New research hoping to change outcomes for mould-exposure illnesses

New research hoping to change outcomes for mould-exposure illnesses

The perfect storm of continued above-average rainfall, flooding and housing crisis gripping Eastern Australia has seen a rise in mould-related illnesses. Mould’s biotoxin byproduct, mycotoxin, is naturally occurring but can lead to long-term adverse health effects, including sinus and respiratory issues, headaches and lung conditions.

The World Health Organisation estimates that dampness inside dwellings is a major factor in mould growth, and could potentially affect between 10 and 50 per cent of indoor settings across the country.

It is generally accepted that long-term exposure to mycotoxin is damaging to health, but the science behind it is not widely agreed upon.

According to physician Graeme Edwards, who worked on the 2018 parliamentary inquiry into biotoxin-related illness in Australia and is a consultant with the Royal Australian College of Practitioners, “the position of the college is that biotoxins do cause problems.”

“But the level of knowledge and understanding is such that there is a lot of misinformation, and we need further research to better understand it.”

One of the major recommendations of the inquiry was for “the Department of Health to develop clinical guidelines for general practitioners for the diagnosis, treatment and management” of suspected biotoxin illnesses.

This month, Macquarie University will begin a nation-first research project into mould-related illness, which will look at inflammatory responses and brain imaging of those experiencing chronic inflammatory respiratory syndrome conditions.

“The problem we are facing right now is we don’t have a way to diagnose CIRS,” research fellow Dr Charlie Ahn said. “We are trying to set up the parameters of the diagnostic and the treatment of the response.

“Once we set up these parameters for the first three years, after that, we would like to do clinical trials.”

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