if there is mold present this will definitely make healing harder for those people that are most affected. If symptoms seem to be getting worse the more time a person spends at home, that could be a big red flag.

This is where when we help people heal and regain function it is important that we listen to what a person is saying and have the proper testing and follow up. There is always more than one variable to what is making a person sick, so it is necessary to prioritize the proper support and have a good long-term strategy. Learn more about how to work with me at - www.becomeproof.com.