Mold, a common household fungus, has a variety of side effects that can affect both you and your family. Some of the most common of these side effects include watery, itching, and red eyes, wheezing, sneezing, coughing, a runny nose, and skin rashes.
However, side effects from mold can only get more serious from there. This is especially apparent in those with allergic predispositions to mold, as well as those with asthma. Further, mold can be especially serious for young children.
Otherwise healthy children who are exposed to mold can be at risk of developing asthma. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledges that mold is a risk factor for asthma in young children.
Asthma is a disease that affects the airways of your lungs, straining the lining into an always-hypersensitive state.
This is characterized by lung redness and inflammation, and can lead to an overdose of detrimental respiratory side effects.
These side effects include everything from daily discomfort when breathing to, more seriously, airway remodeling, which can cause lung scarring and resistance to asthma medications. Asthma is especially serious when considering mold side effects because, mold can not only cause asthma, notably in children, but it also worsens asthma symptoms over time.
This means that, if a child is exposed to mold, they can develop asthma that will only get worse as exposure to mold is continued and the source of your home’s mold problems is not addressed.
Asthma and mold
While you may know many adults with asthma who might tell you that it has simply just become part of their everyday life, asthma symptoms in children can be fatal. This is because asthma patients who develop asthma at an early age are at risk of developing long term detrimental health effects.
These include resistance to antibiotics and antibacterial drugs, increased risk of asthma attacks, tightening of the lungs, and many more serious health deficits.
Worsened by mold exposure
Comparatively, these symptoms are only worsened by mold exposure, meaning even healthy children or adults who have no history of asthma can begin to experience and display many of these adverse symptoms.
Mold is especially dangerous when considering the risks and side effects of the fungus because everyone reacts differently to mold exposure. Those with allergies may have life threatening respiratory afflictions, while those with no allergic disposition to the substance may experience side effects likened to the common cold.
It all depends on the severity of mold exposure in your home and exactly what type of fungal mold is present within your walls.
However, while some mold exposures are more serious than others, the CDC states that inhaling any type of mold is cannot be good for you, and even microscopic inhalation of mold over a long period of time can lead to the more serious side effects of the fungus.
These serious side effects include but are not limited to sleep apnea, severe fatigue, insomnia, upper respiratory tract issues, including infections, severe coughing, and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which leads to a weakened immune system, therefore opening up those exposed to mold to a plethora of long-term and costly health adversities.
