Candida albicans - The foundation of illness

Candida albicans - The foundation of illness

The most common fungus to negatively affect humans, Candida albicans, primarily colonizes the skin and the mucosal membranes of the mouth, genitals, and digestive tract. There are also a few other types of Candida that can impact our health as well; all strains respond well to naturopathic treatment.

Conventional medical experts say that from 30-70% of the present population have a benign colonization of this yeast. I would bet any well trained naturopath will tell you that more than 90% of the population hosts a Candida colonization and most of them are not benign, not in our modern, processed, easy-food society. In addition, I have never met anyone suffering from any illness, who is not dealing with an overabundance of Candida.

When Candida leads to disease, conventional medical belief states that the infection can be localized, invasive, or systemic. Alternative medical belief would argue that a local infection such as a skin infection, vaginitis, or thrush is an indication that the gut, and likely the whole rest of the body, is already overwhelmed. Lending credence to this belief is the fact that the fastest way to kill any type of Candida infection, and insure it does not come right back, revolves around balancing the gut microbes..

The Candida connection with allergies, asthma, and dermatitis has long been accepted. Current research suggests Candida antigens may trigger celiac and Crohn's disease. Even though these links of Candida to disease are acknowledged, the conventional medical community is hesitant to understand and accept the role of Candida in patients with multiple complaints often labeled as either non-specific autoimmune disease or more often as psychosomatic illness. These symptoms include fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, rashes, dysuria, urinary frequency, vaginitis, and more. Nor do they realize Candida is so often the underlying cause for chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, environmental exposure syndrome, and central sensitization syndrome. Candida even effects the brain, and can be the precursor to many different mental illnesses from depression to schizophrenia. In other words, when the immune system goes belly up, Candida is almost always a major factor, if not one of the few basic causes, and yet this connection is often overlooked or ignored.

There are more than 200 species of Candida, but less than a dozen affect humans. Candida alternate in form from budding yeast cells called blastospores to hyphae, thread-like filaments that bore through tissue and individual cells. The fact that it can alternate back and forth in form makes it harder for the immune system to respond to it. We are now discovering that it can produce slightly differing hyphae in different parts of the body, again creating a different immune response.

Candida overgrowth is certainly linked to antibiotic use, but it is also clearly a by-product of our sugar laden, processed, frankenscience American diet. Candida is controlled or eliminated through diet and supplements, but studies have shown it often reoccurs. Since the same studies showed diet was the most important factor in eliminating the overgrowth, it only stands to reason that a change in diet needs to be a lifelong commitment. A return to a standard American diet is a return to disease. A healthy diet, though not as restrictive as a diet designed to kill Candida, will help prevent a recurrence. Read more