Pharmacy Clinic
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Fungal Infections
Candida Albicans’ Story
If you are feeling anxious, depressed, forgetful, sleep disorders, tired, weak, and have
trouble just getting through the day, or have headaches, allergies, or skin problems.
You may be suffering from Candidal infection.
*Candida albicans, commonly known as yeast, occurs naturally in the body, but when it
gets out of control, it increases.
*Candida’s overgrowth produces toxins that can affect organs, tissues, and cells in all
parts of the body.
It can produce dozens of symptoms that can be difficult to diagnose and are resistant to
the usual medical treatments.
*Candida is a fungus that is very similar to the yeasts that
cause bread to rise and fruit to ferment into wine.
*In fact, no one is sure what purpose it serves, if any. We do know that it helps the
body decompose after death, but we don’t want it to start doing its job while we’re alive.
*Candida (yeast) resides in the digestive tract in a concentration of one Candida cell to
millions of friendly bacteria.
*As long as the friendly bacteria are healthy, they keep Candida in check by taking up
space and producing anti Candida chemicals. It’s only when the friendly bacteria are
destroyed that yeast takes over and causes trouble.
There are more than 400 species of friendly bacteria living in the small and large
intestines. The most prominent are
lactobacillus (in the small intestine) and bifidus (in the large
intestine). They not only secrete antibiotics to aid the immune system in fighting disease,
but they also produce anticarcinogenic and antitumor chemicals, as well as assist in the
prevention of skin problems, inflammation, osteoporosis, arteriosclerosis, candidiasis,
parasites, and salmonella.
Antibiotics Abuse
Many drugs and toxins can harm the friendly bacteria, especially the broad-spectrum like
Ampicillin, cephalexin.
One of their side effects is that they destroy the friendly bacteria. To compound the
problem, we have also been
ingesting antibiotics through our consumption of commercial
meat, poultry, and dairy products.
If we don’t replace the friendly bacteria with supplemental doses of lactobacillus and
bifidus while taking antibiotics, candida takes over and colonizes where the friendly
bacteria once resided. Then our health problems begin.
Since the friendly bacteria produce their own antibiotics to assist the immune system
in fighting disease, without them we become more susceptible to viral and bacterial
infections. This susceptibility often means that we have to take more
antibiotics, which causes further destruction of the friendly bacteria and increased
candida overgrowth.
Other drugs that can kill the friendly bacteria include cortisone, steroids (asthma
medication), chemotherapy, AIDS drugs, and birth control pills. Pollution, gasoline, dry
cleaning fluid, ink, carcinogens, and emotional stress can also destroy the friendly
bacteria. Heredity plays a key role, too, and substance abuse, alcohol, and tobacco—
both kills the “friendlies” and can feed candida.
The other enemy in the yeast war is sugar. Yeasts live on sugar, producing alcohol
and carbon dioxide gas in the process. For example, observe what happens when you
mix yeast and sugar in warm water: the yeast bubbles wildly, almost exploding out of
the bowl. This is essentially what happens when we eat sugar.
Symptoms
Symptoms of candidiasis are numerous,
One of the chief byproducts of candida is alcohol (ethanol). This may cause the foggy
thinking, and
forgetfulness that many candidiasis patients experience:
So how do we and our health practitioners determine whether or not we have an
unhealthy level of candida?
List the potential causes of a candida imbalance:
1) A course of antibiotics for eight weeks or longer or for a
number of shorter periods four or more times in one year.
2. Antibiotic treatment for acne for one month.
3. A course of cortisone, prednisone, or ACTH (steroid
treatment).
4. The use of birth control pills for a year or more.
5. Treatment with immunosuppressive drugs (chemotherapy).
6. Chronic multiple infections (viral, bacterial, parasitical).
7. A diet high in sugar and refined foods.
symptoms, which can be both physical and emotional:
1. Skin infections (acne, rashes, psoriasis, athlete’s foot).
2. Headaches, migraines, sinus trouble, sore throats.
3. Frequent upper respiratory tract infections, colds.
4. Recurrent bladder, prostate, vaginal infections.
5. Extreme and/or increasing sensitivity to chemical fumes,
tobacco smoke, perfumes.
6. Multiple allergic symptoms.
7. Asthma.
8. Arthritis.
9. Swollen or aching joints, muscle aches for no reason.
10. Abdominal bloating, distention, gas, diarrhea or
constipation, anal itching, hemorrhoids.
11. Fatigue, lethargy, forgetfulness, foggy thinking, inability to
concentrate.
12. Depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, irritability, insomnia.
13. Weight gain or loss.
Treatment
The treatment for candidiasis is relatively simple
The prescription medications used to treat candidiasis are Nystatin, Nizoral, and fungimid.
The primary foods to avoid are sugar and yeast. Substitute
honey for sugar.
There are a number of other foods to avoid when treating
candidiasis: anything fermented or moldy, like cheese, alcohol,
vinegar, and soy sauce; mushrooms; bottled fruit juice; or
anything that sits in jars that can get moldy, like nut butters,
canned fruit, tomatoes, and preserves. Avoid refined grains
and caffeine.
A diet high in fresh, cooked vegetables, especially leafy
greens, which are alkaline and balance the acidosis of candidiasis, is highly recommended.
Any meat, eggs, poultry, or dairy products should be organic and antibiotic-free. Fish
and lamb are raised without antibiotics or hormones.
Antifungal supplements include garlic, grapefruit seed extract, and olive oil. Always
use cold-pressed oils and
avoid hydrogenated oils (margarine).
A daily supplement of probiotics—lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidus—is essential,
especially while you’re taking antifungal medication.
The medical community usually classifies candidiasis as an opportunistic infection, but
that’s highly misleading. Keeping candida in balance is a function of the friendly
bacteria, not the immune system. While the immune system and the friendly bacteria
work together, the immune system itself can’t control candidiasis once there is an
overgrowth. In most immune disorders, the candidiasis is not the result of a depressed
immune system but a major cause.
Candidiasis is not an opportunistic infection; it’s an iatrogenic illness (diseases caused
as a result of treatment of drugs). (Candidiasis can also be considered an allergic
condition when certain foods contribute to it.) Because candidiasis is iatrogenic, the first
step to correcting it is to remove the causes.
If you are feeling anxious, depressed, forgetful, sleep disorders, tired, weak, and have
trouble just getting through the day, or have headaches, allergies, or skin problems.
You may be suffering from Candidal infection.
*Candida albicans, commonly known as yeast, occurs naturally in the body, but when it
gets out of control, it increases.
*Candida’s overgrowth produces toxins that can affect organs, tissues, and cells in all
parts of the body.
It can produce dozens of symptoms that can be difficult to diagnose and are resistant to
the usual medical treatments.
*Candida is a fungus that is very similar to the yeasts that
cause bread to rise and fruit to ferment into wine.
*In fact, no one is sure what purpose it serves, if any. We do know that it helps the
body decompose after death, but we don’t want it to start doing its job while we’re alive.
*Candida (yeast) resides in the digestive tract in a concentration of one Candida cell to
millions of friendly bacteria.
*As long as the friendly bacteria are healthy, they keep Candida in check by taking up
space and producing anti Candida chemicals. It’s only when the friendly bacteria are
destroyed that yeast takes over and causes trouble.
There are more than 400 species of friendly bacteria living in the small and large
intestines. The most prominent are
lactobacillus (in the small intestine) and bifidus (in the large
intestine). They not only secrete antibiotics to aid the immune system in fighting disease,
but they also produce anticarcinogenic and antitumor chemicals, as well as assist in the
prevention of skin problems, inflammation, osteoporosis, arteriosclerosis, candidiasis,
parasites, and salmonella.
Antibiotics Abuse
Many drugs and toxins can harm the friendly bacteria, especially the broad-spectrum like
Ampicillin, cephalexin.
One of their side effects is that they destroy the friendly bacteria. To compound the
problem, we have also been
ingesting antibiotics through our consumption of commercial
meat, poultry, and dairy products.
If we don’t replace the friendly bacteria with supplemental doses of lactobacillus and
bifidus while taking antibiotics, candida takes over and colonizes where the friendly
bacteria once resided. Then our health problems begin.
Since the friendly bacteria produce their own antibiotics to assist the immune system
in fighting disease, without them we become more susceptible to viral and bacterial
infections. This susceptibility often means that we have to take more
antibiotics, which causes further destruction of the friendly bacteria and increased
candida overgrowth.
Other drugs that can kill the friendly bacteria include cortisone, steroids (asthma
medication), chemotherapy, AIDS drugs, and birth control pills. Pollution, gasoline, dry
cleaning fluid, ink, carcinogens, and emotional stress can also destroy the friendly
bacteria. Heredity plays a key role, too, and substance abuse, alcohol, and tobacco—
both kills the “friendlies” and can feed candida.
The other enemy in the yeast war is sugar. Yeasts live on sugar, producing alcohol
and carbon dioxide gas in the process. For example, observe what happens when you
mix yeast and sugar in warm water: the yeast bubbles wildly, almost exploding out of
the bowl. This is essentially what happens when we eat sugar.
Symptoms
Symptoms of candidiasis are numerous,
One of the chief byproducts of candida is alcohol (ethanol). This may cause the foggy
thinking, and
forgetfulness that many candidiasis patients experience:
So how do we and our health practitioners determine whether or not we have an
unhealthy level of candida?
List the potential causes of a candida imbalance:
1) A course of antibiotics for eight weeks or longer or for a
number of shorter periods four or more times in one year.
2. Antibiotic treatment for acne for one month.
3. A course of cortisone, prednisone, or ACTH (steroid
treatment).
4. The use of birth control pills for a year or more.
5. Treatment with immunosuppressive drugs (chemotherapy).
6. Chronic multiple infections (viral, bacterial, parasitical).
7. A diet high in sugar and refined foods.
symptoms, which can be both physical and emotional:
1. Skin infections (acne, rashes, psoriasis, athlete’s foot).
2. Headaches, migraines, sinus trouble, sore throats.
3. Frequent upper respiratory tract infections, colds.
4. Recurrent bladder, prostate, vaginal infections.
5. Extreme and/or increasing sensitivity to chemical fumes,
tobacco smoke, perfumes.
6. Multiple allergic symptoms.
7. Asthma.
8. Arthritis.
9. Swollen or aching joints, muscle aches for no reason.
10. Abdominal bloating, distention, gas, diarrhea or
constipation, anal itching, hemorrhoids.
11. Fatigue, lethargy, forgetfulness, foggy thinking, inability to
concentrate.
12. Depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, irritability, insomnia.
13. Weight gain or loss.
Treatment
The treatment for candidiasis is relatively simple
The prescription medications used to treat candidiasis are Nystatin, Nizoral, and fungimid.
The primary foods to avoid are sugar and yeast. Substitute
honey for sugar.
There are a number of other foods to avoid when treating
candidiasis: anything fermented or moldy, like cheese, alcohol,
vinegar, and soy sauce; mushrooms; bottled fruit juice; or
anything that sits in jars that can get moldy, like nut butters,
canned fruit, tomatoes, and preserves. Avoid refined grains
and caffeine.
A diet high in fresh, cooked vegetables, especially leafy
greens, which are alkaline and balance the acidosis of candidiasis, is highly recommended.
Any meat, eggs, poultry, or dairy products should be organic and antibiotic-free. Fish
and lamb are raised without antibiotics or hormones.
Antifungal supplements include garlic, grapefruit seed extract, and olive oil. Always
use cold-pressed oils and
avoid hydrogenated oils (margarine).
A daily supplement of probiotics—lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidus—is essential,
especially while you’re taking antifungal medication.
The medical community usually classifies candidiasis as an opportunistic infection, but
that’s highly misleading. Keeping candida in balance is a function of the friendly
bacteria, not the immune system. While the immune system and the friendly bacteria
work together, the immune system itself can’t control candidiasis once there is an
overgrowth. In most immune disorders, the candidiasis is not the result of a depressed
immune system but a major cause.
Candidiasis is not an opportunistic infection; it’s an iatrogenic illness (diseases caused
as a result of treatment of drugs). (Candidiasis can also be considered an allergic
condition when certain foods contribute to it.) Because candidiasis is iatrogenic, the first
step to correcting it is to remove the causes.