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Medical data is for informational purposes only. You should always consult your family physician, or one of our referral physicians prior to treatment.

Supplement to

The Art of Getting Well

Candidiasis: Scourge of Arthritics

Sources are given in references.

Authors of contributions\quotations are alphabetically arranged;

major author, if any, is underlined.

Raymond Keith Brown, M.D., James P. Carter, M.D., Dr.P.H,

Stephan Cooter,Ph.D., William B. Crook, M.D., Frederic Damrau,

M.D., Paul A. Goldberg, M.P.H., D.C., Barbara W. Higa, R.D., Dr.

Carol Jessup, Benjamin H.S. Lau, M.D., Ph.D., William G. Neely,

D.C., Dr. Henzi Ponzi, Gus J. Prosch, Jr., M.D., Dennis W. Remington,

M.D., Dr. Schmitt, Dr. Schwyzer, John Parks Trowbridge, M.D.,

Orian Truss, M.D./Responsible editor/writer Anthony di Fabio.

for

Eradication of Rheumatoid Disease AKA The Arthritis Trust of America

7376 Walker Road, Fairview, Tn 37062

Permission to publish granted to Townsend Letter for Doctors, 911 Tyler St., Port

Townsend, WA 98368-6541, January 1995, p. 64; permission granted to publish via

internet, m, January 25, 1995, cannot be reproduced except in its entirety with this

Introduction

According to the Candida Research and Information Founda-

tion Newsletter

, "The numbers continue to grow of people of all ages

presenting with what has become an all too familiar set of symptoms

who are told by their doctors to see a psychiatrist, to grow up, to have

an affair, to go get a job, or simply laughed out of the office . . . among

the many stories. . . . there is indeed a problem -- a serious problem .

. . affecting the young and the elderly and all age groups in between."

The article, of course, is speaking of the wide-spread, modern

disease known as Candidiasis and also known as monilia when found

in the mouth.

The fact that arthritics' immunological systems are not working

properly has led medical research, through pharmaceutical compa-

nies, to search for a means of "modulating" the immuological system.

All arthritics do, indeed, have something wrong with their immuno-

logical system, but this is hardly a logical reason for further damaging

it by means of cytotoxic drugs, gold, penicillamine or long-term

corticosteroids. Indeed, this is also not a scientific rationale for

assuming that the cause of Rheumatoid Diseases is because of the

obviously overloaded and weakened immunological system.

Heavy use of antiobiotics will knock out the "good guys"

microflora in our intestinal tracts, and that fact in turn permits

organisms of opportunity, such as the ever-present yeast organism

Candida albicans to take over. The disease that results, Candidiasis,

is not yet recognized by orthodox medical practitioners, but its

symptoms and effects are becoming ever more obvious to all. Whether

or not the only cause for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is Candidias

albicans is not known, but that it is a major cause of the symptomology

can be readily assumed based on improvement that follows when

Candidiasis is treated against. Even less known by established medical

practitioners is that "vaginal candidiasis does not occur naturally

without concomitant of Candida albicans within the large bowel and

that a `cure' is not likely as long as the vagina remains the only

treatment target

." It bears repeating several times: a vaginal yeast

infection is an outward sign of a system-wide invasion.

According to Raymond Keith Brown, M.D., "Candidal infec-

tions, by depressing T

lymphocytes can reverse T

lymphocyte

ratios, independently of the presence of the AIDS virus.

"Candida's presence, normally contained on skin, mucous mem-

branes, or in the bowel, can be compromised by immunodeficient

states usually induced by diabetes, pregnancy, or certain drugs. The

latter include antibiotics, steroids, birth control pills, and chemo-

therapy. Thrush, common in infants before the full development of

their immune systems, is frequent in immunocompromised individu-

als, regardless of their AIDS status.

"Chronic and often undetected, candidal infections are regularly

associated with symptoms linked to every system of the body. Yeast

cells (which are normally harmless and found within the intestinal

tract) can be compromised by antibiotics, acid-base imbalances,

nutritional deficiencies or parasites, so that they lose their protective

cell-walls. Invading and distorting the intestinal wall with mycelia

(root-like projections), they disturb the absorptive capacity of the gut.

Considered part of `the leaky gut syndrome,' they allow multiple

antigens and toxins to enter the blood stream and spread throughout the

body. Food allergies, although seldom diagnosed, are tied to this

aspect of gastrointestinal dysfunction.

"The presence of candida can increase the toxicity of staphylo-

coccal infections by multiples of 100,000, thereby suggesting a strong

association with toxic shock syndrome. The latter, one of the medical

mysteries of the 1970's. . . .

According to James P. Carter, M.D., Dr. P.H, "Iwata in Japan

discovered nearly twenty years ago that Candida species produce

toxins. . . . injecting Candida toxin into mice showed that it caused

immuno-suppression, among other abnormalities. . . In 1977, JAMA

published the results of a study done at Michigan State University on

college students who had recurrent vaginal Candidiasis. The authors

pointed out that it was insufficient to treat only the vaginal infection.

They also recommended changes in diet and lifestyle and suggested

back then (1977), that the infection may have some effects on the

immune system

All arthritics, by virtue of their overloaded and weakened im-

mune system, suffer also from Candidiasis, or "organisms of opportu-

nity" similar to Candidiasis. Arthritics who are presumed to already

have a weakened immune system, and who are obviously suffering

from Candidiasis, certainly don't need another factor to further stress

their immune system!

Candidiasis also creates additional food allergies, over time.

Therefore, in addition to, say, symptoms caused by the disease of

Rheumatoid Arthritis, victims also suffer from Candidiasis and food

allergies, both of which not only add their own disease burdens to the

arthritic, but both of which may also produce additional symptoms that

can mimic those of Arthritis.

As the latter two conditions, Candidiasis and food allergies, often

go unrecognized by traditional practitioners, all symptoms are blamed

on the disease called Rheumatoid Arthritis.

All Arthritics should consider as part of their overall get well

program treatment against Candidiasis.

Candidiasis, a yeast/fungus organism that seems to be every-

where, was first defined (The Missing Diagnosis) as a set of

manifesting symptoms or syndrome by Orian Truss, M.D. of

Birmingham, Al

William B. Crook, M.D. of Jackson, Tennessee popularized

Truss's findings in his book, The Yeast Connection

. Other physicians

have also added to the popularization, such as Morton Walker, D.P.M.