How Mold Can Impact Seniors Health
It’s Mold Awareness Month and that means it’s the perfect time to learn more about the impact of mold on your senior loved one’s health. Mold is something that many older homes have, but mold doesn’t just happen from gutter leaks or other home construction problems. Mold can be brought in on shoes, clothing, or even on a pet’s feet. Anyone coming into the home could bring mold spores in with them. If the mold finds the right conditions inside the house it will start to grow and spread through the entire house.
Because seniors tend to live in older homes usually those homes have some amount of mold in them. If the basement has ever flooded in the home, or if the windows have allowed water to leak in during rain or if there has been any kind of water damage to the home there could be mold growing within the home.
Mold will grow anywhere that it finds warm, wet, dark conditions. It could grow in a rug if some water were spilled and not cleaned up. Or in the bathroom that your senior loved one isn’t able to thoroughly clean. And mold can cause serious health problems in seniors. Seniors have a higher risk of being impacted by mold, especially if they already have a respiratory condition. Having a companion care at home provider can help your senior loved one limit the amount of spaces where mold can grow, but mold could still be an issue in the home.
Just some of the symptoms that seniors can develop as a result of exposure to mold include:
Companion Care at Home Deerfield, IL: Seniors and Mold
- hypersensitivity pneumonitis
- bronchitis
- allergic alveolitis
- chronic rhinosinusitis
- allergic fungal sinusitis
- lower respiratory tract problems in previously healthy children
- skin and eye irritation
- wheezing
- fever
- fatigue
- nausea
- headache
- insomnia
- mucous membrane irritation
- sick-building syndrome
A companion care at home provider can be a great resource for tracking any respiratory symptoms that your senior loved one has to see if they get worse over time. The home care provider may also be able to spot areas that are moldy by noticing the distinct musty smell that mold has. Mold detector kits can also give you a precise reading of how much mold is in the home where your senior loved one is living.
Getting Rid Of Mold
It can be very difficult to keep older homes totally mold free. Regular thorough cleaning is essential, so it’s a good idea to have the home professionally cleaned on a regular basis. Investing in some air purifiers or having a whole house purifier installed on the HVAC system is also a good way to limit the exposure to mold within the home.
If your senior loved one’s home already has a lot of mold getting the house treated for mold by a professional abatement team is strongly recommended. Over time living in an environment with mold can cause a lot of health problems for your senior loved one, some of which may be quite serious.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Companion Care at Home in Deerfield, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas.
Sources:
https://www.poison.org/articles/mold-101-effects-on-human-health
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288651#mold-and-health
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