From foodconsumer.org
Molding a Link to Depression
By Carol Potera
Nov 16, 2007 - 7:22:12 PM
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The physical consequences of living in a damp, moldy house
are well documented and include increased asthma attacks and other
respiratory ailments, headaches, fatigue, and sore throats. People who
live in moldy environments may also have more depression, finds a study
of 5,882 adults living in 2,982 households, published in the October
2007 issue of the
American Journal of Public Health.
The connection between mold and mental health surprised even the lead
author, epidemiologist Edmond Shenassa of Brown University, who was
skeptical of the mold–depression link suggested by smaller studies. "We
thought that once we statistically accounted for physical factors like
crowding and psychological aspects like not having control over one's
living environment, then the association between mold and depression
would vanish," he says. But rather than debunking the notion, Shenassa
found an association between mold toxins and depression.
Shenassa and colleagues analyzed data collected
by the Large Analysis and Review of European Health Status, a survey of
housing, health, and place of residence compiled by the WHO in 2002 and
2003. WHO interviewers visited households in eight European cities and
asked residents about depressive symptoms, such as problems sleeping
and decreased appetite. They also asked whether a physician had
diagnosed depression in the past year. Then they measured the level of
dampness and mold in each residence and classified any discernable mold
exposure as minimal, moderate, or extensive.
About 40% of the residents lived in visibly damp,
moldy households, and overall their risk for depression averaged 34–44%
higher than that for residents of mold-free dwellings, with moderate
exposure associated with the highest increase in risk. Shenassa says
there may be a tipping point where a certain critical amount of mold
triggers a response that is not dose-related.
The heightened depression risk also correlated to
respondents' perceptions that a damp, moldy environment cannot be
controlled, as well as to documented physical health problems linked to
mold exposure. "If you are sick from mold and feel you can't get rid of
it, it may affect your mental health," says Shenassa, who is
undertaking animal studies to investigate whether mold toxins alter
behavioral and biochemical brain pathways involved in depression.
Robert Gifford, a psychology professor at the
University of Victoria, British Columbia, interprets the results
cautiously. Considering only the highest level of mold contamination,
when both physical health and perception of control were factored in,
the link between mold and depression shrank to "virtually nothing," he
says. However, at minimal and moderate mold exposure, even when
controlling for both mediators, there still remained a statistically
significant 28–34% higher risk, says Shenassa.
"There is a small relationship between
[depression and] mold and dampness, but it is impossible to say that
there is a causal relationship," Gifford says. In addition, more
details about income should be explored—wealthier people can afford to
clean up extensive mold contamination, whereas low-income people may be
forced to live with it. "Income could be an important missing
variable," he notes.
originally published on http://www.ehponline.org