Mold and Lyme Toxins

This article was contributed by Richard Loyd, Ph.D., founder of www.royalrife.com. Note the recurring theme of mold issues appearing over and over in Lyme Disease literature. This is shaping up to be a very important issue. For more information, I suggest reading “Mold Illness and Mold Remediation Made Simple” by James Schaller, M.D., available at www.lymebook.com/moldbook. You may also visit  www.usmoldphysician.com to find out the latest on Dr. Schaller’s mold research.

Mold and Lyme Toxins
By Richard Loyd, Ph.D.

This article is an excerpt from the 2008 Lyme Disease Annual Report.

Mold toxins are found in foods such as grains and peanuts. Far more serious are the mold toxins found in buildings with water leaks. Buildings with flat roofs and buildings on a concrete slab at the bottom of a hill are ready-made for mold problems. Mold toxins are the most common of the biotoxins and are responsible for many of the symptoms of Lyme Disease patients.

When a building has a water leak or water damage that is not immediately corrected, molds such as Stachybotrys, Aspergillus, Penicillium and Chae-tomium are likely to start colonies. The colonies may be visible or they may be hidden in places such as the tops of ceiling tiles or the bottoms of carpets. They send out spores which contain potent nerve toxins or neurotoxins.

When these spores with their neurotoxins are inhaled, about 76% of the population can make antibodies to the toxins and quickly eliminate them. They may sneeze, have a sore throat or have other minor symptoms, but symptoms are temporary. If they spend several days in a moldy building, they will begin to feel sick, but when they are away for a few days they recover. These same people are also able to eliminate Lyme toxins quickly.

About 24% of the population have a genetic makeup that makes them unable to produce the needed antibodies. The body simply does not identify the toxins as invaders and it does not eliminate them effectively. The liver can send them to the digestive tract via the bile, but they are quickly reabsorbed back into the blood. The result is that continual or repeated exposures to mold toxins result in an ever increasing amount of these toxins in the body. And if the person has Lyme Disease, Lyme toxins also build up in the body the same way. These are the people that get very sick when they do frequency treatments for Lyme. Frequency treatments for Lyme are not recommended until the toxin issue is addressed.

These mold and Lyme toxins attach to fat cells and cause the fat cells to continually release inflammatory cytokines. The result is chronic inflammation with symptoms such as fatigue, pain, brain fog and out of control weight gain. Sometimes there is excessive weight loss instead. When a person has the flu, symptoms are not caused directly by the viruses. The symptoms are caused by the resulting cytokines. So mold and Lyme toxins can cause symptoms similar to a permanent case of flu.

Cytokines also cause the release of a material called MMP9 that makes people feel terrible.

Cytokines also cause reduced circulation in small blood vessels with reduced oxygen and nutrients to the cells. This acts similarly to heart disease and any exercise can result in a crash that lasts for days.

Excess cytokines are also related to autoimmune problems. And autoim-mune reactions are much more common in people with long arms – “wingspan” longer than their height.

Mold and Lyme toxin patients may make antibodies to myelin with result-ing nerve damage. MS patients should be checked for mold and Lyme toxins. They may make antibodies to a material called cardiolipin. This causes blood to sludge. Hands and feet are often cold. More commonly they make antibodies to gliadin which is a protein found in gluten. The result is an inability to tolerate gluten grains (wheat, rye, oats, barley).

A diet high in sugar and in the starch amylose (wheat, rye, oats barley, rice, root vegetables, bananas) causes rapid blood sugar and insulin spikes making things worse.

Some substances like dopamine and serotonin cannot cross the blood brain barrier (BBB). But the BBB does not slow down inflammatory cytokines at all, so they enter the brain and block various receptor sites. When the leptin receptor sites are blocked, leptin levels increase and leptin resistance is produced. The excess leptin packs fat into fat cells where it stays until the toxins are removed. These people can gain weight on 1000 calories.

When leptin receptors are blocked, the production of a chemical called MSH is blocked. If MSH is low, melatonin production will be low, resulting in sleep problems. If MSH is low, endorphins will be low resulting in excess chronic pain.

MSH also controls pituitary hormone production and if MSH is low, there will be a loss of hormonal control. If cortisol is low, treatment should be to remove the neurotoxins. If cortisol is given, that depresses ACTH production and this can make the person’s health much worse.

Anti-diuretic hormone production by the pituitary is often disrupted resulting in excess urination even to the point of dehydration and excess thirst and excess salt remaining in the blood. When that happens, the person is a good conductor of electricity and many patients have problems with static electricity shocks. They may damage electronic equipment by touching it.

People who are low in MSH often have leaky gut which lets in more gliadin which causes more inflammation and further reduces MSH which causes more leaky gut which lets in more gliadin…. In any case of bowel disease, mold and Lyme toxins should be checked. Eighty percent of low MSH patients have colonization in their sinuses by a variety of bacteria called “multiple antibiotic-resistant coagulase negative staph.” In most people, this organism is fairly benign, but in low MSH patients it must be taken care of before they can feel good. Colloidal silver nose drops are a possibility.

Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, M.D. uses Cholestyramine to remove the toxins. Cholestyramine causes bloating, digestive discomfort and constipation in most patients. We have experimented with plant sterols in the form of Cholestepure (2 X 3) with very good results and little or no negative effects. C-Food from Precision Herbs (4 X 3) also works well for toxin removal. Plan on taking one to two months for this. Stay away from moldy places and moldy foods.

To reduce inflammation we have used a number of products such as Metagenics UltraInflamX, Kaprex, Kaprex AI, and Biotics KappArrest. Homeopathics for mold and Lyme would help.

If the molds are actually causing infection, a product called Immune Yeast and Fungus can be used along with a toxin removal program.

For much more information, see the book “Mold Warriors” by Dr. Shoe-maker.