Molds can enter our body through the air in form spores or mold containing food. They secret mycotoxins, a substance formed during metabolism. Mycotoxins can cause health hazards as they are toxic in nature. Few molds, when consumed regularly, can raise the levels of mycotoxins in the body leading to cancer of the liver.
What Type Of Cancer Does Mold Cause?
Mold survives in damp and moist areas of the house. It promotes allergic reactions in the body. It releases toxins in the body that can cause health hazards like allergic rhinitis, allergic sinusitis or allergic asthma. It enters the human body in the form of spores through the air or contaminated food. Its impact on the human body is usually mild that can be managed with treatment and eradication of molds from the house. In severe cases, its high toxin levels in the body can cause liver cancer. It can indirectly promote lung cancer by chronic and gradual scarring of the lungs.
The molds impose numerous health effects due to its toxic nature. They cause fungal infections in people, especially in those who have low or suppressed immunity. Fungi produce toxins in the body that may result in various diseases. It affects upper respiratory tract, lungs, skin, and eyes. It grows in colonies and leads to allergic reactions in the body that involve lungs and sinuses. Its symptoms involve running nose, dry scaly skin, stuffy nose, and many more. Its symptoms are apparent in damp weather and may disappear for some time. It has flare-ups. It can also cause allergic sinusitis and allergic rhinitis. It can also trigger asthma in severe cases.
Mycotoxins are the substances that are produced during metabolic activities in fungi. They are toxic in nature. The commonly known mycotoxins are aflatoxin, citrinin, ergot alkaloids, etc. They are harmful to the body and a few mycotoxins are known to be carcinogens.
Aflatoxins are one of the mycotoxins formed by a mold named Aspergillus. It grows in food items such as peanuts, corn, coffee, and grains. These food items when consumed can cause liver cancer. Scientific studies state that high levels of aflatoxins are found in some of the patients of liver cancer. It is also found that consumption of Aspergillus mold can cause cancer. There is no studies are currently available supporting the fact that inhalation of molds can cause lung cancer.
Molds have one possible link to induce lung cancer in which it causes pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis causes chronic scarring of the lungs. If it is left untreated or neglected for a long time, it can lead to lung cancer. But there are no studies available to support this fact. Mold cannot cause lung cancer directly.
Mold is a type of fungus that lives in warm, humid, and damp places. They are in form of spores that float in the air. It can grow in damp and moist areas of the house such as the basement or bathroom even in your garden where a pile of leaves is lying. They grow in units and cause airborne affections like pollen grains causing mold allergies. These allergic reactions are commonly caused by common molds such as Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Cladosporium.
Mold is found in food items such as fermented food, sour milk, pickles, catch ups, mushrooms, bread, etc. They grow in the bathroom, basement, under carpets or mats, in the containers of plants, in the soil of some indoor plants, etc.
Molds are present outdoors in the winter season. They are found outdoors at its peak during late summer from July to October. In the summer season, they are found in the form of spores scattered in the air. They grow indoors throughout the year depending upon the amount of moisture present in the house. It is observed that the levels of indoor molds get higher when outside mold levels are high.
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