Friend or Foe?

The dilemma of
Candida infection…

No doubt, there are many negative consequences of our today's civilized world: uncertainty, stress, change in our eating habits – decrease in the quality of the foods especially all the additives that go into food products –, all of which contribute to the disruption of our fragile inner balance.

Our body's inner balance is greatly affected by malignant bacteria as well as by good bacteria. Unfortunately, civilization tends to disturb the equilibrium of those useful bacteria that actually keep the malignant bacteria (i.e. Candida) under control not allowing it to extremely proliferate. Thus, the small amount of naturally occurring Candida albicans multiplies to large levels on the mucous membranes.

What is Candida actually?

Candida albicans is one of the most widely occurring fungal species, having multiple subgroups. Also known as thrush, C. albicans turns up as a widespread illicit disease that manifests itself as symptoms of other diseases. Candida finds a place for itself on our mucous membranes soon after we are born and settles down and grows in a favorable area (digestive tract, sides of the genital passages). When regulated, Candida does not give any reason to complain, and can be our "friend", but if it grows to increased amounts of colonies and releases high levels of toxins into our bodies it can cause many unwanted symptoms becoming our "foe". Since they are everywhere in our environment we come in contact with them everyday just by the air we breathe and the food we eat. By throwing off the balance in our system when they proliferate exceedingly they can have many adverse effects on our health.

Who can be infected by Candida?

Contrary to general belief fungal infections do not only affect women (in the form of vaginal infections) but also men and children alike are affected since Candida primarily resides in the intestines. Anyone with a weaker immune system is more susceptible to infection, for example elderly individuals, people with long-lasting illness especially if taking antibiotics for extended periods of time, and also people with a generally weak system. Fungal infection also often occurs in people living with spiritual difficulties, stress, and tension.

External appearance of Candida: formation of dandruff, pealing skin, vaginal discharge, fungoid growth in pubic areas, between toes. In adults a thick white covering of the tongue and in children hyperactivity, frequent stomachaches, cramps, and occurrence of thrush in the mouth cavity.

Symptoms:

Candida can give signs of many different diseases so even for a professional it can be difficult to diagnose. Often the crucial symptoms are missing while in other cases they come out in ways that Candida cannot possibly be deduced. Therefore, the patient is sometimes sent to a different specialist, especially since the most straightforward symptoms are a general sickness with feelings of depression and psychosomatic complaints. The numerous symptoms reflect the effects of the highly toxic materials released by the bacteria:

• being bloated, stomachaches, heartburn, gripes, bad breath, diarrhea or constipation, rectal irritation;
• memory disturbance, sleep disturbance, bad dreams, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, depression, mood swings;
• allergic reactions, food allergies, rashes, itching, eczema;
• vision disturbances (blurry or double vision);
• inflammation of the upper respiratory tract;
• bladder inflammation, prostate inflammation, vaginal discharge, ovarian cysts, after chronic gynecological problems even infertility can emerge.

Determination of Candida:

There are many ways to determine the presence of Candida, but because it is a large part of the intestinal flora, the test will come up positive for anyone whether they show symptoms of disease or not. The presence of Candida can be proven from different tissue samples, mucous membranes, bodily fluids, and even fecal matter. The most dependable is the presence of antibodies to Candida in blood plasma. There is still a possibility of getting a negative test result even though there is an infection. This can occur in the case when a person's immune system is so weak it cannot produce effective amounts of antibodies anymore.

Candidiasis treatment:

Specialists suggest many different treatments for fungal infections but here I will avoid advertising any products, just describe the governing principles of treatment as follows:

• the first objective is to strengthen the immune system, for which fortunately there are many methods available;
• to reestablish the balance of the intestinal flora consume intestinal bacterial products;
• to decrease the concentration of toxins in the body drink cleansing and detoxing teas and take products serving the same purpose;
• to kill off the bacterial colonies consume anti-fungal products;
• great self-discipline is needed for the most important treatment: a strict diet, the goal of which is to withdraw the necessary materials for growth of the bacteria by decreasing the acidification of the body.

Experiences:

Based on my nearly twenty years of experience in treating candidiasis let me write now only about the concerns affecting family planning and gynecological issues. With chronic gynecological problems the risk of sterility is greatly increased. In a case where all tests of fertility in a woman as well as in the man come back negative and everything seems normal, it is necessary to think of a possibility of candidiasis. Studies have shown that Candida can cause disturbances in the endocrine system affecting the normal patterns of hormones, but in itself an abnormal decrease of progesterone can cause Candida colonies to reproduce in the vaginal mucous membranes (although this has not yet been solidified by scientific studies). In a constant inflammatory state in the pelvis, injury to the lining of the uterus can result in the hindrance of conception and implantation. Furthermore, Candida can cause functional disorders in the ovaries and can even provoke the development of cysts.

There have been 94 women with complaints of infertilility who were treated for candidiasis and the balance in their ovaries was reestablished; of these women 73 have been blessed with a child, and the 74 th woman is in the 13 th week of pregnancy at the time of the writing of this article.