Research

I've always said that having children exercises your brain more than sitting in a classroom. (Actually the first chapter of Upstairs is about this.) Well, today I am wading through a list of titles such as, "Asymmetric Synthesis of Four Diastereomers of 3-Hydroxy-2,4,6-trimethylheptanoic Acid: Proof of Configurational Assignment" and "Allergens of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana" and [this one makes sense at least]: "Effect of environmental intervention on mouse allergen levels in homes of inner-city Boston children with asthma"

I have also learned to use the term "Helminthosporium sativum" in everyday conversation.

Emily the lovely semi-invalid daughter was recently diagnosed with a strong allergy to a mold (Helmintho-yadayada) that grows in cool, wet, climates, on wheat and grasses. Which is to say, on millions of plants, all around us, all winter.

Sigh.

The doctor didn't know much about it except for the paragraph that came with the test results. It's a delayed-reaction immune-system sort of allergy, rather than a rash or wheezing, so no one seems to know much about it. So I have been doing lots of research, starting with our farmer friend Larry, who told me all he knew including the fact that last year the farmers planted at least 5 times as much wheat as normal (signifciant, perhaps) and referred me to Mark at the county extension office, who told me all he knew including the fact that there's residual helminthosporium in the air all the time but it really explodes in the cool, wet months and referred me on to the Jan the home economist who didn't know much except that we should for sure have a HEPA filter on the furnace.

What we want to know is when is the mold most prevalent, is it air/water/food-borne, is it the same as mold in bathrooms, is Paul bringing it home from the warehouse on his clothes, and what should Emily be doing to avoid it?

And, a big question, is it found in other areas of the country, and at what times of the year? And an even bigger question that won't be answered by county extension people or on any websites: do we need to ship Emily off somewhere else all winter, or is God telling us the whole family needs to relocate, or what??

Ok, gotta go read up on Organization and expression of the double-stranded RNA genome of Helminthosporium victoriae 190S virus, a totivirus infecting a plant pathogenic filamentous fungus.

Quote of the Day:
"You can tell it's a 'Plugger' blogging site because it has a big button that says, 'What's a blog?'"
--Emily, making fun of my lovely Blogger home page