According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Aspergillosis is an infection caused by Aspergillus, a common mold (a type of fungus) that lives indoors and outdoors. Most people breathe in Aspergillus spores every day without getting sick. However, people with weakened immune systems or lung diseases are at a higher risk of developing health problems due to Aspergillus. The types of health problems caused by Aspergillus include allergic reactions, lung infections, and infections in other organs.
Two stories from opposite places on the planet tell of the potential dangers of this mold:
A woman from Gilbertsville, KY who got breast implants years ago, later suffered a Aspergillus infection that nearly killed her. According to a WPSD 6 report, Paula Blades had a breast augmentation in 1992.
At the time, she was told that they were totally safe and would last me a lifetime. Fast forward years later…here come the health problems.
Chronic sinusitis, a dramatic, unexplained weight loss and a number of hospitalizations. But still a mystery….until an episode on Animal Planet’s “Monsters Inside Me”, which showed a case that resembled what she was experiencing.
After consulting with a plastic surgeon, s he was soon diagnosed with saline biotoxin illness and has an explant.
According to Dr. Susan Kolb, with Plastikos Plastic Surgery Center in Atlanta, “Most doctors have never heard of this disease, so they don’t know anything about it. I think most doctors right now that are internal medicine, neurology, family practice and plastic surgery have patients in their practice that are diagnosed with you know, MS, lupus, other auto-immune diseases and fibromyalgia, that are curable. Curable, if they had explant, anti-fungals, treatment of co-infections.”
Further testing on the implants revealed– “the valve capping mechanism…faulty”, the “filling fluid grossly contaminated” and indication of “aspergilli-related entities,” —mold.
On the other side of the planet in New Zealand, a 44-year-old prisoner, who initially medical personnel thought died from a series of strokes, actually died from a Aspergillus abscess on the brain.
According to the New Zealand Herald, former gardener at a plant nursery, Boyd Cuttance was was sentenced and imprisoned in November 2011 for several criminal offenses.
Prior to starting his prison sentence, he was suffering from headaches and was treated for sinusitis. According to the report:
In the 48 days after starting his prison sentence, he suffered ills including headaches, neck pain, unconsciousness, dizzy spells and numbness of the lips and a forearm. He was seen by prison nurses and doctors 30 times and the prison’s contracted GP three times. He also was diagnosed with celiac disease.
In a coroners report just published, it revealed that Cuttance’s cause of death was an abscess due to invasive infection with aspergillus.
For more details on this case, read further HERE
How can you prevent aspergillosis?
It’s difficult to avoid breathing in Aspergillus spores because the fungus is common in the environment. For people who have weakened immune systems, there may be some ways to lower the chances of developing a severe Aspergillus infection.
- Protect yourself from the environment. It’s important to note that although these actions are recommended, they haven’t been proven to prevent aspergillosis.
- Try to avoid areas with a lot of dust like construction or excavation sites. If you can’t avoid these areas, wear an N95 respirator (a type of face mask) while you’re there. Click here for more information about respirators.
- Avoid activities that involve close contact to soil or dust, such as yard work or gardening. If this isn’t possible,
- Wear shoes, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt when doing outdoor activities such as gardening, yard work, or visiting wooded areas.
- Wear gloves when handling materials such as soil, moss, or manure.
- To reduce the chances of developing a skin infection, clean skin injuries well with soap and water, especially if they have been exposed to soil or dust.
- Antifungal medication. If you are at high risk for developing invasive aspergillosis (for example, if you’ve had an organ transplant or a stem cell transplant), your healthcare provider may prescribe medication to prevent aspergillosis. Scientists are still learning about which transplant patients are at highest risk and how to best prevent fungal infections.
- Testing for early infection. Some high-risk patients may benefit from blood tests to detect invasive aspergillosis. Talk to your doctor to determine if this type of test is right for you.
I would like more information on this information. I was exposed to a large dust cloud of Aspergillus mold in my home by a Contractor that ground up the moldy boards into dust. Then they sprayed them all over my house, also in the garbage and I took the trash out & a huge cloud of dust went right into my face full of the MOLD DUST>
This is absolutely true. I am a member of several breast implant illness groups on facebook and we COMMONLY get women in our groups who get sick from implants, get explanted and find out they have MOLD growing in their saline implants. You can look us up by looking for Breast Implant Illness and Healing and Breast Implants-The Ticking Time Bombs. There are many groups full of thousands of women this is happening to. The doctors are misdiagnosing the women and they go on getting sicker and sicker till they remove the implants and detox! The truth is both silicone and saline implants cause disease even if mold does not grow in them because the shells are silicone. Silicone is a known endocrine and immune disruptor, an adjvunct.
trying to find a Plastic Surgeon to test for that mold is difficult.
I’m having the same problem. I have 85% of the red flags, I ask if my implants are making me sick , they all look at me like I’m stupid. I really feel like I’m knocking on deaths door right now, I feel so sick,,,, Linda
Get them out! As soon as possible. My friend got really really really really sick for a long time. Prayers!
Hi. It is not necessary that it can happen to everyone. I have done a breast augmentation in Toronto ( http://www.sliwinplasticsurgery.com/procedures/body-contouring/breast-surgery/breast-augmentation/ ) about five years ago. I haven’t experienced any problems yet. My surgeon had implanted cohesive silicone gel implant where it will not leak even if the outer shell becomes torn.
Hi Trudy. I had implants too and removed them in March 2015 due to mold and immune dysfunction caused by my implants. You are right in saying that not all women with implants will get mold. It is actually around 70% for saline and 50% for silicone. Unfortunately, your surgeon has misinformed you about cohesive gel implants, aka gummy bears. All implant shells bleed and break down in the body overtime and allow bacteria, body fluids, mold, and the implant chemicals to be exchanged in and out of them. Silicone implants contains over 30 toxic chemicals and heavy metals, many of which are neurotoxins and carcinogenic. Cohesive gel contain some of the most toxic chemicals of all implants. They are major endocrine disrupters and can cause a host of illnesses including adrenal and thyroid dysfunction.Silicone particles can migrate to lymph nodes, organs such as the lungs, and throughout the body. I had silicone in 5 axilla lymph nodes that had to be surgically removed. Implants compromise the immune system and can eventually destroy it. If you have MTHFR mutations or certain HLA types, as a large portion of the population does, you will develop multiple auto immune illnesses or atypical autoimmune illness. Even if you don’t have these gene mutations you are still at risk to develop autoimmune illnesses. The body sees the implant as a foreign object and tries to wall it off by creating a scar capsule around them often causing capsular contracture overtime. In this capsule bacteria such as MRSA have been found in some women along with other bacteria, biotoxins and molds. It has recently been published that a rare cancer Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma is associated with implants and the scar capsule. Please be aware of minor changes in your health as this is often how it starts. Educate yourself so that you can remove them as quickly as possible and properly so that they do not cause permanent damage. You can go to this website for a list of symptoms and other helpful info. There is also a closed fb group with over 2300 women where you can read the stories of women going through this associated with the website below. Best wishes to you. http://healingbreastimplantillness.com/breast-implant-symptoms/
I truly hope you don’t get sick from your implants, but silicone gel is known to bleed out and cause autoimmune disease. Please watch your health very carefully. The silicone bleed happens over time and can be slowly causing this. You have had them for 5-6 years it looks like. Most symptoms start around year 7-8 when the silicone shell starts to deteriorate. Please be careful. These devices do not last a lifetime.
“…MS, lupus, other auto-immune diseases and fibromyalgia, that are curable. Curable, if they had explant, anti-fungals, treatment of co-infections.””
I think this particular sentence is not very readable. When I first read it I thought the sentence was saying those illness are curable rather than the fungal infection(s). Consider rewriting for clarity, as none of those illnesses have a cure?