Candida - plague of the 21st century

What is candida?

"CANDIDA" - in western holistic medicine centres this term is used to refer to a syndrome resulting from infection and influence of candida, toxins produced by candida and their impact on human body. They concern not only the skin, the digestive tract and the reproductive organs, but also the nervous and immune system. This influence is reflected in functioning of immunity, psychics, nervous system and the whole body.

Description:

Candida, as "candida syndrome" is often a set of mild, non-connected symptoms. The patients may be referred to psychiatrists die to their neurotic condition and inability of modern medicine to find a biological diagnosis. The doctors do not have time to think about something which cannot be seen and cannot be located by means of basis tests. Therefore there is not problem: it is simply a "neurotic" patient.

Physiopathology:

Due to its impact on the intestine wall, candida causes lack of tightness of such wall and increased permeability of the intestinal walls to molecules, which normally shouldn't appear in the blood, which may lead to immune system reaction, e.g. food allergy. Various molecules which get through, although they are normally harmless, may cause different allergic symptoms of unusual type. However, when they get thought the barriers to the brain they may cause neuro-transmitters' disorders, which may lead to various mental symptoms and result in a wrong diagnosis of nervous system diseases. The immune system is busy removing various molecules which usually do not appear in the blood. Therefore, it is occupied with extra work which causes distortions of its regular functions. It results in weakening and inefficiency of such system. The harmless so-far substances however, become not allergens. Such people are susceptible to many environmental factors and it concerns not only the food, but also airborne substances. The so-far harmless substances become airborne allergens. As it was specified above - it is yet another effect of the influence of candida on intestinal tract, which causes loss of tightness and increased permeability of the walls to the molecules. Candida produces around 80 various toxins, therefore their influence on the body results in so varied symptoms affecting different organs, without any connection. Frequent similar symptoms include chronic fatigue syndrome, food allergies, digestive tract diseases, weakened immunity syndromes. This leads to a situation, where these syndromes are treated instead of candida, which is their real cause. How to treat someone who is: always tired, often irritated, complains of itching skin, sometimes rushes, eczema, or even mycosis of nails, someone who has problems with concentration, memory, attacks of panic or sometimes crying, depressive mood, sadness, problems with sleeping, irritability, headaches? If you feel you cannot take a deeper breath, you feel piercing pain and tightness in your chest? We think that these symptoms on the part of other organs and systems do not result from infections, but from candida toxins and their systemic activity.

About candida...

At the end of the 20th century, especially in the western countries, a new group of patients appeared. They complained of a set of various, seemingly unrelated symptoms, which are manifested by overwhelming illness with symptoms typical for many different diseases at once. The patients are referred to different specialists who make a diagnosis that everything is fine. The last one of the specialists is usually a psychiatrist - a doctor who states that the diseases originate in the patient's head, that the person is convincing himself he is ill. Is it really so?

This type of patients appeared years after contemporary medicine decided to cure most of the diseases with the use of antibiotics - mould-based products. A broad spectrum antibiotic kills all bacteria in the human body, even these friendly ones which compete for colonisation of our digestive tract with their rival called candida albicans. Candida albicans is a tiny organism from the border or plant and animal world which is present in the lower part of the digestive tract. It is there from the moment we appear on then world and it fulfils an important digestive function in the process of sugar metabolism. Its second face is the face of a dangerous agent destroying our immune system when it is overgrown. We have discovered it only recently, although the first cases were described by the father of medicine - Hippocrates. Candida is present almost everywhere in the environment and as long as our body has normal immune functions, it is harmless.

Other inhabitants of the intestines are the so-called "positive" bacteria: acidophilus, bulgaricus, bifudus and other. Just as candida, they play an important role in digestion. What is less widespread or recognised, they also control the development of candida albicans by feeding on it. These positive bacteria appear in the digestive tract with the mother's milk. Just due to bottle-feeding we may cause a detrimental lack of balance between the positive bacteria and candida, which sometimes has serious consequences in the future.

The main factor facilitating overgrowth of candida is excessive intake of antibiotics, especially the broad spectrum ones. An antibiotic, which is a mould-based product with antibacterial properties in not able to destroy bacteria selectively and to preserve lactobicilus, which plays a positive role. It removes all bacteria on its way without any exception, thus creating imbalance and the beginning of problems. Unfortunately, the doctors do not recommend us to supplement the bacteria in the digestive system which were removed by the antibiotic, during or after the treatment. And these bacteria are indispensable for our health and wellbeing. Another reason for excess of candida in our bodies is the modern diet which differs substantially from what we ate when we lived in the caves. We had a bite of a root, some vegetables, then some fruit or animal meat. It was food in its natural, uncontaminated, unprocessed form of high nutritional and fungicide properties. Contemporary non-perishable food is full of preservatives. The products last long, they are easy to store and prepare, but they are dead, they do not contain any nutrients needed for the development and control over the yeast population in our bodies. A good example is our daily bread made of refined flour (the nutrients are removed) with addition of tap water (chlorine, fluorine) and yeast. After such preparation, no wonder we can't find in bread any nutrients apart from sugar obtained from simple carbohydrates (a perfect nourishment for candida). A good example of such "healthy" properties of refined food is one event from the Vietnam war. When there was a shortage of rice among the army and local south- Vietnamese population, a refined white rice was imported from the USA.

In a short period of time, both among people and farm animals a number of common diseases increased. Someone noticed that the chickens fed on local rice still felt good while the ones easting the American one were dying one by one. When the natural, unrefined local rice returned to the south-Asian rice-based died, the health condition of the consumers improved immediately. It results from the fact that the key nutrients are contained in the hull of the grains, which is removed during the modern refining system.

A general principle of a healthy diet is not to eat industrially-packed food with various colourful labels which inform us about its alleged nutritional value.

I do realise it is difficult to achieve in our times, but let's at least try to limit intake of such food to the minimum.

CANDIDA syndrome symptoms - appear suddenly or gradually:

Digestive tract: indigestion, gases, belching, inflammations, pains, diarrhoea or constipation, burning sensation in the stomach, bad breath, dry mouth or burning mouth, sediments and changes of colour of the tongue, thrush, irritable bowel syndrome.

Somatic and allergic: numbness, burning or tingling, pain, swells, stiffness and painful joints, painful and tense muscles, plethora and nasal congestion, head constriction, headaches, "general numbness", scotoma and spots seen in from of the eyes, buzzing in the head or in the ears, short breath, limited ability to take a deep breath, piercing pain in the chest, loss of weight, dizziness, hypersensitivity or allergy to chemical compounds, cold hands and feet, lowered sexual desire, low body temperature.

Mind/ Emotions: chronic fatigue - lack of forces, drowsiness, lowered concentration and memory, irritability, sense of loss of strength and vital energy disorientation, depression, bounces of panic and tearfulness, sleep disorders, feeling of numbness, problems with decision-making, mental confusion, mood swings, fear, attacks of fury.

Skin: acne, skin mycosis, athlete's foot, skin and anus itching, mottled-reticular spots on the skin, dry skin, eczema, skin inflammations, rushes on the skin, fungous and inflammatory changes on nails, nettle rush, lupus and psoriasis-like changes.

Urinary-genital system: vaginitis, recurring mycosis, exhaustion, lack of sexual satisfaction, itching of vagina and crotch, irregular and painful menstruation, pains, stitches, frequent urination, recurring bladder inflammation, burning at urination with pressure to pass urine, liquid retention in the body, swells, impotence and prostate problems in men, inflammation of the prostate gland, premenstrual tension.

Reasons for development of candida

Environmental condition, diet, physiopathological mechanisms: you may understand why and how candida syndrome comes from, if you take a candida test and fond out what had lead to it.

1. Long period of antibiotics intake; antibiotics kill useful bacteria and, due to lack of competition, candida develops at overwhelming speed; non-steroid anti-inflammatory medicine, H2-blockers which block the secretion of the saline acid if taken longer than 3 months, block secretion of the saline acid which increases the pH level and facilitates development of candida, because it is not killed by this acid in the stomach. A recently fashionable eradication, which consists of H-2 blockers and two antibiotics, e.g. AMOXYCYLLIN AND CLARYTHROMYCIN is an easy way to develop a candida syndrome.
2. Drinking and cooking with the use of the tap water: it is chlorinated which kills both bad and good bacteria.
3. A diet rich in simple carbohydrates, starch, excessive sugar intake - the sugar is metabolized very quickly by candida, which contributes to its quick development and blockers the development of positive bacteria.
4. Taking contraceptive pills and steroids
5. Stress and exhaustion, lack of sleep and rest, general body weakening
6. A diet rich in meat and milk containing antibiotics, hormones and steroids
7. Eating sweetened, carbonated drinks such as coke, fanta and others, sweeteners + caffeine and preservatives. Caffeine causes 75% decrease of the population of positive bacteria and it takes 5 hours to restore balance of the intestines after drinking one cup of coffee.
8. High level of intake of ketchup, mustard, vinegar, smoked and fermented products, products produces of yeast and moulds (fermented yellow cheeses) - frequent consumption of junk food: hamburgers, hot-dogs, pizza, convenience foods = highly processed and refined artificial food, a lot of preservatives, flavour enhancers, artificial dyes in E304 etc. excess of simple carbohydrates
9. Low intake of vegetables and unrefined and unprocessed food, wholemeal bread, grains with hulls
10. Excessive consumption of coffee, alcohol and nicotine
11. Staying and working in dump and dusty places
12. Exposure to nuclear, X-ray or electromagnetic radiation
13. Chronic constipation or diarrhoea, diabetes
14. Intestinal worms and parasites
15. Toxic metals and: lead, mercury, cadmium in dental fillings. chemical compounds - artificial dyes, perfumes, pesticides
16. Aspartame - sweetener; sodium glutamate - flavour enhancer used in instant sauces, soups and spices - it blocks the development of proper bacterial flora and it weakens the immunity which allows for overdevelopment of candida and thus candida syndrome.

Diet in candida

Products which contain candida:
Candida can be found in majority of fruits and in vinegar, which is made of fermented wine. Vinegar is used as a preservative in mustards, mayonnaise, various sauces, pickles and salads. Canned and frozen fruit contain Candida. Also mushrooms and all types of cheese are products which contain candida, just like cream, ice-cream and powdered milk.

Candida therapy

1. Avoid everything which damages the positive bacterial flora (described above)
2. Pay attention to what you eat, hints for a healthy diet above
3. If it doesn't work, use Digital Clark's Zapper (programme 7) and in severe cases Digital Silver Pulser (more about zapping in Hulda Clark's book "Kuracja Zycia").

Candida forms known in Poland not understood as candida syndrome

Candidasis, moniliasis, blastymocisis, mycosis caused by candida albicans. The disease is widespread. The fungus belongs to the class of imperfect fungi.

Candidasis is an acute or subacute disorder of skin, nails and mucous membrane, e.g. the mouth, intestines, anus, vagina and vulva. Sometimes the diseases takes the whole body and infects the meninges and many internal organs - the lungs, liver, spleen (organ mycosis).

Candidasis is especially frequent in children and adults weakened by general diseases, in condition of lowered immunity (AIDS, during immunosuppressive treatment in cancer) and in these cases it has a very severe course with high fatality rate. The basis for diagnosis is microbiologic examination: thrush, surface yeast infection, mostly with candida albocans (candidasis, skin and mucous membrane mycosis), mucous membranes of the mouth. It appears most frequently in case of babies which get infected at birth from their mothers who suffer from mycosis discharge and in adults depleted by diseases.

Symptoms: on the mucous membrane covering internal surface of the cheeks, on the tongue and gums there is white sediments which reminds of sour milk. After removing the sediment we can notice inflammatory changes on the mucous.

Candidasis of skin and mucous membrane, pathological changes on skin, nails and mucous membranes caused by candida albicans infection. The most frequent are:

on the skin - candida albicans intertrigo, candidasis of nails and nailfolds the mucous membrane (thrush, yeast inflammation of the vulva). Other forms are less frequent. A factor contributing to the development of candidasis are diabetis, every condition of weakened immunity (immunosuppressive treatment in cancers, AIDS). 146 types of candida albicans were selected from patients in various dental diagnoses periodontitis juvenilis, glossitis, gingivitis, stomatitis prothetica, leukoplakia, stomatitis atrophica) . Fungous invasions of candida type in people from the risk groups may lead to deterioration of general health condition, making the treatment more difficult or even impossible, e.g. the cancer treatment, and, as a result of the dissemination, cause general mycosis or even death. Probability of complications increases with the increase of the risk factors for candida infection. People with high risk of candida infections are patients suffering from lung cancer and with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Yeast infections of vagina and vulva:

Symptoms: The infection is caused by Candida albicans fungus. Usually it spreads during sexual intercourse. Mycoses are not dangerous, but they are troublesome. The skin is reddened, it itches and burns. As a result of scratching, the itching gets more and more intensive. The next symptom is a white discharge. Sometimes mycosis is relapsing.

In men, usually no such symptoms are observed. However, sometimes the yeast may colonise the skin of male genitals, under the foreskin and even in the prostate thus infecting the semen and causing reddening of the skin and pain at ejaculation. In women: the most frequent symptom is intensive itching of vulva and vagina, burning at urination and during intercourse, reddening and swelling of the vagina and white cheese-like discharge with unpleasant smell.

The etiologic factor is mostly candida albicans, however, recently more and more cases caused by other types of candida have been noted, such as Candida Kefyr. The following factors contribute to the development of yeast vaginal infections: pregnancy, oral contraceptives, diabetes, taking antibiotics, hormonal treatment and disorders of the immune system. Also wearing tight underwear made of artificial fabrics may contribute to the development of mycosis. It causes the retention of moisture and excessive heating of this body part, thus creating a favourable climate for mycoses. Intensification of mycosis symptoms is a result if interaction between the body of the host and the fungus cells. In a number of cases there are no clinical symptoms of the fungi presence, or such symptoms are very discreet. In extreme cases the symptoms may be very intensive. There is strong itching, burning swelling of the mucous membrane at the vagina's entrance, cheese-like discharge. Often the only proof for vaginal mycosis is the occurrence of infection at her sexual partner's. It is manifested by the reddening of the glans and the foreskin, itching, burning and a whitish sediment on the glans. During the first part of the mycosis in women the most important thing is the so-called first line of defence. It is a topical, non-specific defence, therefore a mechanism which does not allow for fungous intrusion. In women this factor is the acidity of the vagina, which in normal conditions amounts to pH 4.5 . This acidity is kept mostly by the lactic acid, which is produced from, the glycogen stored in the vaginal epithelium. Decomposition of the glycogen is caused by Lactobacillus bacteria - the lactic acid bacteria, which are constantly present in the normal vaginal flora. Using good washing agents with acidic pH for private hygiene soothes the symptoms related to mycosis, facilitates the treatment and in a way helps to prevent mycosis by helping to maintain acidic pH of this area. Usually the soap has no such properties, as it is alkaline. A very important factor in prevention is also wearing cotton underwear, which is permeable to air.

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