Re: Marijuana Aspergillosis caused Death

You are such a liar! You should be ashamed of yourself. That article did ?not come off the AP newswire on July 26, 2008. You made that up. You are ?such a troll.??People really do need to be careful about mold, however, no matter what ?the source. Moldy pot is only one source. (But who wants to smoke moldy ?pot?)???? Public advised 'old rice not good for health'? <http://aspergillusblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/public-advised-old-rice-not-good-for.html>??If a batch of stored rice becomes damp it will grow Aspergillus and runs ?a high risk of becoming contaminated with high levels of mycotoxins - ?many of which are extremely bad for health.??Unfortunately the article seems to say that washing the rice before use ?will counteract toxicity, but I think it is far from accepted that a ?simple rinse in water will remove the mycotoxins - far better to clearly ?state that damp & mouldy rice should be disposed of.??? Aspergillus Warning for Owners of Air Conditioned Cars? <http://aspergillusblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/aspergillus-warning-for-owners-of-air.html>??The dynamics of mould contamination from car air-con's is examined in ?the scientific paper entitled "Effect of air-conditioner on fungal ?contamination" ?<http://www.aspergillus.org.uk/secure/articles/pdfs2/airconincarJapan.pdf>.??The main findings seem to be that using your air conditioning for more ?than 20 days in the summer increases the amount of fungi in the air of ?that car some 400% over not using it at all, but less regular use ?increases that figure only a further 50% (Table 4).After the first blast ?the amount of fungal spores drops 75% over the next 10 mins (Table 2).??One in four cars tested had 1000 spores per cubic metre of air, while ?one in eight had over 2000 spores per cubic metre - pretty high figures ?for a person suffering allergies, ABPA or immune compromised.??Take home message is that if you are vulnerable to fungal spores, rather ?than run it more frequently turn your car air conditioning off ?completely. If you must keep cool pay for careful maintenance of the ?unit and/or ensure HEPA grade filtering is in place!??http://aspergillusblog.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html??Ziercon wrote:?> (AP NEWSWIRE story 48192634 7/26/08)?>?> "Marijuana Aspergillosis caused Death"?>?> by Hank L. Stoddard III, PhD, Stanford?>?> Damp Marijuana is the perfect breeding ground for Aspergella and many ?> thousands of other infecting molds. Aspergillosis is the most common fungal ?> infection of the lungs in Marijuana smokers caused by aspergella fumigates. ?> Although Marijuana smokers are commonly exposed to the spores of this ?> fungus, they develop the disease under many conditions. If a human's ?> immune system is suppressed by a concurrent illness, malnutrition or stress, ?> it may become sick after exposure. Stress-induced Aspergillosis is ?> frequently seen in Marijuana smokers subjected to surgery, stress, ?> environmental changes, confinement, sitting still for too long, or watching ?> TV.?>?> The smoke exhaled by a Marijuana smoker is full of mold spores caused by ?> fruiting bodies in his infected lungs and can contaminates all within the ?> room. Part of the "high" that a Marijuana smoker experiences is caused by ?> volatile compounds emitted by the growing fungal infection in his lungs.?>?> Aspergella, as well as other fungi, grows readily in damp, dark conditions ?> with poor ventilation. Encrusted fecal matter, damp furniture, dirty feeding ?> utensils and food that falls to the floor all encourage mold growth. ?> Interestingly, we see a high incidence of Aspergillosis in Marijuana smokers ?> in the southwest where the environment is dry and not conducive to fungal ?> replication. The speculation is the low humidity, coupled with the dusty ?> environment, interferes with the normal mucous secretion in the Marijuana ?> smokers' respiratory tracts and predisposes them to mycoses, and spore ?> infection.?>?> Two forms of Aspergillosis are commonly seen in humans. The first is an ?> acute generalized form characterized by the fungus in the lower respiratory ?> tree as well as in the intestinal tract and other organs and liver. Patients ?> with this form of Aspergillosis exhibit labored respiration, severe ?> depression and extreme emaciation, sit still, feel stoned, and are generally ?> very ill.?> Unfortunately, the mortality rate is exceptionally high in this form. The ?> second form is called a chronic localized form. This is the most common type ?> of infection seen in humans. This chronic Aspergillosis tends to develop ?> localized aspergellomas (pockets of fungal infection). The location will ?> determine the clinical signs. A common place for aspergellomas to localize?> in humans is in the sinus cavity, characterized by intermittent mucoid ?> exudation.?>?> Diagnosis of Aspergillosis can be difficult, at best, other than by autopsy. ?> Tentative diagnosis can be made with clinical signs as well as the absence ?> of bacterial infection in moist exudates. A blood test showing an elevation ?> in white blood cell count, mild anemia and an elevation in the monocytes ?> also supports this diagnosis. X-rays should be taken on any suspect?> patient-many times the radiograph will reveal densities or nodules ?> consistent with aspergellomas. Additionally, your doctor should take samples ?> and attempt to culture the fungus in specially prepared culture media. Blood ?> should also be submitted for serologic evaluation.?>?> If you are diagnosed as having Aspergillosis, appropriate treatment should ?> be instituted by a qualified fungal unitaterian Doctor. Each treatment ?> protocol has to be tailored to the individual. A prerequisite for success is ?> removing the concurrent immunosuppression that exists. This can be ?> accomplished by management, by treating concurrent maladies and by the ?> judicious use of immunostimulants. Aggressive antifungal treatment is in ?> order, either localized or systemic. Surgery may be necessary with certain ?> localized Aspergellomas, while aggressive nebulization and sinus flushings ?> are warranted in certain other cases. Additionally, a long-term treatment ?> schedule should be instituted.?>?> Since they do not have chlorophyll, fungi must absorb food from others. ?> Since they don't use light to make food, fungi can live in damp and dark ?> places. Fungi are supposed to "eat" things when they are dead but sometimes ?> they start eating when the organism is still alive. Such spores activelly ?> grow in the lungs, dark and humid. That is when mycologists come in to ?> figure out what to give to the infected patient or plant to get rid of the ?> fungus.?>?> Bad fungus is just good fungus trying to do its job way too early to an?> organism. Most commonly, fungi cause something to happen on the skin of?> animals or people. This is sometimes called Ringworm, but there is no worm?> involved! Ringworm can also be called Tinea or Dermatomycosis. Ringworm can?> be found all over the world [1282]. It mostly forms on the foot and scalp.?> Some Ringworm is Anthropophilic. Anthropophilic means human (anthro- think?> of anthropology) loving (-philic), and you catch this fungus from other?> people. Ringworm can also be Zoophilic or Geophilic. Zoophilic means animal?> (zoo- just think of going to a real zoo) loving, and this is a fungus you?> may catch from your pet. Geophilic means earth (geo- as in geology, or the?> earth) loving, of course you get this one from the soil.?>?> Ringworm is the kind of fungus that gets on the body, but some fungus just?> irritates the body. Fungus irritates the nose and causes allergies. Over 37?> million people have allergies and many of them are caused by fungus.?> Buildings can also get sick. Buildings can get some fungi known as?> Penicillium and Stachybotrys. They float in the air and can cause watery?> eyes and breathing problems.?>?> We also have smut fungi that grows readily on Marajiuana and infect lung ?> tissue. These fungi live in the soil and are plant parasites. The name ?> "smut" refers to the ripe galls filled with dark sooty?> spores that are formed when the fungus infests a plant. The most well-known ?> smut fungus is the corn smut, Ustilago maydis. Among others are Microbotryum?> violaceum (formerly known as Ustilago violacea) that infects Caryophyllaceae ?> including Silene species, and Tilletia caries that infects "blue".?>?> http://www.doctorfungus.org/imageban/index_enlarge.pl?> http://www.multiscope.com/hotspot/aspergil.htm?>?>?> ?
.