Archive for June, 2008

Diseases Caused by Mold Exposure

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

We all know that mold poses a pretty good sized threat to our health, but the diseases that come about because of mold are some of the most serious around.  These diseases almost always end in the suffix of “mycosis” or simply “osis” and they can sometimes end in damage to your internal organs that is often irreparable.  They can also sometimes eventually result in death in the most extreme of cases. 

These diseases are the most threatening for those people who have weakened immune systems.  This can include small children (especially infants), those with HIV or AIDS, and the elderly who have any kind of health problems.  Perfectly healthy small children and elderly people might fight off these infections a little better than some of their peers, but it is still not recommended that these people be exposed to mold for a long period of time.

The symptoms of diseases caused by mold can be anything from flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, coughing, and sneezing all the way to more serious symptoms like the coughing up of blood.  Anti-fungal medications can also pose a threat, since these medications can sometimes cause the exact symptoms that they are being prescribed to treat.  Almost any doctor that gives a patient antifungal medication will request the patient to come back and lab work be done on a regular basis in order to spot these possible side effects before they move into their next stage. 

When you have a mold-related disease, one of the things that you should not do is eat foods that have been manufactured using funguses like mold.  This includes things like blue cheese and blue cheese dressing, roguefort, and gorgonzola cheeses, and especially foods that contain mushrooms.

Aspergillosis is caused by those molds that are in the genus Aspergillus.  One of the most intriguing and dangerous things about this is that what are called “aspergilloma” have been known to start growing in the lungs and other organs that have pre-existing cavities in them.  These cavities can be a result of cancer or a disease that has a similar effect to tuberculosis.  Unfortunately, aspergilloma typically do not cause the person to have any symptoms, although in later stages a person might cough up blood, experience weight loss, shortness of breath, and fever. 

Penicilliosis is an opportunistic infection that occurs mainly in southeast Asia where the mold that causes it is indigenous.  The vast majority of those who develop this infection are those that have HIV and AIDS and it is the third most common opportunistic infection for these individuals in the region. 

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Some Notes About Mold

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

No matter whether you are a landlord, tenant, homeowner, or an employer, there are some general facts about mold that everyone should be aware of.  Everyone knows that exposure to mold can be a very dangerous thing, but not everyone knows the most important things about it that can be the difference between a mold infested home, a lot of lost money, bad health and a healthy, happy home.

One of the most important things that you should realize is the fact that no matter what you do, you cannot remove all of the mold from your home.  Mold has existed for millions of years and will continue to exist for millions more; you cannot completely stamp it out from where you live or work because it is truly everywhere.  The only thing that you can do is stop it from taking root in your home and becoming a nuisance. 

Make sure that the ground at the base of your home slopes away from it so water flows away from the foundation.  Water that is allowed to settle at the foundation will seep inside the home and allow mold to begin to grow.

Pay attention to the mold warnings that you see on the news sometimes.  If you are elderly or have small children, especially those with asthma or other respiratory conditions, you should not go outside if the spore count is high.  

In order to discover just what kind of mold you are dealing with in your home, you need to have a mold laboratory test the mold that you have sampled into a do-it-yourself mold kit.  Only they can tell you just what kind of mold you are dealing with and whether or not it is dangerous.

Something important to remember is that mold is not always visible and does not really need standing water in order to grow.  Actually, most kinds of mold do not need any more than the condensation that can form on the cold pipes in your basement or on your windows.  It requires only some high amounts of humidity, food, and warmth.  

Lastly, if you move into a home or an apartment and mold exists on the property, you should understand that it is not your responsibility to have the mold removed, it is the owner’s simply because if you choose to move out, the mold will still be there.

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How to Keep Mold Off of Your Stuff

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Mold gets onto just about everything that we own at some point or another; it is whether or not the mold starts to actually grow on the item and stay there that tends to be the problem. Whether it is clothes, furniture, walls, floors, clothes, or food, mold can do quite a lot of damage to the things in our home and we cannot always see it coming. Even the items that we need to be clean the most, like our baby’s bottles that they drink their milk and juice out of.

The bottles that we have today are not just the cylinders that they used to be; sometimes they come in strange shapes that are hard to get completely dry and when this happens and they are put back into the refrigerator, they can often become moldy. How can you prevent this? All you have to do after you wash them is dry them inside the best that you can and then simply put them in the freezer until you are ready to use them again. Mold does not like these temperatures and this will inhibit any growth. It is a popular thing to put kitchen staples like flour, sugar, and cornmeal into the freezer to protect them from bugs and mice, so why not use this to your advantage to prevent mold, as well?

Mold also likes to grow on clothes that have been forgotten about in the backs of closets. Try not to pack your closets so full of clothes that air cannot circulate. The clothes being packed so close together creates the warmth that the mold needs to survive and if your house is humid enough, the moisture it needs is also there. The last thing mold needs to live is food and your clothing is more than enough to supply that need. It might also be a good idea to install a vent into the closet to help air circulate a little better, too.

Something else that causes mold to grow is when you throw damp and dirty clothing into a bathroom closet and leave it there. This is particularly a bad idea if you have carpet in it. Carpet in the bathroom is a bad idea all by itself, but when you couple it with dirty, wet clothes or towels, you are asking for a mold infestation to start in the back of your closet. The solution for this is to use a plastic laundry hamper and to empty it regularly, which should be around every day and a half. Mold usually starts to grow after about 48 hours.

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A Viable Practice Tool For Guitar Players

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

When it comes to practicing your guitar, there are literally thousands  of teaching methods available. Basic, logical and effective practice habits are an essential building block for any guitarist. You can’t get away from the concept of dedicating a certain amount of time everyday with out any excuses to practice your discipline.

Guitar tools considered standard tools for practicing the guitar, such as a metronome and tuner are indispensable, however there may be ways to improve your skills right under your nose. People can be very imaginative, and come up with some terrific, out of the box practice methods that are quite unique and helpful.

Perhaps it is not unique, but one method I use and really enjoy since it is not as much work as a structured practice session, is to play to the television. The strategy is fun and really develops your ear to find ‘tones’ and the ‘keys’ and improve timing issues in a realistic way. We all watch television to some extent. The music used in different types of shows is fun to emulate in terms of how fast you can figure out what ‘key’ it is in and even the type of ’scale’  being used.

Simply put, television commercials and shows use music that is suitable for the medium. Meaning, a suspenseful ‘Law and Order’ episode may have a lot of tension in the notes played, especially before the ‘dicks’ find the unfindable clue. Commercials such as the ‘Cialis’ ( erectile disfunction medicine ) has a great lead-in slideable chord that is a great ‘measure of music’ to play with.

Since I mainly watch sporting stuff, I hear certain types of commercials that relate well to sports lovers. Maybe you have seen the car commercials for Nissan and I think Chevrolet too, and even the NFL, they use Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy” as their song. Well, I know this song pretty well, but it is fun, and Stevie Ray is one of my influences. I hear tunes and songs on television shows also that force me into quick ‘key’ and ’scale’ decisions.  For the little time I spend in front of the television, I get a lot of real world practice at these two important elements of music mentioned above.

I call it multi-tasking. Watching television and playing the guitar! Try it, but don’t forget  the logical and effective methods for practicing your guitar that allowed you to play with the television. Now your mom or wife can’t say TV is a worthless waste of time! Enjoy.

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The toughest design job?

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Kitchen design is hard enough itself. The attention to detail required – what dishwasher, where to put it, how to lay everything out, what flooring, etc – is almost on par with that required to build an entire house. Yet that’s before the apartment is shrunk almost in half. Imagine having to design a kitchen in a space no bigger than a closet or a kitchen that has to impress hedge fund honchos’ wives. You’ve imagined the world of New York kitchen design.

NYC kitchen designers are faced with some of the most difficult design challenges that span over the universe of needs. A client in, say, Brooklyn, may want to maximize utility on a budget, while another would like to incorporate fine materials into a small space. Still yet, an Italian expatriate may wish to express her Ferrari aesthetic through a modern inexpensive kitchen design while a foodie hedge fund manager may want a kitchen so good it makes Thomas Keller jealous.

Becoming a kitchen designer in NY is no easy task. Designers are usually schooled in interior design, some architecture, commercial kitchen design, and even some light engineering. All of these disciplines form the necessary background to tackle some of the biggest design challenges there are in the Big Apple. As a result of their broad set of knowledge, NY kitchen designers are some of the best paid design professionals in the city. So if you have a background that might fit and a love for cooking and imagining how to make a kitchen the most functional it can be, contacting a NY kitchen designer to find out about any job openings may make a lot of sense for you. The demand for designers is greater than ever as homeowners look to add value to their homes, so chances are, if your skill set is right, you’ll have no trouble finding a handsomely-paying career in the industry.