Actress Tori Spelling revealed she has been hospitalized for the past four days. Though she did not disclose the reason for her hospitalization, the news comes months after she revealed her family suffered health problems from mold in their home.
While many symptoms of mold exposure are mild, it can cause severe allergic reactions and asthma attacks that could lead to hospitalization.
Many people can be allergic to mold, which causes a reaction. Exposure can result in an infection reaction right away, or it could take some time to develop.
Only certain types of mold cause allergies, and just because you’re allergic to one type doesn’t mean you’re allergic to another.
Some of the most common molds that cause allergies, according to the Mayo Clinic, are alternaria, aspergillus, cladosporium, and penicillum.
Symptoms of a mold allergy include sneezing, runny or stuffy nose, cough or postnasal drip, itchy eyes, nose or throat, watery eyes, and dry skin.
Mold can grow on several different surfaces in the home, including showers, faucets, walls, carpets, and even food
Tori Spelling, 50, revealed she had been hospitalized for four days Sunday. The actress did not reveal what she was being treated for
There are several different types of mold that can cause allergic reactions or illness.
Black mold, for example, has the most notorious reputation. Also known as Stachybotrys chartarum, black mold grows and spreads on surfaces that contain large amount of cellulose, including paper, wood, and drywall.
It grows and multiplies on surfaces that have been wet for a long time, such as the walls in homes. Basements, showers, and windows are the most likely places for water damage.
Green and blue mold is what you normally see if you leave foods like bread or cheese in the fridge well past their expiration date.
Even though you may only be able to see the mold on some bits of the food, it has actually spread all over.
However, if you accidentally eat it, chances are nothing will happen. It can cause mild gastrointestinal distress, like stomach pain, but that’s more likely because it tastes bad.
In rare cases, eating moldy food can cause shortness of breath, nausea, high temperature, or diarrhea.
Pink and purple mold tends to grow around the bathroom faucets and in the corners of your shower.
This is known as Serratia — a type of mold that is actually known to survive in liquid soap.
Stemphylium and Epicoccum, two yellow and orange molds, cling to natural fibers in the home, like hemp and jute, as well as woven-style furniture.
And white mold tends to crop up in basements, bathrooms, or attics, as well as carpets and vents.
The latest: Tori Spelling, 50, said she had to leave the home she was renting after mold was revealed, explaining months of bad health she and her family suffered as a result
The daughter of late TV producer Aaron Spelling said her son Finn had a fever that hit 103 and was dealing with strep throat as result of the mold-related infection. Spelling said her son Beau, six, was also sick due to the mold exposure
Mold exposure can also trigger asthma attacks for those with the condition.
While many asthma attacks can be managed with an inhaler, signs of an emergency include quickly worsening symptoms, inhalers and other medications not working, chest pain, severe shortness of breath, breathing irregularities, trouble walking or talking, ribs and stomach moving in and out rapidly, hunched shoulders, and gray or blueish color.
In some cases, inhaling mold can cause a fungal infection, namely coccidioidomycosis, also known as Valley Fever.
Valley Fever is caused by breathing in the spores of the fungus Coccidioides, which is typically found in the soil in the southwestern United States and California, northern Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. It usually affects the lungs.
According to the American Lung Association (ALA), symptoms include fatigue, cough, fever, chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, muscle and joint aches, night sweats, and a rash on the upper body or legs.
It’s unclear why exactly Spelling is in the hospital, but it could be linked to her past exposure to mold, which was found in her rental home.
In May, she shared photos of her and the kids in an urgent care center, telling her 1.7 million fans, ‘our troubles are next level with our mold problem and the house that’s been slowly killing us for 3 years.’
‘Here we are again at Urgent Care,’ she said. ‘We’ve all been on this continual spiral of sickness for months. Sick. Get better. To get sick again.’
Spelling revealed that she and her two youngest sons had been through ‘one infection after another. Respiratory infections. Extreme allergy-like symptoms too and like my poor Finn skin rashes as well.’
The Beverly Hills, 90210 star, 50, took to Instagram on Sunday to share a photo of her hand, which had been hooked up to an IV.
‘4th day here and I’m missing my kiddos so much…’ she wrote.
‘Grateful and so proud of my brave, resilient, and kind to the core children who remain positive no matter what comes our way.’