Mold Toxicity & The Brain

10 Ways Mold Toxins Lead to Brain Symptoms

Mold toxicity is a surprisingly common and important player when it comes to brain-related symptoms. You won’t find it mentioned in psychiatric research, but those of us who treat mold toxicity will tell you that it is a very common cause of brain fog, fatigue, depression, anxiety, mood swings, OCD, panic, and psychosis.

It’s not the only cause but tends to cause and interact with other causes. It is often the root of the roots.

“Seemingly 25% of people are unable to make antibodies to mold toxins. Add to that the 50%* of buildings that have water damage, and you have a lot of people who are unknowingly becoming toxic while spending time in affected homes, schools, workplaces, cars, dorms, and nurseries.” (from my 2019 blog post)

*We (mold literate doctors) now realize it’s closer to 75% of buildings having water damage. Even that may be conservative. Many inspectors will say closer to 100%.

Mold toxins impact the brain in many ways and often dramatically. Because it is so common and we usually see significant improvements in symptoms with treatment, I recommend testing in most (not all) people I treat.

Results from a RealTime Urine Mold Toxin Panel.

Now, onto the…

10 Ways Mold Toxins Can Cause Brain Symptoms:

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1. LIMBIC SYSTEM DYSFUNCTION - The limbic system is the part of the brain involved in our behavioral and emotional responses relating to survival. When there is a threat, in this case, mold toxins, our limbic system lets our autonomic nervous system (up next) know there’s a problem. Our brain tries to make sense of this - tries to identify a danger, usually outside of us. What we perceive as dangerous may have some meaning from an experience. This can lead to excessive thoughts or obsessions followed by attempts to remove a perceived threat. For example, it could be contamination fears followed by excessive cleaning, consistent with an OCD diagnosis. It could be extreme perfectionism or intrusive thoughts. I think of it as an attempt to control the environment (or our body) to feel safe.

2. AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ANS) DYSFUNCTION - The ANS is sometimes called the brain in the body. It operates outside of conscious awareness, reacts automatically, and is partly influenced by the limbic system. The ANS has two main parts. When there is a threat or perceived threat, the sympathetic part puts us into fight or flight or shut down. When we're not in this state, the parasympathetic part (think vagus nerve) has us in rest, digest and engage. Mold toxicity can put us into a fight (irritable, agitated), flight (“get me out of here”) or shutdown (checking out, derealization, depersonalization). Resting, digesting, and feeling comfortable around people can become challenging.

3. INFLAMMATION - The immune system is intimately intertwined with the central nervous system. Inflammation from mold toxins can look like a lot of things. Inflammation can impact any system in the body. However, inflammation can also affect many systems intermittently and simultaneously, largely due to mast cells, the immune system's first responders. Mold toxicity can put mast cells on high alert, like the limbic and autonomic nervous systems. In this state, it doesn’t take much for mast cells to destabilize and release histamine and other inflammatory messengers. The result can be a lot of random symptoms or triggers (certain foods, supplements, medication, chemicals, stress, even electromagnetic fields, etc.). “I feel like I’m reacting to everything!” Though not in the brain, mast cells communicate with inflammatory cells - microglial cells - that are. Inflammation in the brain interferes with communication between nerves, causing a range of symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, panic, a feeling of doom, etc. Together, mast cells and microglial cells can cause flares of a mix of physical and brain symptoms, like having the flu. Chronic inflammation leads to neuro-degeneration (death of neurons), which, over time, can lead to dementia.

4. GUT MICROBIOME ISSUES - There are many ways our gut impacts our brain. Aside from causing an exaggerated immune response, as described above, mold toxicity can also cause an ineffective immune response that results in the overgrowth of problematic microbes. These gut microbial imbalances can lead to “leaky gut (permeability of the gut lining that allows food particles to get through and be reacted to), SIBO/Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, and other microbial imbalances, including candida overgrowth. Each of these adds to inflammation and often further toxicity.

5. FOOD SENSITIVITIES - Because mold toxins can contribute to a dysregulated immune system, gut permeability, and gut microbial imbalances, there can be many food-related issues. Reacting to specific foods or food families adds to the inflammation. Someone with mold toxicity may find themselves reacting to foods high in oxalates (mold and candida make oxalate), histamine, sulfur, and/or salicylates. Though many people may gravitate to carbohydrates, mold (like candida) will thrive on sugar and carbohydrates. Brain symptoms are fairly common, whether reactivity to a food family or a specific food.

6. INFECTION OR COLONIZATION - Mold itself can colonize the sinuses or gastrointestinal tract, making it a source of mold toxins in addition to water damage sources. Because mold toxins interfere with the immune system, Candida or yeast can be more likely to overgrow or be treatment-resistant if we have mold toxicity. Candida is also fungal, though a normal gut microbe. Problems with Lyme and its coinfections (e.g., Bartonella and Babesia), viruses, parasites, and other microbes can also be more likely. Each of these, with their biotoxins, can add to the inflammatory and toxic load.

7. OXIDATIVE STRESS - Like other toxins, mold toxins can cause a depletion/use of our protective antioxidants.  At some point, that protection can become overwhelmed, resulting in many downstream issues. This could mean a depletion of glutathione, arguably the most important antioxidant. It can also mean a depletion of zinc, vital in gut health, the immune system, and the functioning of brain chemicals. Low zinc can cause high copper, …which causes low dopamine (poor attention) and high adrenaline (hyperactivity, anxiety, insomnia). High pyroles are another sign of oxidative stress. As pyroles leave the body through the urine, they take some zinc and B6. B6 is needed to make serotonin, dopamine, and GABA.

8. EXPRESSION OF GENETIC VARIANTS - How toxic we are (or rather how much oxidative stress we have) impacts the expression of our genes. Of our unique 1000-plus genetic variants, we have some that impact neurotransmitter functioning. Some have to do with how easily we become toxic. Some have to do with how easily we clear histamine, which impacts the brain. Some have to do with methylation and how much neurotransmitter activity we have. Many of these variants/snps we may never hear from but for having mold toxicity.

9. HORMONAL IMBALANCES - Just as with the immune system, things can become dysregulated here. There is no set pattern. How our endocrine system reacts depends on our unique genetic vulnerabilities, our age, how toxic we are, and for how long. For example, one person may have high cortisol (fitting with high stress), and someone else may be fully into adrenal fatigue, both with very different brain impacts and brain symptoms. I would say the same for the sex hormones estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone.

10. AUTOIMMUNITY - This is when our immune system, which should be targeting things like problematic microbes, gets confused and starts an immune response targeting specific brain areas that can cause obsessions, compulsions, and/or psychosis. Mold toxicity is often the underlying condition. The most well-known example of autoimmunity in the brain is PANDAS/Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infections, which can look like a dramatic onset of OCD after having had a strep infection. PANS/Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome is similar but from other microbes besides strep. Autoimmune Psychosis can result in a relatively abrupt onset of hallucinations and delusions. Again, I think autoimmunity is a root, but with a deeper root, usually mold toxicity.

Though I’m listing these 10 issues separately, I hope it’s evident that many of them are interconnected.

You may be wondering if mold toxins and mold get into the brain. Emerging research suggests they can.

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Until next week,

P.S. Paid subscribers - Look out for an upcoming post on some of the research into the presence of mold and toxins in the brain and other organs.

Medical Disclaimer:

This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.