An Australian woman was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and found mold in her home, the New York Post reported.
In 2016, 37-year-old Amy Skilton and her husband moved into a new apartment in Manly.
“My brain and my body were fine,” Ms Skilton said.
Two months later, she fell ill.
“The first symptom I noticed was allergies, chronic allergies, and I gained 22 pounds all at once,” she said.
Then his brain function began to decline. At one point she even forgot her name.
“One day, I went to fill out a form and looked at the box with my name on it and said, “What again? I was looking at it, I was looking”, she testified.
Concerned, he went to a neurologist, who diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s disease type 3.
To determine the cause, Ms. Skilton saw other doctors for blood tests, but this turned up no problems.
She got a clue when she saw a brochure shared by a friend of hers.
In this message, her friend explained that mold had appeared in her apartment due to a water leak, and because of this, her husband’s health was particularly affected due to one of his genes.
Ms. Skilton recalled that the co-owner told her to call a plumber to check her bathroom because there was a water leak in the downstairs garage when she moved in. A plumber had come to check the place, but he never called back.
So Amy Skilton decided to call in an architectural biologist to reevaluate her apartment. Upon inspection, he found not only water damage but also mold in various areas of the shelter.
“The carpet looked normal on the surface, but when we lifted it up, there was this black mold. Then, when we removed the cover from our mattress, it was green,” the Australian explained.
Knowing this, Ms. Skilton underwent additional medical tests to better target her problem. The results eventually revealed that she had genes encoded by human leukocyte antigens, explaining her symptoms. It is the 25% of the Australian population that is most vulnerable to the effects of mould.
Five years later, Amy Skilton now lives in a water-damage-free home and her cognitive functions are back to normal.
