Mold HLADR gene test in the UK?

[JBB]

Could anyone advise me where I can get the HLADR gene test that Dr Shoemaker recommends in the UK for mold susceptibility?

Cheers,

JBB

 

[dannybex]

@Valentijn has found problems with this test, right @Valentijn?

 

[Valentijn]

@Valentijn has found problems with this test, right @Valentijn?

The test itself is fine. But the interpretations based on Shoemaker's claims are unfounded. Basically he found high rates of certain HLA types in his mold patients, compared to world-wide rates of those types, and concluded that certain types result in susceptibility to mold, chronic lyme, and other things.

The problem is that HLA types are closely tied to ethnicity, and most of his patients would be western European, as well as patients of blended African and European ethnicity. Hence it is not valid to use worldwide rates of HLA types for comparison, since he was not looking at a sample of patients from a worldwide group.

This problem is easily illustrated by looking at the prevalence of the supposed susceptible HLA types in European-Americans in general. If we do the math based on his claims, around 85-90% of European Americans are in grave danger of reacting very poorly to mold, Lyme, or a couple other things. Which is a frankly ridiculous claim, in addition to being completely unfounded.

HLA data can be interesting or potentially useful for various things, but not for any reason related to Shoemaker's claims.

 

[JBB]

That's very interesting @Valentijn . So what you're saying is that it would work if you're Western European but perhaps not from a different patient set? I'm surprised as Horowitz and others seem to like him.

Have you any ideas on how else to test for mold sensitivity? Realtime labs mycotoxin tests maybe??

 

[Valentijn]

So what you're saying is that it would work if you're Western European but perhaps not from a different patient set?

No, his conclusions about HLA types are entirely meaningless. Prevalence of HLA types in his patients would have to be compared to prevalence of HLA types among people of similar ethnic background, to see if there's a relationship between HLA types and susceptibility to mold and other things.

But since the supposedly susceptible HLA types are present in nearly all European-Americans, they are most likely completely unrelated to mold and similar issues.

 

[Dufresne]

I agree with Valentijn, who was the first to bring this to our attention. It's discouraging Shoemaker would present this information in such a way that leads to a serious overvaluing of its (his) significance. I've no doubt it's intentional.

However he's worth reading, and not all of his tests are without value. In fact his biomarkers are those that most often come back abnormal in ME/CFS patients: leptin, C4a, TGF-B, MSH, etc. And they also seem to improve with mold avoidance.

I'd still be in the dark ages of my illness had I not pursued mold avoidance. I actually see my entire disease, Lyme and co included, through a CIRS lens.

 

[JBB]

@Dufresne how did you conclude that you did have mold illness / susceptibility? Are there any more reliable tests?

 

[Dufresne]

@Dufresne how did you conclude that you did have mold illness / susceptibility? Are there any more reliable tests?

Get yourself to a clean place with clean belongings and note any changes in your symptoms. This is better than any lab test. Unfortunately if you're quite toxic and reactive with/to whatever, the changes won't be as apparent. For instance I never noticed any difference in symptoms when I went camping while I was still eating problem foods and had serious dysbiosis/candida. But as I started to clean things up I began to identify all sorts of stressors that were impacting my system in various ways, all of them compromising energy. Since then I've been peeling back things that cause inflammation/oxidative stress, further refining my diet, killing bugs, and detoxifying. But mold was a big one. The progress I've made over the last two years wouldn't have happened had I stayed in a moldy house.