While indoor mold certain has negative health effects, is it
a cause or exacerbant of ADHD? If you
receive a diagnosis of ADHD, should you have your house inspected or
disinfected as a matter of course?
ADHD is like many other mental and neurological
conditions. The brain works much less
well if any other part of the body is not functioning, especially if that part
of the body has any contact with the brain.
People who suffer from indoor mold do complain of difficulty with
concentration, tiredness (possibly manifesting as hyperactivity in younger
children), and short tempers--all symptoms that could also be caused by ADHD. This is because mold primarily exerts its
effects on the human body via the immune system, which contacts all parts of
the body, including the brain. What's the difference between mold induced
illness versus garden variety ADHD?
People who have ADHD
- usually have had symptoms all their lives, or starting fairly early in life. Adults can be diagnosed if symptoms were present before age 12, but if you dig deep you'll usually uncover unrecognized symptoms present from much earlier ages.
- often have a family history of the problem, but there are usually people who live with them who do not have symptoms.
People who have symptoms
due to mold exposure
- usually have symptoms which start around the time when the mold exposure began--shortly after a move, or after new construction or remodeling, or after flooding or other moisture exposure, for example.
- usually find that many others living with them also have symptoms, but relatives who do not live with them are unaffected.
Both patients with
ADHD and patients with mold exposure
- may have symptoms that come and go.
- may have symptoms that do not respond to medication
- may have other allergic symptoms, as ADHD is associated with a higher rate of allergy and asthma
So, if you have been diagnosed with ADHD, should you have
your home inspected for mold?
Probably yes
- You are an adult and your symptoms have come on recently.
- There is a reason to suspect your house is at high risk for mold, such as high levels of moisture in the house.
- You are buying a new house or condominium.
Maybe
- Your symptoms are not responding to more than one class of medication.
- You have had new or worsening allergic symptoms unexplained by other exposures.
Probably no
- You have had symptoms of ADHD most of your life with no recent, significant change.
- You have a strong family history of ADHD.
- You have no other allergic symptoms other than the symptoms of ADHD. You should ask a family member to verify this for you because patients with ADHD often do not pay attention to symptoms such as red eye, infrequent cough, runny nose, and sinus headaches if they have them daily.
Treatment
Disinfection of your living or working space may or may not
bring relief to your symptoms depending on how the mold was affecting you to
begin with.
While there is one small trial of
hyperbaric oxygen used to treat mold related symptoms in people with ADHD,
it is too preliminary to comment on whether the results were due to chance
rather than the treatment. Hyperbaric
oxygen has relatively few known side effects but can result in injury to the
middle ear, lungs, and sinuses.
Therefore, hyperbaric oxygen is not recommended as therapy for mold
induced worsening of symptoms of ADHD.
No comments:
Post a Comment