In your opinion, how accurate and useful is mold testing for the body? What does it mean phsiologically if someone tests positive for one of more strains: does it mean it has taken up residence somewhere and , is growing somewhere in the body it shouldn't be or does it mean something else? And is working with a biotoxin specialist in some ways like working with a health care provider who helps chelate heavy metals from the body? I live in the hot humid southeast US, and so many of people live in moldy houses. Beyond cleaning up or moving out to avoid further respiratory inflammation, should people be looking deeper into their own bodies to "clean mold up" there as well? If yes to these questions, is this widely accepted among mainstream medicine? Among functional medicine practice? As a non-medically trained person, I am trying to get some perspective.

It has been shown that certain subtypes of IgG and IgE can show up in people with Mold sensitivities and mold exposures (tigE, mx1 IgE), these can be tested for. I am unsure how accurate mycotoxin testing is, it is popular with NDs, Dcs, and some CAM MDs, but not used by conventional medical doctors. The urine tests are not approved by the FDA: You should be aware that the FDA has not approved any urine test for mycotoxins. The CDC warns that such tests have not been approved for diagnostic purposes, meaning that you can't trust them to tell you if anything is wrong with you or what to do about it.Apr 11, 2016 another commentary Fears about toxic mold have sometimes spawned useless testing, both of buildings and people, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The implication for practioners is that they should be aware that patients may have sought unrecognized direct-to-consumer laboratory tests of questionable diagnostic value. In a case history of an incident last year, Melody Kawamoto and Elena Page MD describe a costly case that yielded no proof of mold. The story involved a woman who had taken a “prolonged absence” from work for symptoms she said involved multiple organs. After an online search she decided her problems might be due to exposure to mold and she found a company that offered to test her urine for exposure to mold. The authors note that the laboratory then tested for mycotoxins—metabolites of some fungi. These organisms are commonly found in many foods and in the urine of healthy people. “Mycotoxin levels that predict disease have not been establish,” the researchers wrote, “Urine mycotoxin tests are not approved by the FDA for accuracy or for clinical use.” Nevertheless, the laboratory report found informed the woman that she had “an unusually high level of mycotoxins present." It also referred her to a clinic that advertised it specialized in treating mold exposure and where practitioners prescribed questionable treatments. Those included giving her a prescription for an antifungal medication. The authors note that these medications “are used to treat fungal infections, not illnesses caused by toxins produced by fungi.” Further, she was advised to eat only canned chicken and rice for 3 days. Web sites offering advice on mold exposure theorize that mold needs to be "starved" in the body and that people who fear they have been exposed should avoid eating any foods that mold can grow on. She was also told to try other nonstandard treatments, like “bowel evacuation or hydrocolonic irrigation cupping therapy, an ionic nasal spray,” the authors wrote. The woman returned to work. At that point, her union demanded that the work site be tested for mold. Word spread among other employees who then began reporting that they thought they might have been exposed to toxic mold. The remediation involved removing drywall, carpet and ceiling tiles in the worker’s office, at a cost to them employer of $25,000, the authors wrote. No visible signs of mold or moisture were found. In concluding its cautionary tale, the researchers noted that “persons using direct-to-consumer laboratory tests that have bot been approved by the FDA for iagnositc purposes, and their health care providers, need to understand that these tests might not be valid or clinically useful. To check for mold, the CDC says visual inspection should be the first step and that difficult to examine spaces can be tested with a borescope to make a small hole. Moisture meters can measure the degree of wetness in building materials. The CDC also recommends that when workers have concerns about mold exposure they should contact their union (if they have one) the step that led to the apparently unncessary destruction of the woman's office.