confusion with ME MS and Candida

So MS gets confused with ME and ME gets confused with Candida

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Thursday, 31 March 2011

ME and Candida (interesting)

This article was written by Medical Herbalist Jo Dunbar who specialises in treating M.E. and Candida. It was first published by Theresa Coe in the Action for M.E. magazine InterAction (Issue 53, August 2005). She is also the Author of “How to cope successfully with Candida” (Wellhouse Publishing), available from Health Food Shops and Lloyds Chemists, or from Botanica Medica herbal clinic and shop, which is owned and run by Jo. She can be contacted via the Botanica Medica website www.botanicamedica.co.uk, or by telephoning 01372 470990.

Introduction

There lies between M.E. and Candida a definite but sometimes confusing association. Many of the symptoms of Candida overgrowth are alarmingly similar to M.E., and may include long-term debilitating fatigue, headaches, food intolerances or an irregular bowel habit, joint and muscle pain, and brain fog. Other common symptoms which are much more specific to Candida include hormonal symptoms such as severe Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), mood swings (especially depression), pain behind the breast bone, intolerance to strong odours, dandruff, athletes foot, visual disturbances, oral or genital thrush, an itchy anus and a feeling of bloating or flatulence. I do not believe that everyone with M.E. has a Candida problem, but I think it’s an issue for a significant proportion – particularly people who also have food intolerances, bloating, thrush, or an itchy anus. Candida is a yeast which naturally lives in the human intestine, but under certain conditions the normally small Candida population can explode with serious consequences to health. From my experience, I would suggest that a Candida overgrowth may result from the immune breakdown in M.E., especially if the sufferer relies on sugar as an energy source (which ‘feeds’ the yeast) and/or coffee, which stimulates the release of blood sugars. However, although Candida alone doesn’t cause M.E., it mimics the symptoms so closely that distinguishing between the two can sometimes be difficult . Whereas the cause of M.E. still escapes us, the causes of Candida problems are much clearer, which happily makes it easier to treat. Once it has been established that there is a Candida overgrowth, I usually set about treating the Candida, which then leaves a clearer clinical picture regarding what is need to treat M.E.

What Causes Candida?

It often surprises people to find out that Candida lives in our gut naturally, alongside other microscopic bowel flora, without causing us any harm. It may even have the beneficial effect of helping to remove excess heavy metal toxins from our bodies. However, there are certain conditions which allow the yeast organisms to explode very quickly from a normally small population group into an enormous domineering fungal overgrowth. If you have ever seen fruit ferment into wine or bread rise, you get the picture of how quickly yeast can grow, given the right environment. Once this happens, the yeast can actually change shape from a small non-invasive organism into its aggressive and invasive fungal form which develops root-like structures called mycelia, more of which later. In my experience, the five major causes of Candida overgrowth include: 1) Depletion of the gut’s friendly bacteria, sometimes caused by long-term antibiotic treatment or gastric infection 2) A breakdown in the immune system, as in the case of M.E., chemotherapy or HIV 3) Excess female hormones for example, as a result of multiple pregnancies, HRT, the Pill, during a pre-menstruation phase or the menopause 4) High blood sugar levels caused either by a high sugar diet, stress or diabetes 5) Drug therapy – mainly antibiotics, steroids, hormone therapies, or immuno-suppressive drugs

How Does It Affect The Body?

Once the yeast has changed into its aggressive fungal form, it penetrates the gut lining by secreting inflammatory chemicals which weaken the wall and allow the mycelia to pierce it, leading to a ‘leaky gut’. The leaky gut is like a hosepipe with large holes in it. Normally the intestine breaks the food down into tiny particles which are then transported through little gateways in the gut wall into the bloodstream. However the leaky gut allows larger, undigested food particles to enter the blood stream. If the immune system doesn’t recognise these undigested food particles and assumes that they are a ‘foreign invader’, it immediately sets about forming anti-bodies to these foods, thus creating symptoms of food intolerance. Because the immune system is so busy fighting these food intolerances, it becomes hyper-reactive and disrupted. This alone can account for fatigue, allergic-type symptoms such as sinusitis or asthma, and brain-fog. Furthermore, Candida is known to secrete toxins called mycotoxins, which can suppress the immune system further, as well as causing liver toxicity, headaches, and muscle pain. Once Candida has entered the blood stream, antibodies from the immune system combine with it to form antigen-antibody complexes, which when deposited in the joints, lungs or brain result in joint pain, asthma, depression and hormonal disruption. Candida, being a yeast, thrives on dark, warm, wet and sugary environments. People with an overgrowth often have intense sugar cravings - this is the yeast demanding to be fed. In the warm moist gut, it ferments the sugars to produce symptoms such as flatulence and bloating, while the inflammatory chemicals released result in poor digestion and absorption, having the knock-on effect of further depleting the body as the sufferer is unable to benefit from nutritional nourishment.