An Australian woman has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after being exposed to mold in her home, the New York Post reported.
In 2016, 37-year-old Amie Skilton and her husband moved into a new flat 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 started to decline. She even forgot her name at some point.
“One day, I went to fill out a form and I looked at the box that said my name and I said to myself: ‘What is it again? I was staring at it, I was looking'”, she testified.
Worried, she went to a neurologist who diagnosed her with Alzheimer’s disease type 3.
In order to determine the cause, Ms Skilton saw other doctors for blood tests, but these revealed no problems.
It was when she saw a publication shared by one of her friends that she got a hint.
In this message, her friend explained that a water leak had caused mold stains to appear in her apartment, and because of this, her husband’s health was particularly affected due to one of his genes.
Ms Skilton then recalled that the co-owner had asked her to call a plumber to check her bathroom since there was a water leak in the garage on the lower floor when she moved in. A plumber had come to see the place, but he had never called back.
Amie Skilton therefore decided to call on a building biologist to re-evaluate her apartment. After analysis, he discovered not only water damage, but also mold in various places in the accommodation.
“The carpet looked perfectly normal on the surface, but when we lifted it, there was all this black mould. Then, when we removed the cover from our mattress, it was green,” explained the Australian.
Knowing this, Ms. Skilton underwent additional medical examinations to better target her problem. The results eventually revealed to her that she has genes encoded by human leukocyte antigens, explaining her symptoms. It is thus part of the 25% of the Australian population that is most vulnerable to the effects of mould.
Five years later, Amie Skilton now lives in a water-damage-free home, and her cognitive functions are back to normal.