Thursday 28 September 2017

Candidiasis and Sjogren's

Two things that really piss me off and work my nerves: lazy people that send corporate emails signing only with their first name's initial (guys, honestly, C can be both for Charlie as for Cu... Cummings, so how do you prefer to be called?), and Candidiasis. Yeah, you read right, Candidiasis.  For those less alert Candidiasis has been with us humans for a long time now, and it is dead annoying.

Be it in the shape of an oral thrush, vaginal thrush or the typical Athlete's foot, these fungal infections manifested by the overwhelming presence of the organism Candida albicans, is a resilient sucking microorganism. This fungus does not have segregationist issues, it just goes for anyone and everybody as you see in the accompanying picture. Baby bottoms, men's toenails, woman's vaginal canal, mouths, feet, knees, tongues, it just predates from everywhere if it is given the chance.

Like Interstellar so well portraits in the big screen, one day our beautiful world as a result of our incredible selfishness and stupidity will allow these hyper-collaborative hyphae to forage and eliminate everything as it passes through.

For those affected with certain autoimmune issues, like Sjogren's syndrome patients, candidiasis is a daily battle and one that usually the organism just rubs off their shoulders. Easy-peasy, they win, no biggie!

If you read the fantastic 1980's article by Jones et al [1], you immediately understand that the prevalence of Candida albicans in the intraoral moiety in Sjogren's syndrome is not a joke. Even though the sample population is short I can assure you that it is so significant that it can be almost immediately extrapolated further. 

Because Sjogren's syndrome is marked by a connective tissue disorder, the establishment of Candida albicans associated to low salivary pools (no mechanical flush of the fungus) and the absence of secretory immunoglobulin IgA (the major antibody present in saliva) provides the appropriate environment for proliferation. Jones et al observed that in comparison to healthy controls the ratio of infection density could reach to more than 4-fold higher in areas such as the anterior and posterior tongue, floor of mouth, right cheek, anterior palate, upper denture, right commisure, lower denture, anterior labial sulcus, posterior palate and left commisure.

Add all that to the fact that this fungus is azole-resistant, meaning that antifungal resistance for them is a joke, they 'thrive' on it! Affected individuals have then to resort to domestic remedies because the pharmaceutical weaponry is not making it for them. Some resort to diets rich in apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, cruciferous, ginger, etc etc etc... and remove sugar all together. That arrests the growth of the fungus. Some apply peeled onion to the affected areas which personally I can assume it relieves the hitching for a few days, but does not erase the problem. What can actually reduce the prevalence of Candida albicans is a strict rigid responsible and disciplined attitude where all the bad foods become prohibited and the good ones are for compulsory ingestion. 

Because I don't like to get my hands on stuff that is already excellent, quality-wise, I am not going to write down what you have to do, other people have done it already in the shape of a book I just bought. But I'll tell you where you can find a source of information that will definitely help you in this process - The Candida Diet [2].

Good luck and let me know if you made it. I'm definitely going to try it out. Now, I gotta go scratch my toe :P

[1] Tapper-Jones, L., Aldred, M., Walker, D. M. (1980). "Prevalence and intraoral distribution of Candida albicans in Sjogren's syndrome". Journal of Clinical Pathology, 33, pp. 282-287.

[2] 10 foods that will fight your Candida, The Candida Diet, [https://www.thecandidadiet.com/candida-fighting-foods/], last visited on the 28th September 2017, last update unknown. 

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