Riding to the Rescue
If you could take a highly magnified look around your gastro-intestinal (GI) tract, you might not want a second look. It wouldn’t be a pretty picture. At virtually every moment there’s a widespread battle being waged between good bacteria and bad bacteria. And when the bad guys go on a winning streak, the resulting imbalance can cause a multitude of health problems.
When bad bacteria thrive, yeast-like fungi called candida albicans thrive as well. I recently received an e-mail from an HSI member named Celvin who says his poor digestion, insomnia, dry skin, severe itching and lack of concentration have all been attributed to a case of candida.
Celvin asks, “Do you have a product or can refer me to one that can eliminate the problem? Ordinary probiotics don’t do the job. I use no refined foods, only organic, no yeast or fermented foods for the past four years and no sugars, except stevia and blended whole fruits. For the past two years the itching is the worst symptom and I’ve spent a lot of money trying to solve the problem myself.”
Celvin is on the right track with his probiotic use. But as we’ll see, that’s only one part of an important three-part process. When all three parts are combined, Celvin may feel like the cavalry has ridden in to the rescue.
A monster
When I checked in with HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., about candida (also known as “systemic candidiasis” or “systemic yeast”), he described it as a “monster problem.” But he adds that about 90 percent of candida cases can be successfully treated with a methodical approach that includes a diet “that is far better than what most Americans eat anyway.”
Dr. Spreen: “The most susceptible victims of systemic yeast tend to be women who have had some combination of (or long single experiences with) birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, repeated courses of antibiotics, systemic steroids, high-sugar diets or illnesses that involve extended bouts of diarrhea (and also vomiting). Antibiotics kill of the ‘good guy’ bacteria in the gut, allowing the ‘bad guy’ yeast to take over. Then other illnesses or systemic stresses give the yeast a little extra nudge each time they occur, slowly increasing the influence of the yeast until symptoms occur.
“Probiotics (e.g.; L. acidophilus, bulgaricus, bifidus bacteria or combinations) are MANDATORY for re-establishing a more nearly normal gut environment. That said, it’s almost never successful by itself.
“Effective treatment of yeast involves three separate approaches: 1. Kill the ‘bad guys’; 2. Make the gut environment receptive for
re-introduction of ‘good guys’; 3. Re-introduce the ‘good guys’. (Again, I have rarely, if ever, seen #3 alone to be effective.)
“Killing the bad guy yeast can be done with natural agents: caprylic acid, olive leaf extract, grapefruit seed extract, and others. However, I found that the prescription drug Diflucan (fluconazole) was so effective, and with so few toxicities, that I came to use it often. Sporonox (itraconazole), a newer drug in the class, is also effective, as is ketoconazole, an older one (there are others). The class has some history (especially ketoconazole) of liver stress in susceptible individuals, but I never saw it with Diflucan (nor heard it reported, ever, by a single physician treating with it, though liver function should be tested from time to time). The original drug used was Nilstat (nystatin), which works, but not as well, as it only kills in the GI tract (it has to be used orally, as given systemically it’s toxic).”
Fixing the environment
Setting up the GI tract to be receptive to reintroduction of probiotics can be somewhat involved. Dr. Spreen stresses that candida patients MUST follow a strict diet: “Yeast seem to have a defense mechanism that makes the patient crave sugars (as that’s what yeast grow best on). Sugars and refined starches must be curtailedsometimes even natural sugars, depending on the person. High protein, or Atkins-type, diets work well here, since yeast do very poorly trying to use proteins.
“In addition, step 2 (fixing up the gut environment) can involve additional supplements, such as garlic extract, Pau d’Arco (Taheebo) tea, and a cute little item called FOS (Fructo-Oligo-Saccharides). The last one is a fairly sweet-tasting (half as sweet as sugar) agent that acidophilus can eat and grow well with, while yeast can’t metabolize it at all (or very poorly).
“I wish there were a simple ‘take this pill and you’re cured’ approach, but alas I haven’t seen it to be the case. If I had to pick a fast-track routine I’d drop the simple carbs out of the diet and add Diflucan, hoping that the acidophilus got in there from yogurt (plain, active culture only). That’s a cheaper approach, but not uniformly effective.”
Not in the cookbook
In Celvin’s e-mail, he notes that one of the worst aspects of candida is “the misdiagnosis or superficial treatment by doctors (the brush off) of the problem, with the comment that everybody has some form of it and it should be nothing to lose sleep over.”
Dr. Spreen agrees that most doctors don’t give candida its rightful due. He says that conventional medicine regards the condition as a non-diagnosis. “It doesn’t fit neatly into the cookbook medical categories – ‘curable’ by some single miracle drug – soit doesn’t exist. Many patients end up being told the symptoms are ‘in their head,’ and they really need ‘counseling,’ or some other form of psychiatric treatment. More than once I’ve had a patient literally break down crying when I tell them they are physically, chemically, sick and that it’s not ‘in their head.’
“The problem stems from two things: First, the problem can have a HUGE list of symptoms. Modern medicine doesn’t recognize that a single condition can be responsible for such a wide variety of complaints. Plus, true ‘candidiasis’ is considered only to exist in very rare situations of severe immune compromise, such as AIDS or post-chemotherapy for cancer, etc. So the attitude is: Go get some Prozac, and get out of my office.”
For more information about candida, Dr. Spreen recommends two books on the topic:
- The Yeast Connection: A Medical Breakthrough by William G. Crook
- The Yeast Syndrome: How to Help Your Doctor Identify & Treat the Real Cause of Your Yeast-Related Illness by John P. Trowbridge
Neither book is new, but as Dr. Spreen puts it, “The content is forever.” Both are available on amazon.com.
Source:
“Anti-Depressants May Cause Internal Bleding” Reuters, 5/16/05,reuters.com
