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Brown Study Finds Link Between Depression and Household Mold
A groundbreaking public health study, led by Brown University epidemiologist Edmond Shenassa, has found a connection between damp, moldy homes and depression. Results are published in the American Journal of Public Health. (Sept. 29, 2007)
VERY IMPORTANT: Also, based on this report, CNN's Dr. Gupta wishes to be sent information about mold and health. View that article, below, as well.
Newsweek article about this study, also, with a chance for you to comment, online! US GAO Audit on how mold is being handled by federal gov't is mentioned, also, in a comment in Newsweek.
This article has 1 comment from SMH site visitors
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2007-08/07-023.html
Public Health
Brown Study Finds Link Between Depression and Household Mold
A groundbreaking public health study, led by Brown University epidemiologist Edmond Shenassa, has found a connection between damp, moldy homes and depression. Results are published in the American Journal of Public Health.
August 29, 2007
Contact: Wendy Lawton
(401) 863-2476
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A groundbreaking public health study has found a connection between damp, moldy homes and depression. The study, led by Brown University epidemiologist Edmond Shenassa, is the largest investigation of an association between mold and mood and is the first such investigation conducted outside the United Kingdom.
Shenassa said the findings, published in the American Journal of Public Health, came as a complete surprise. In fact, after a few U.K. studies published in the last decade had suggested a link, Shenassa and his skeptical team set out to debunk the notion that any link existed.
“We thought that once we statistically accounted for factors that could clearly contribute to depression – things like employment status and crowding – we would see any link vanish,” said Shenassa, the lead author of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Community Health at Brown. “But the opposite was true. We found a solid association between depression and living in a damp, moldy home.”
Shenassa noted the study, an analysis of data from nearly 6,000 European adults, does not prove that moldy homes cause depression. The study wasn’t designed to draw that direct conclusion. However, Shenassa’s team did find a connection, one likely driven by two factors. One factor is a perceived lack of control over the housing environment. The other is mold-related health problems such as wheezing, fatigue and a cold or throat illness.
“Physical health, and perceptions of control, are linked with an elevated risk for depression,” Shenassa said, “and that makes sense. If you are sick from mold, and feel you can’t get rid of it, it may affect your mental health.”
The study was a statistical analysis of data from the Large Analysis and Review of European Housing and Health Status (LARES), a survey on housing, health and place of residence conducted in 2002 and 2003 by the World Health Organization (WHO). To conduct the survey, WHO interviewers visited thousands of homes in eight European cities and asked residents a series of questions, including if they had depressive symptoms such as decreased appetite, low self-esteem, and sleep disturbances. WHO interviewers also made visual checks of each household, looking for spots on walls and ceilings that indicate mold.
Shenassa’s team analyzed LARES data from 5,882 adults in 2,982 households.
“What the study makes clear is the importance of housing as indicator of health, including mental health,” Shenassa said. “Healthy homes can promote healthy lives.”
Shenassa and his team are conducting follow-up research to see if mold does, indeed, directly cause depression. Shenassa said that given the results of the current study, he wouldn’t be surprised if there is a cause-and-effect association. Molds are toxins, and some research has indicated that these toxins can affect the nervous system or the immune system or impede the function of the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that plays a part in impulse control, memory, problem solving, sexual behavior, socialization and spontaneity.
The research team includes Allison Liebhaber, a former Brown undergraduate; Constantine Daskalakis of Thomas Jefferson University; Matthias Braubach of WHO; and Mary Jean Brown of the Harvard School of Public Health.
Editors: Brown University has a fiber link television studio available for domestic and international live and taped interviews and maintains an ISDN line for radio interviews. For more information, call the Office of Media Relations at (401) 863-2476.
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Are you suffering from brain mold?
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta/2007/08/are-you-suffering-from-brain-mold.html
Whether you're one of those hot, exhausted people cleaning up after a flood or just fighting the good fight to keep that dark, dank film off the grout in the shower -- mold could affect your mood.
In what's being hailed as a first, a public health study led by Brown University finds a link between regular old household mold and depression.
The study included data from the World Health Organization of nearly 6,000 people in Europe.
Some of the science is intuitive - sure, if you have a moldy home, you're likely to feel out of control - and perceptions of control are linked to depression.
And yes, if you're depressed, you might not be the best housekeeper.
Exposure to mold can produce physical symptoms that are well-documented: For those with allergies, asthma or suppressed immune systems, mold can make you sick- and if you're sick from mold, that could certainly affect your mental state.
But researchers hypothesize there may be another possible pathway: mold on the brain. Molds are toxins - and researchers suspect (but haven't proven) these toxins may impede the function of the frontal cortex, that touchy-feely part of our brain that rules emotion.
As someone slightly household-chore-challenged, I wondered - just how much mold might it take to affect my mood?
It's hard to quantify, says lead researcher and Brown University epidemiologist Ed Shenassa, adding that while a little mold in the bath won't do it, the more mold your have, the more likely it is to impact emotion.
Let's be clear: What we have here is an association between mold and mood-- more research is needed to see whether mold does indeed directly cause depression.
But Shenassa says there is a clear takeaway from this study: "Healthy homes promote healthy lives." That means not letting carpets, wallpaper or ceiling tiles to get wet, and stay wet for more than 48 hours, and giving leaks in the roof, walls and plumbing the immediate attention they deserve, because they're all sources of mold.
The study appears in the October edition of the American Journal of Public Health.
Do you have mold - and has it affected your mind, and body? Tell us your story.
Posted By Amy Burkholder, Producer, Medical News: 10:56 AM ET
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WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Karen Springen
Newsweek
Updated: 4:39 p.m. PT Aug 29, 2007
Aug. 29, 2007 - No one likes mold. Yet the unsightly blight is present in an estimated 40 percent of American homes. And those rates may be higher in flood-ravaged areas like the Gulf Coast. The tiny fungi can irritate the upper-respiratory tract, causing coughing, wheezing and asthma symptoms in the 5 percent of the population with allergic antibodies to them.
But the effects of mold may be even more diverse than previously thought. A new study out this week in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that damp, moldy homes are associated with an increased incidence of depression. Why? “Some molds are toxins, and exposure to these toxins may hypoactivate parts of the brain that deal with emotions,” says lead author Edmond Shenassa, assistant professor of epidemiology at Brown Medical School in Providence, R.I.
Shenassa and his colleagues looked at World Health Organization data from 5,882 adults living in eight cities in Europe, including Budapest, Geneva and Bonn, Germany. WHO interviewers asked residents if they had depressive symptoms such as decreased appetite, low self-esteem and sleep disturbances. Researchers found that those that said yes were more likely to live in damp, moldy homes. “[The study] suggests that healthy homes can lead to healthier lives. The take-home message is that housing conditions can influence health,” says Shenassa. While the study did not provide a definitive reason for the link, study authors said that two factors are likely to be at play. One is the perceived lack of control over one’s environment that mold can create and the other is mold-related health problems such as wheezing, fatigue and colds. (The team is conducting follow-up research to see whether mold directly causes depression.)
Not all the experts agree that there is any connection between mold and depression—despite this new research. Critics wish the study hadn’t relied on self reports. “Having professionals do the inspection and rate homes for dampness or moldiness is much better than having people self report,” says Pat Breysse, director of the division of environmental health engineering at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Often people “point fingers at mold,” but “the biological link between mold and a neurotoxic effect that might lead to depression is very tenuous, in my opinion,” says Breysse.
But whether mold is linked to depression or not, many health professionals agree that homeowners need to fix their houses. The presence of mold doesn’t just mean trouble for allergy sufferers, it also means a home is more likely to be infested with cockroaches, and it usually brings down property values.
So don’t wait for an inspector, advises Breysse. “If you’ve got a leaky pipe and a big stain in the ceiling, you don’t need to hire someone to say there’s a big problem,” he says. “It’s an indication that the plumbing is leaking, the roof is leaking and the upkeep of the house is bad. Bad housing is not healthy for lots of reasons. That should be the message, not that mold causes depression.”
To prevent the spread of the icky fungi, Shenassa recommends that you keep the bathroom and the kitchen as dry as possible and have space where one can get behind appliances to wipe out the water. He also suggests insulating around pipes, windows and maintaining good ventilation. After all, a dry home is likely to be a healthier home, even if it’s not necessarily happier.
© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.
http://health.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=670511#comments
Posted By: Nancy Seats (8/30/2007 at 1:51:13 AM)
Comment: If builders of homes and commercial buildings were forced to follow building codes and stop cutting corners by leaving out window flashing, and rebar in foundations we would be closer to eliminating water intrusion that leads to toxic mold. Cities are not enforcing building codes properly and they can't be held responsible for that as they have sovereign immunity. Bad faith on the part of insurance companies is another factor in this situation. Don't blame all instances of toxic mold on lack of owner maintenance. I hear from many homeowners who live in homes less than six months old that have water intrusion that has already led to toxic mold.
Reply to Comment
Posted By: Susan Brinchman (8/30/2007 at 9:21:59 PM)
Comment: Did you know that mold is also very prevalent in our schools? Conditions that support the growth of mold exist in more than half of our schools, and toxic mold is detected in thousands of schools in the USA each year. It causes learning and health problems - often, severe. Parents and teachers may not know why their children or they are ill. Mold certainly does cause depression and a lot more, according to research conducted over the past 10 years, especially. Visit The Center for School Mold Help's mold research page to learn more, at www.schoolmoldhelp.org/research.html. Parents, inspect your children's schools and do not allow them to attend damp, water-damaged, leaky, moldy schools. Their education, lives, health and mental health are at stake! Susan Brinchman, Director Center for School Mold Help www.schoolmoldhelp.org
Note: Nancy Seats is Director and Founder of www.Hadd.com (Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings)
Reply to Comment
Posted By: Sharon Kramer (8/30/2007 at 10:45:09 PM)
Comment: Of course mold causes depression and cognitive dysfunction when one is exposed to an excessive amount. Several of the toxins produced by the molds and other microbial contaminants found in water damaged buildings are (long-known) neurotoxins. What happened was that we started using manmade (building) materials that easily (wick) water in the late 70's. This caused mold to grow in our homes at a rate never seen before in the history of man. People began to become sick from the mold in homes, schools and offices. This increased the financial liability for the stakeholders of moldy buildings. In approximately 2000, much misinformation regarding the science began to be promoted in medical associations and US Gov agencies, primarily the CDC (NIOSH). The explicit intent of this misinfo was to stifle the medical understanding in the name of financial risk management for stakeholder industries. Deny the plausibility of causation of illness, limit financial liability. For more on the subject, read "Court of Opinion, Amid Suits Over Mold Experts Wear Two Hats", Page One Wall Street Journal Jan, 2007. http://drcraner.com/images/suits_over_mold_WSJ.pdf There is much more to this insidious story that is all about to come to light. The Federal Gov't Accountability Office is currently running an audit into the matter.
(SMH note:
The federal government is presently conducting a GAO (US General Accounting Office) Audit (study) on the US Gov't effort to minimize and mitigate illnesses associated with human exposure to mold in housing and other indoor environments. This is alluded to in the comment we see above, on the Newsweek site, in response to the news that a Brown University study has shown a connection between mold and depression.)
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SPEAK OUT ON THE SMH SITE - YOUR OPINION COUNTS!
I think this story is OK. If it draws attention to the problems that mold can cause, it's a plus. I don't however, agree with many point in it. Mold definitely effects the brain. Whether it be depression or not, it does have an effect on cognitive awareness and memory and brain function in general. I know. I've been there and am suffering from the lingering effects of mold exposure. It almost robbed me of my quality of life. I was one of the lucky ones who got to a doctor who understood what is going on with mold and gave me the medication and means to fight the deadly toxins that one's body is exposed to. I was able to rid my body of the toxins and was able to get my quality of life back, unlike man y of my friends who suffer from lingering medical problems and some cannot even leave their homes because of the effects the toxins have had on their bodies. I believe that depression can come from someone hav ing neurotoxin illness from mold and no one wanting to listen or understand what is going on with their bodies. Many doctors pooh pooh the patients that suffer and call them hypochondriacs. There is nothing more depressing that to be told that there is nothing wrong with you, when you are suffering form the toxic effects of mold exposure. It is a genetically linked response to the mold exposure. Some people in the same environment will be fine, some will be slightly ill and others will be seriously ill with mold exposure. Without a doctor that knows about the effects of mold exposure and without a doctor that knows what to do about it, one can suffer endlessly and lose friends, family and their jobs. Could this cause depression? I am sure. DR. Ritchie Shoemaker saved my life. HE will always be an angel to me. He fights for the rights of mold exposed patients and faces litigation and lawyers from corporate entities that try to minimize the effects of mold exposure. His success rate in helping people get their earned benefits and helping them return to some semblance of normalcy in life is phenomenal. It's unfortunate that his colleagues in the medical world are either too snotty, too busy or too set in their ways to read about and understand his research. They will not accept his documentation and will not help their patients to the road to recovery from mold exposure. Shame on them all! Ritchie Shoemaker is an angel that is helping sick people. Our own government had him removed from the New Orleans area when he went to TV stations and the local press to report his findings about the number of people that are sick from mold exposure in New Orleans. They don't want you to know about it just like they tried to cover up the exposure to asbestos at the World Trade Center site. Yet we see firemen, EMS, and police officers that worked the site dying from exposure with severe lung disease. They are still in denial and people are still dying from the effects of the exposure that was considered to be safe (according to Christy Whitman of the EPA) at the time. Do your homework and seek help from qualified people if you are feeling flu-like symptoms and general miserable health. The toxin exposure definitely effects the brain. DEPRESSION? YA THINK?????
Disabled, Mold-ill Teacher |
