Glyphosate (RoundUp active ingredient) Injecting Itself Into the Very Structure of Our Bodies Proteins

Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff provided us with another amazing review article this year. I have written up a synopsis of their fantastic article and tried to introduce some of their material in a less scientific manner. (At least I try to. Sorry, some of it is just out-right scientific mumbo jumbo.) 

They reviewed a vast quantity of research to support the theory that glyphosate is being substituted for glycine and ending up incorporated into proteins and other places in the body where it should not be. It is a logical idea and explains many of the correlations seen between glyphosate use/ingestion/inhalation and associated diseases.

Please see their actual article for all the details, including the references to support the claims listed below. Their actual paper is lengthy and goes into very specific detail. I have written this short review of their paper for folks to get an inkling of what they have uncovered as this is a VERY IMPORTANT article.

The issue:

Glyphosate is the number one herbicide sold in the world. It is used everywhere. Both on farms, in apartment complexes, on the side of roads, perhaps in your own yard. Previous articles by Samsel and Seneff have reviewed the  myriad health effects that appear to be associated with glyphosate use. I have listed the links for their other articles below as well as a link to another earlier review I did on one of their prior articles. 

Their current review, looks at the possible mechanism that appears to be the method behind how glyphosate can be associated with so many disease states. Some of these health conditions they examined were inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, parkinson’s disease, kidney disease, various cancers, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes. For a full understanding of the connection between glyphosate and these and other diseases, I suggest you read all of their research reviews on glyphosate.

In prior papers they examined the chelating effect of glyphosate and how it can rob the body of minerals, the negative effect glyphosate has on our intestinal microbiome (gut bugs), how it interferes with production of key nutrients and suppresses one of the major biotransformational (detoxifying) systems of the body called cytochrome P450 enzymes, as well as examining the correlation between glyphosate and many different diseases.

In this article they asked themselves if there was something more insidious and fundamental than these known methods of action taking place with glyphosate. What they realized was that glyphosate, which is a synthetic amino acid analogue, may be substituting for glycine in peptides incorporated into our bodies. Think of what this would mean if glyphosate was pretending to be glycine and incorporating into the peptides and proteins that make up our tissues. If glyphosate incorporates into our cells and tissues it could cause self-destruction of these same cells and tissues when the body recognizes them as abnormal.  Our body has a normal process called apoptosis that is used to destroy old or "bad" cells. As tissues are destroyed, it effects the function of those tissues and ultimately the organ those tissues are a part of. This would cause many varied negative effects and would explain how one toxin could cause so many different diseases.

Glyphosate is an N-substituted glycine. Researchers have said that N-substitued glycines can be viewed as amino acids. This would make glyphosate a glycine analogue. The evidence presented by Samsel and Seneff lead you to believe that indeed glyphosate’s deleterious biological effects may  largely be due to it being an analogue for glycine.

Basics of how this works in plants:

Glyphosate disrupts chlorophyll synthesis in plants – the main reason is probably due to it’s inhibition of omega aminolevulinic acid synthesis. Aminolevulinic acid synthesis is the rate limiting step in the synthesis of the pyrrole ring. There is also the added disruption of the shikimate pathway. It is thought that Glyphosate competes with glycine and with succinyl coenzyme A for aminolevulinic acid synthesis.

Specifics of what glyphosate does biologically in mammals that supports it being a glycine analogue:

Glyphosate has been shown to activate NMDA receptors in rat hippocampus. (Thought in part to be due to it acting like glycine.)

Over expression of glutamate is induced by glyphosate.

Glyphosate can suppress the growth of some tumor cells. This is probably due to its suppressing glycine synthesis.

It appears glyphosate is  interfering with glycine’s activity at cell receptors (as a substance that binds to that receptor and induces biological changes). It also appears to act as a substrate in the place of glycine and suppresses glycine synthesis. It appears it could be taken up in place of glycine in protein synthesis. This has been shown to happen with other analogues of amino acids. Although, not yet proven for glyphosate, the research should be undertaken to study this since other amino acid analogues have shown this behavior. There is some research on plant root microbiomes that points in the direction of possible glyphosate substitution of glycine based on the protein changes in the bacteria found on the roots of the plants.

With these basic ideas in mind, Samsel and Seneff reviewed research literature to see how glyphosate posing as glycine is correlated with and may be a causative factor in many of the diseases that are currently becoming epidemics on our planet since the advent of using RoundUp and other glyphosate containing herbicides.

Why we care about glycine

Samsel and Seneff give a brief statement on how glycine works in the body, but I want to expound on that just a bit here, so people will get an idea as to how important glycine is in our bodies.

• As a neurotransmitter, it is mostly thought to be inhibitory.

• It is a substrate for glutathione. Glutathione is made from three amino acids (glycine, L- cysteine and L-glutamine). Glutathione is very important for our biotransformational system (detox system).

• It is a substrate for heme which is an component of hemoglobin which is the main element of our red blood cells.

• It is a substrate for creatine which combines with phosphate in the body to make phosphocreatine or creatine phosphate which is found in muscle and serves as a storage of energy used for muscle contraction.

• It is a substrate for nucleic acids which as deoxynucleic acid and ribonucleic acid serve as carriers of information and are needed to synthesize proteins. 

• Glycine acts as a cell protecting antioxidant

• Glycine plays a part in regulation of the metabolism

• Samsel and Seneff point out that due to glycine's special properties, its most important role is as a residue in many proteins. Especially proteins that require flexibility and mobility such as cellular ion gates that need to open and close.

The destruction of glycine affects every gland, organ and tissue and thus pre-disposes life to mitochondrial dysfunction and disease. Any glycine analogue has the potential to also cause mitochondrial dysfunction and disease.

The Monsanto and Dupont carbon-14 radio-labeled studies show that the glycine analogs incorporate into every gland, organ and tissue at a molecular level. 

Considering the fact that glyphosate is an antibiotic and was originally patented as an antibiotic, we know it destroys our gut bacteria. I heard Samsel suggest that the mix of killing of our gut microbiome and its ability to chelate our minerals with the addition of posing as glycine is enough to create a "perfect storm".

I have to warn you that the rest of this article gets a bit more scientific. However, don’t let it stop you from reading it. I try to explain things as much as possible. Sometimes I just need to list scientific data though.

What happens if glyphosate substitutes as glycine in the body

For a starter all the things I just mentioned above that glycine is involved with will be altered and alteration is usually a bad thing. Our bodies are set up to use specific types of amino acids, not amino acid analogues that have slight differences.

Glyphosate research on animals using a single radio-labeled dose of glyphosate orally or intravenously, showed metabolites from glyphosate in the urine (This means the body transformed the glyphosate.), and radioactive CO2 was found in the expired air (shows that it was absorbed into the body and metabolized and part of it expired at CO2). Additionally it was found in all tissues, glands and organs. (Oh my goodness!)

They go on to talk about how glyphosate has been shown to bioaccumulate in other research performed on animals. They look at additional research on chickens, eggs, and goats as proof of this.

They then move on to looking at genetic damage. Yes, we are talking about damage to the blue print of our bodies, DNA. They explain the role of glycine here and how early research by Monsanto showed DNA damage in bone marrow of mice exposed to glyphosate.

They examine the association of glyphosate and obesity. The explain that a substitution of glyphosate for glycine in lipase can be at the root of obesity as well as adrenal insufficiency. They continue on through many disease processes explaining how specific substitutions can increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease, cancer. They note that insulin receptors can be effected by glyphosate posing as glycine, leading to a defective insulin receptor and ultimately diabetes.  They mention the role of glycine in hormonal releasing hormones, that are needed for proper thyroid and adrenal hormone release.

There is a section on how glyphosate may be involved in impaired cholesterol and fat metabolism. Although, the makers of statins would have you believe cholesterol and fat are evil, all your cells need good fats and cholesterol to function. You need cholesterol for hormones. You do not want to impair your natural ability to make healthy cholesterol and fats. They go into detail on hormone sensitive lipases necessary for lipid (fat) hydrolysis (breaking apart with water) and cholesterol ester hydrolysis. Hormone sensitive lipases are also necessary to release fatty acids from tissues for fuel. Hydrolase disruption leads to lipotoxic effects that can induce mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation amongst other things. They note that impaired hormone sensitive lipase function is linked to obesity, atherosclerosis and type two diabetes. 

Glyphosate has been linked to a new disease  of birds called ‘avian keratin disorder’ which is widespread in some parts of the United States and seems to be increased in areas of agricultural runoff. You see crossed beaks and other malformations in the birds. It is especially noted in chickadees who frequent bird feeders with sunflower seeds. (Are you purchasing the GMO sunflower seeds and feeding them to birds. If you are, all I can say is stop! Buy organic sunflower seeds as you can’t trust the rest of it.) Many of the other pesticides have been studied in regard to this disease issue and they do not seem to be the cause, but glyphosate has not been studied in relation to it. The reason Samsel and Sennef think glyphosate is implicated in the bird disease is that it is a disease of hyperkeratosis. It is thought that glyphosate is substituting for KEAP1, causing constitutive expression of Nrf2 leading to hyperkeratosis. If you want details, check out Samsel and Seneffs super duper research review.

Inflammation is a part of many if not most chronic disease processes. They go into a lengthy explanation of how glyphosate has been shown to cause acute inflammation.  They give the example of acute poisonings with glyphosate by Indian farmers who commit suicide by drinking glyphosate. They also go into a fascinating explanation of how it may be related to the fourth largest cause of death in the United States, which is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD. They support their reasoning with  Monsanto research that until recently, the EPA had kept sealed and away from the public. (Thanks to Anthony Samsel for his requests for these documents under the Freedom of Information Act we now know about this research.) Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are seen in people with more severe forms of COPD. Samsel and Seneff mention Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the very few microbes known to metabolize glyphosate and use it as a source of phosphorus.  Glyphosate is also known to disrupt normal bacterial activity leading to overgrowth of unhealthy bacteria. This could lead to a lack of healthy bacteria and increased Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  This would make me concerned about people with COPD eating or inhaling glyphosate. (OK, I am concerned about all of us really, not just the folks with COPD.) In fact it leads me to wonder if the rise in COPD has something to do with the vast amount of glyphosate being sprayed on our planet.

 Samsel and Seneff mention the fact that the USGS has found glyphosate to be present in our atmosphere and therefore people could be inhaling glyphosate directly into their lungs.  (I have written a prior article on inhalation of glyphosate.)  Glyphosate is sprayed heavily in cities as well as on conventional and GMO farms. Driving down the freeway or country road with your car window open in the spring can be a health hazard due to the heavy spraying and volatilization that goes on. Please read this article I wrote and check out the link to research showing glyphosate may be directly absorbed into the brain from the olfactory mucosa.)

And now back to their rocking article. We can’t leave out hypothyroidism. They explain how the substitution of glyphosate for glycine in the conserved CAGYC region of the beta-subunit of thyroid stimulating hormone could be taking place. They further note this could take place in adrenocorticotropic hormone also.

Next they talk about endothelia nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) which plays a variety of roles in our bodies. The family of NOS enzymes are important for vascular tone, insulin secretion, airway tone, and peristalsis as well as angiogenesis and neural development. They go into some lesser known theories expounded by researchers of how eNOS is acting in the body which are very interesting and I suggest you take a look at the original article for the details. They explain the necessity of glycine for eNOS  activity. They note that eNOS is not the only enzyme that contains a conserved N-terminal glycine that supports myristoylation. They mention a number of other important enzymes. If glyphosate is substituted for glycine on eNOS, depending on where it is replaced, it will either have an issue with producing sulfate or nitric oxide. They note that this could cause many effects such as anemia, a decreased supply of cholesterol sulfate to tissues, vascular constriction leading to hypertension. They also mention a substitution on iNOS could lead to impaired immunity.

They next examine neurodegenerative diseases and the relationship of glyphosate to Prion disease, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease. (Remember that prion diseases are those new and scary diseases that we call Spongiform Encephalophathies and are due to misfolded proteins. In cows we call it “Mad Cow” or “Bovine spongiform encephalopathy. In  people it is called “Creutzfeld Jacob Disease”. In deer it is called “Wasting Disease”. They point out that Bovine spongiform encephalopathy first appeared in the United Kingdom in 1986 after glyphosate had been used to control weeds in the process of growing animal feed, for about ten years. This was the original appearance of this disease which is not usually discussed. We hear how it is spread from eating tissues from these diseased animals, but never is the original cause of this disease examined. Guess what Samsel and Seneff point out. That prion proteins contain lots of glycine. I bet you already guessed this.

Now they move onto Alzheimers. Samsel and Seneff point out that amyloid beta contains conserved glycines at two positions. They think that glyphosate takes the place of glycine here, increasing the solubility and preventing proteolysis. So ultimately they say that this substitution interferes with removal of residues 41 and 42 by gamma-seretase which damages the beta42 peptide. They also explain how the chelation of magnesium, copper, zinc and ferrous iron by glyphosate may be involved with amyloid formation. (Glyphosate chelates these minerals.) Now, don’t think they stop here. They go on to explore the binding of aluminum by glyphosate and the formation of fibrils that may be related to the neurofibrillary tangles of phosphorylated tau protein seen along with the amyloid beta plaques. Lastly they link Alheimers plaques and cataracts. It seems the same amyloid plaques seen in Alzheimer's brains are seen in cataracts. Hmmmm.  Monsanto found a link between rat exposure to glyphosate and cataracts. They go over this research.

If this was not enough, they next wade into the link between Parkinson’s disease, ALS and glyphosate. This is followed by information on glyphosate and microbes regarding glycine activity. They also mention glyphosates inherent toxicity to microbes. Many people don’t seem to know it was first patented as an antimicrobial agent. So, of course it damages the gut microbiome. However, Samsel and Seneff explore the fact that it disturbs the shikimate pathway in the microbes and  the other possible disruptions it may be involved with surrounding glycines relationship with the microbiome.

They additionally discuss the disruption of human tyrosine phosphatase vaccinia H1- related (VHR) which is found in high amounts in immune cells called T lymphocytes. VHR may play an important role in protection from HIV due to its expression in T-cells. VHR is disrupted by glyphosate. For full explanation of VHR and how it relates to HIV and glyphosate disruption of VHR, read their wonderful review.

They make a good case for glyphosate substitution in protoporphyrinogen oxidase leading to a non-genetic porphyria and the substitution in KEAP1 would enterfere with KEAPS’s ability to suppress the overexpression of Nrf2. This would lead to protoporphyrin-induced fatty liver disease, cholelithiasis and end stage liver disease and liver failure.

There has been an epidemic of kidney disease and kidney failure in agricultural workers around the world. This has been associated with glyphosate use and some countries have restricted its use due to the kidney failure associated with it. Samsel and Seneff explain how the tubular necrosis seen in the kidney is linked to simultaneous iron deficiency and iron toxicity due to defective uptake  from siderophores in the proximal tubes. They examine the details of glyphosate causing this, as well as how it may be involved in additional kidney damage as a glycine imposter.

We then come to the big cytochrome P450 effect.  Research on rats has shown glyphosate suppresses Cytochrome P450 enzymes in the liver. They explain how glyphosate substitution of glycine in CYPs can cause mutations that enterfere with the proper folding and binding of the CYPs.  

Glycine is the most common amino acid in collagen. They point out that osteogenesis imperfecta is a disease wshere there is genetic mutations in collagen. These mutations are often due to substitutions for glycine. They go into a case of a child born with tryptophan substituted for glycine and how it caused the child to be born with numerous fractures at birth and many more after birth. He suffered from generalized osteoporosis. They think that random replacements of any of the glycines molecules in collagen with glyphosate would also disrupt the collagen structure leading to osteoporosis and increased bone fractures. The mention the “shaken Baby Syndrome” that may be relted to this as well as the fact that Osteoporosis has become a modern epidemic.

They go on to link non-hodgkin’s lymphoma and neural tube defects as well as autism to a glyphosate substitution for glycine. I will leave you in suspence and let you read about the lymphoma connection when you read their article.

Glyphosates ability to pass through the placental membrane to the fetus enables it to cause birth defects. Samsel and Seneff mention microcephaly, anencephaly, cleft palates and facial defects as an issue in areas where there is extensive use of glyphosate on crops in S. America. In Yakima Washington in an area where there has been extensive use of glyphosate to control waterway weeds, the number of anencephaly births are 4 times the national average. Samsel and Seneff mention research on zebrafish embryos where they used glyphosate to induce microcephaly in the zebrafish.

They provide extensive data on various studies regarding neural tube defects and how glyphosate disrupts folate production in plants and gut microbes. They also link glyphosate substitutions of glycine at multiple key points to neural tube defects, large ratios of grey matter to white matter in the brain (features of autism), and vanishing white matter disease. Their data is riveting.

This research article is a labor of love as is all the glyphosate reviews that Samsel and Seneff have offered up to the public. I am very thankful to them for the immense amount of time they have spent on this project and highly recommend you read all their research reviews on glyphosate and its relationship to various diseases.

Article on Inhaltion of Glyphosate Effecting the Brain

I reviewed the Samsel and Seneff first article on Glyphosate and CYP450 and you can find that synopsis here. Their full article is linked below also.

Samsel and Seneffs Review Articles

Glyphosates Suprresion of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome

Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance

 Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases III: Manganese, neurological diseases, and associated pathologies

 Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases IV: cancer and related pathologies

  Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases V: Amino acid analogue of glycine in diverse proteins

Glyphosate - RoundUp® Inhalation May Go Direct to Your Brain

Glyphosate is finally getting a lot of attention. It is about time. It has been wreacking havoc here on planet Earth for way too long. Now that many people know about the health and planetary hazards or at least have an idea it is unsafe, they think they can simply eat organic and be done with the glyphosate. However, this is not true. Glyphosate has been found in our water, in our air, tainting some organic foods and even in the breast milk of mother's who are only eating organic. Sadly, it can bioaccumulate in all the organs and tissues of the body. At least this is what animal research has shown us.  If we were dissecting humans to look for it in their organs and tissues, I am sure we would see it there too. In humans, it is found in urine, feces and mothers milk.

So why can't you simply eat organic and forget about it?

Well, you can severely limit your body burden, if you eat organic. This has been shown when you compare the urine of people who eat conventional foods with those of folks eating organic foods. So eating organic is definitely helpful. However what about the fact that we know it is found in the water and in the air. This is probably where some of  the smaller amounts of glyphosate come from in those organic eaters that were tested.

Although the glyphosate in the water is a problem, what I really want to focus on here is an aspect of glyphosate that is mostly ignored. That is the glyphosate in the air we breath. It appears from recent research that some of the inhaled glyphosate may go directly to our brains. (There will be more on this research further down in the article.)

Glyphosate Spraying

I know the smell of glyphosate all too well. I can easily identify it if glyphosate has been sprayed in areas around me.  It would behoove you to learn what it smells like so you can avoid it. It is sprayed heavily in cities as well as on conventional and GMO farms. Driving down the freeway or country road with your car window open in the spring can be a health hazard due to the heavy spraying and volatization that goes on at this time of year. It is around at other times of the year, especially in the fall, but the spring is when it lies heavy in the air.  

Volatilized Glyphosate

I have found that the time of spraying is not the only time it is in the air. If they spray on a cloudy or somewhat cool day and then a few days later the sun comes out in all its glory, the glyphosate on the plant or on the ground, volatilizes into the air. The hotter it is, the more it volatilizes quickly and thickens the air. If not as hot, less glyphosate goes into the air, but then I have noticed the smell  can linger for many days.  There is data on glyphosate volatilization and therefore it is recommended to spray at certain temperatures to keep the glyphosate on the plants. However, these people who write up these directions for use of glyphosate seem to ignore the fact that it can linger for many days on plants while the temperature is low. If not washed off by longer periods of rain it will volatilize into the air as soon as the air becomes hot enough.

Besides roadways, the other area to be aware of it is around your neighbors yards who spray it. Also be cautious around most apartment complexes and most city businesses where they spray weeds. This is a huge problem my friends. 

Research on Glyphosate Absorption into the Nasal respiratory and olfactory tissues

I read a frightening research article this summer that showed glyphosate can be absorbed through the nasal mucosa via amino acid transporters and could end up in much higher concentrations in the brain than would be predicted. Monsanto has claimed all along that glyphosate is not absorbed into the body. Well we know that statement is not true since glyphosate is found in tissues and organs. However,  this research showed that it is not just passively absorbed in the gut. It appears to be actively transported into the body.  The large amino acid transporters are picking it up and actively transporting it into our tissues. This is probably since the body appears to be thinking it is glycine. (Glyphosate is an analogue for the amino acid glycine. I will write about this very soon. You can also read Samsel and Seneff's research review about this.) The researchers in this wonderful study theorize that since it is transported in the nasal respiratory and olfactory tissues (these were the tissues they were examining in the lab,) by large amino acid transporters, that inhalation of it may lead to high nasal mucosal tissue concentration and the potential for glyphosate associated with the olfactory epitehlium to transfer along the nose to brain pathways directly to the Central Nervous System (Your brain)! They think this is the reason for the occurrence of reported neurological toxicities.  Reading this made me so happy I had proof that inhalation of glyphosate was dangerous. Up until now, my concerns had pretty much been ignored by everyone I talked to. Unfortunately, the news also gives you that creepy feeling of wanting to go hide in the closet.

What To Do

So, although eating organic will certainly help protect you to some degree and it will route your dollars away from support of conventional food growing, into support of organic growing, we ultimately have to stop using glyphosate on the planet ASAP. Education is key. Tell everyone you know why they should grow organic and eat organic. Show them this article. Show them other articles about glyphosate. (There are many, but see my articles below for easy access.) If we all do it, no more glyphosate will be sprayed. Also tell your representatives you want to stop all GMO farming and all use of glyphosate. However, we have to be careful here as the companies selling glyphosate are getting ready to simply use other herbicides in its place. Don't let them fool you into thinking they are safer. Remember, they told us glyphosate was safe, did not accumulate in the soil, did not absorb in the body etc. etc. Liars, liars, pants on fire! Ok, that is enough of my Donald Trump/Hilary Clinton moment. 

Phone App to Boycott GMOS

Glyphosate May be Causing Tissue Damage by Replacing the Amino Acid Glycine

GMO Death Fields

Glyphosate effects Honeybee Navigation

Glyphosate, the Cause of Autism, Inflammatory Gut Disease and More

Review of Glyphosate Study and the Disease It is Linked To

RoundUp® Tolerance Levels Raised by EPA

RoundUp® Kills Beneficial Gut Bacteria While Harmful Bacteria are Resistant

Review of GMO Research on Long Term Toxicty of RoundUp® 

RoundUp® Associated with a New Pathogen

Mold and Your Health. What you don't know can hurt you.

Many years ago I lived in  a mold infested house in  Portland Oregon.  I became quite ill and was diagnosed as having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The water-damaged building I lived in was never questioned as a cause and because the mold was mostly not visible, it was never considered as a causative factor.  In those days, no one understood that mycotoxins from toxic molds or toxins from toxic blue-green algae or other biotoxins could be as harmful as we now know they are or that they could cause chronic illness. I had managed fine in this house until I had an incident where a woman rear ended my car leaving me immobilized the next day and sending my autonomic nervous system into a tizzy. This was the initiating incident of  what would become a "chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Initially, I thought the only precipitating factor was this car accident. It took me years to realize what had fully taken place.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a catch-all category used when the practitioner has no idea what is wrong with you but you have a specific set of symptoms. This diagnosis means they ruled everything else out and you are left with a diagnosis that has no known cause. Without a causative factor you are left treating the effects of body dysregulation as various issues arise. I was diagnosed with this as a student Doc and thought for sure I would figure out the actual cause of my symptoms before I graduated from school. However, after ruling out all the possible diseases known at that time to cause my symptoms, I gave up and accepted that there was no known cause for my health condition. The best I could do was learn how to manage it with diet, herbs and supplements. I actually did such a good job, that I just accepted how I felt and most people had no idea I had a health issue. I would eventually become so good at managing my illness, I myself would sometimes forget I had an issue.

Unknown to me, the thing I most needed to do,  was to remove myself from the mold infested house I lived in.  I did eventually move out of this house, however I still did not know the true hazards of mold and I moved into a beautiful, but once again moldy old craftsman home in Portland Oregon. Thankfully, I eventually moved into a safer habitat but I did not know I had a mold sensitivity issue and was genetically unable to fully remove the mycotoxins in my body on my own. Additionally, I did not know I needed to stay out of moldy buildings. So, the moldy house was gone, but the mycotoxins remained in my body. I continued to go into moldy homes of friends and family as well as moldy public buildings. So, I continued to have health issues. I should mention here what I mean by a moldy building. These are not usually visually moldy. However, many water-damaged buildings are not visually moldy, yet harbor mold and mycotoxins. That explanation will have to wait for another post.

Perhaps it was misfortune that I figured out how to live adequately with my disease. If I had not learned how to keep myself in good enough shape to cope, I would have been more diligent about finding a solution. Every once in a while I would check out the news in the Chronic Fatigue research arena to see if there was anything new. Each time I was disappointed to find out that there was really nothing new. Mostly, what was available was just bandaid medicine that never got to the heart of the matter as we did not know what caused the symptoms.  I knew if I could find the causative factor, there would be a solution to my affliction as well as other people with CFS illnesses.

Years later I and others in the medical world began to realize mold, bacteria,  and chemicals in water-damged buildings (50% of buildings in the United States are water-damaged according to some reports.) can cause disease. However, most of us still did not realize the full ramifications of how water-damaged buildings effects us. Additionally, most of us did not realize some people were genetically predisposed to become chronically ill when exposed to water damaged buildings.  In my attempt to help another Doc who was sure she was suffering from a mold induced illness I started reading every research article, lecture etc on mold related illness I could find.  This was not exactly a booming research area, so information was hard to find unless you wanted to read about moldy food research. Eventually, I ran onto the work of Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. His personal clinical research articles and his books were a real eye opener for practitioners such as myself. Every practitioner should read his research and read his book called Surviving Mold. 

After all the investigating, I had an aha moment when I realized that many (not all, but many) of the  folks with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Myalgic encepahalomyelitis, chronic lymes , Morgellons and a few other illnesses were probably folks with a  biotoxin illnesses. Although there are a variety of biotoxin illnesses, many of these folks appeared to have a sensitivity to water-damaged buildings. This condition is called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) due to a water-damaged building. Many people have this illness but do not realize it. About 25% of the population has a "mold" sensitivity due to genetics. Anyone who has a chronic illness that causes them severe fatigue and bizarre changeable symptoms who has not been able to find significant relief should read the book mentioned above and/or check out my website at this link.

Since figuring this out, my life changed and the lives of others I have assisted has also changed. I am very grateful to the people I have assisted as they have been teachers for me as we have figured out how to heal ourselves one step at a time.  Chronic fatigue can have a variety of reasons but if you have ruled the every day factors out, it would behoove you to examine the possibility of your being sensitive to mold.

I would add that although many of us with this sensitivity to water-damaged buildings call it a "mold" sensitivity. It is really much more than that. We are reacting to mold, bacteria, chemicals in the building materials and their interactions with each other that cause them to release additional mycotoxins, bacterial endotoxins and volatile organic compounds. Some of the nasties you can find in a water-damaged building are mold, bacteria, actinomycetes and mycobacteria. Additionally, the chemicals in the building materials can create an environement that alters these organisms as well as add to the release of toxins. You can have a release of mycotoxins, bacterial endotoxins, beta glucans, mannans, proteinases, hemolysins, c-type lectins, spirocyclic drimanes, and volatile organic compounds. It is thought that the combination of these various toxins from a variety of organisms is what causes the illness. The World Health Organization identifies the following list as components associated with damp, water-damaged environments that are associated with poor health. It gives you an idea of how bad off some water-damaged buildings get. (Mold and mold spores, mycotoxins, bacteria, bacterial endotoxins and other cell wall components, protozoa (amoeba), increased presence of rodents, insects and dust mites, and increased deterioration of building materials with consequent off-gassing of toxic fumes such as formaldehyde.)




The people who are sensitive to water-damaged buildings have been shown to have some specific genetic characteristics in common. These inherited genetics lead  these people to being unable to remove some toxins, such as mycotoxins, from their body as readily as other individuals without these genetic characteristics. This leads to chronic inflammation. 

The thing about chronic inflammation is that it leads to even more susceptibility to other toxins as the bodies ability to protect itself is decreased as the inflammation builds up over time. These people can become more and more sensitive to all sorts of foods, environmental chemicals etc as time goes by. It becomes a living hell for many of them and some of them are so unhappy with how they feel that they take their own life when they can't find relief. 

Besides being "sensitive" to offending toxins, the body ends up running low on  key substances that are necessary for detoxification due to the increased burden of toxins in the environment. Soon, the body is overwhelmed by oxidation due to a lack of antioxidants. The body has trouble keeping up with the transformation of fat soluble toxins into water soluble toxins for removal. Even the efflux pumps can have trouble with removing the toxins from the cells.  The person is now "chemically sensitive". Their body is inflamed which leads to more things not working correctly. They have trouble with digestive enzymes, their liver is not turning out enough conjugated bile, their microbiome is messed up and they have a leaky gut. Now foods  that never bothered them before become an issue and they react to more and more things. We now know an inflamed gut leads to an inflamed blood brain barrier and a "leaky blood brain barrier". This means an inflamed brain and trouble with memory and cognition. Many of these folks think they are getting Alzheimer's and indeed a neurologist in California named Dale Bredesen is working with folks he says has inhalation alzheimer's disease and puts these "mold folks" into this category. (I think he is a genius. He is paying attention.) He also uses similar methods to heal them as those I myself use for "mold folks". 

Although, this person needs to remove themselves from the offending toxic environment and support their biotransformation/detox system as well as support organ systems that have been effected, this is not the whole answer.  We will all be in this situation eventually if we do not examine the toxins we are unleashing on our planet. It is just a matter of time before it is not just the 25% of genetically susceptible people who react this way, and everyone has an issue. At some point we all reach a tipping point where our bodies simply can't put up with the toxic environment. To learn more about toxins in the environment, check out EWG.


If people are interested, I will write additional articles on CIRS due to water-damaged buildings, inflammation from other causes, how they inter-relate and what we can do to support ourselves in a world that is using toxic methods to raise our food, build our buildings, and make products we use.  I already have a lot of data on my website, so I won't write more here unless I specifically get requests to do so and you tell me what you would like me to cover.

We all need to be in conversation about these issues and how we can make other choices. We, as a group have been the cause of where we currently find ourselves and We as a group are now becoming aware of the mess we have caused. Now, We as a group are learning which choices are healthy and which choices are unhealthy. As individuals We are striving to do the best we can. As a group, We will create a new paradise. Each of us need to make the healthy choices, as individuals, to get to the goal we desire. We need to join together as a team. Who is on board with me?