What Does Science Say About Candida Albicans?

During the 1990s, a wide variety of research became available on Candida albicans. Here are some of the summaries:

• Researchers from the University of Virginia and from Belgium found that anti-fungal programs helped some of their patients with intrinsic asthma (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 93 (1:161-162) Jan. 1994).
  
  
• University of Tennessee researchers reported that patients with psoriasis responded favorably to anti-fungal programs. (Acta Derm Venerol, Stockholm. 1994: Suppl. 186:149-150).
  
  
• William Shaw, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Missouri Kansas City found fungal metabolites in the urine of individuals with autism (Clinical Chem. 41/8, 10/94-11/94, 1995). Following anti-fungal treatments, the abnormalities improved and the children's symptoms decreased, often dramatically. In his continued studies in 1996-97, Shaw found similar fungal metabolites in the urine of other individuals with yeast-related disorders, including children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).
  
  
• Two Boston psychiatrists reported on the favorable response of two of their female patients with chronic depression to anti-fungal programs. (Letter to the Editor, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry Vol. 57-5, pp. 227-228, May 1996).
  
  
• R. Scott Heath, MD, a Cincinnati neurologist, treated eight patients with multiple sclerosis with anti-fungal drugs and diet. Although their response was not dramatic, Heath labeled them "encouraging."
  
  
• Two women with interstitial cystitis (IC) showed significant improvement when treated with anti-fungal medication and dietary changes. Because of their response, Philip Mosbaugh, an Indianapolis urologist, began a study in May 1997 on 15 women with IC. Although the study has not been completed, according to reports, a large majority of the women have improved.
  
  
• Beginning in 1993, two Colorado professionals (Susanna Choi, MD, a board certified gynecologist, and Kathy Gibbons, PhD) observed that many of their patients with PMS improved significantly on a treatment program which featured dietary changes and oral anti-fungal medication. During the past two years these professionals noted that women with severe fatigue, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and other symptoms often respond to dietary changes and oral anti-fungal medications.
  
  
• In 1996 the Endometriosis Association described the relationship of Candida albicans and endometriosis in their newsletter. Here is a brief excerpt: "No other approach to endometriosis has given as consistent, long-term, positive results as the treatment for Candida albicans / allergy / infection and its related problems." (Endometriosis Association, 8585 N. 76th Place, Milwaukee, WI, 53223). According to a recent report, some women with endometriosis show an allergic reaction to Candida albicans and are "in need of treatment that includes...anti-fungal drugs and proper diet." (Current Approaches to Endometriosis, Patient Care, Jan. 15, 1997, pp.34-38).
  
  
• In a February 1997 scientific article, investigators from Finland reported that a number of their patients with eczema improved following therapy with probiotics.