Mycosis
Vergleich: Siehe: Darm + Fungi + Krankheiten
[Karl-Reinhard Kummer]
Intestinal Mycosis - An Attempt at Clarification - Original title: Zur intestinalen Mykose - Versuch einer Klaerung. Der Merkurstab 1998; 51: 65-73
Abstract
The multifarious symptomatology of intestinal mycosis is given
consideration in natural medicine, though it is not yet possible to say if it
is a primary or secondary disorder. There are indications that the presence of
Candida albicans in the intestinal flora may play a central role in atopic
diseases, psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis. Many authors militate against
calling it pathogenic in this situation, but critics of the syndrome still lack
important basic information. Further investigations, especially of the human
intestinal flora, will be required.
Fungi show tremendous variety in growth and biological characteristics.
By nature they and the diseases associated with them reside in a cool and humid
environment. Retarded life forms, they cause retardation in human metabolism
and above all in the human warmth organism. They exist where the human being is
unable to give his I-organization and above all his warmth and light organism
adequate structure in the lower human being. Treatment should therefore aim to
strengthen I-activity in the organism and especially in the intestines.
Different approaches to the treatment of fungal disease are considered in the
light of anthroposophical physiology.
The topical debate
In recent years, a number of authors have referred to intestinal Candida
mycosis as a distinct syndrome. Hauss and Hauss, Dumrese and Ehrhardt-Schmelzer,
Nolting (5,10,29) and other authors list a whole range of symptoms -
alternating diarrhea, flatus, lowered resistance to infection, asthma, eczema,
neurodermatitis and psychological symptoms such as lack of drive, depres sion.
Generally speaking Candida albicans is said to be the main culprit.
Can Candida in the intestinal flora be ignored?
Many authors hold the view that the presence of Candida in the
intestines of healthy subjects proves that Candida is part of the physiologic
intestinal flora. A basic problem is that they do not define "health or
indeed consider its nature. Dumrese and Ehrhardt-Schmelzer did at least
establish that more than 50% of subjects shown to have Candida albicans in
their stools did not feel well.
The number of organisms in the stool correlated with the IgG titer for
Candida albicans. It will clearly be necessary to give more thought to the
definition of health.
Others consider the presence of Candida albicans in the intestines to be
a secondary phenomenon when the intestinal milieu is abnormal, e.g. in a case
of food intolerance. Many authors refer to the role
of intestinal candidiasis in neurodermatitis and urticaria. Others only
accept infection with a confirmed physiologic correlate as pathological
candidiasis. The absence of confirmed infection parameters
does not, however, permit the conclusion that Candida in the intestinal
flora is of no significance. Low-grade infections may exist, especially as
intestinal mycosis is often symptomless. Some patients actually only realize
that they had not been well before once they have been treated. Some authors
assume that the absence of inflammatory changes is actually a characteristic of
the syndrome. We thus also have to ask how "healthy" individuals with
Candida in their flora will feel in a few years' time.
Is Candida albicans a physiologic part of the intestinal flora?
Some authors maintain that Candida albicans is part of the physiologic
intestinal flora. Male disputes this, despite the fact that he takes a critical
view of the so-called "Candida syndrome" or of it being taken to
extremes. In his view, intestinal fungi were much more uncommon before
antibiotics came in, and also in primitive peoples. He also speaks of the role
played by excess nutrition, especially for infants given formulas instead of
mother's milk. Candida is not part of the primary flora developing in the
intestines of the newborn. Most authors who consider intestinal Candida mycosis
to be
patholog ical believe there to be a connection with a disorder of
intestinal homeostasis. Only yeasts and Bifidum bacteria remain when
antibiotics reduce the normal bacterial flora. Proliferation of yeasts in the
intestine may cause vitamins to be withdrawn. No evidence has thus been brought
that Candida albicans is physiologic in the intestine.
The pathogenic Candida factors causing infection are well known -
adherence, development of mycelia which may be invasive, enzyme production. It
is not clear, however, when and why saprophytic growth becomes pathologic. The secretory
activity of immunoglobulin A, acting as a mediator between mucosal cells and
the inner intestine, is inhibited. It has now been shown that Saccharomyces
boulardii yeast can be taken up into the intestine like particles derived from
lifeless nature. The situation may be ex- pected to be similar with pathogenic
yeasts. Authors agree that fungal infections
indicate an area of least resistance in the host. It is also known that small
amounts of alcohols are produced in cases of intestinal Candida mycosis.
Treatment of intestinal Candida reduces the blood alcohol levels, which are low
in any case.
How reliable is current knowledge?
Investigation of the intestinal micro ecology presents considerable
methodological problems. This especially applies also to the anaerobic
organisms that make up the greater part of the intestinal flora. According to
Sonnenbom and Greinwald, a complete analysis of a single individual's
intestinal flora done at a specialist institute would take a year! Positive
tests for Candida in serum, stools or biopsy material do not correlate with
identifiable pathologic conditions,(28) which makes it difficult to evaluate
the results. It is also difficult to establish in which part of the intestine
the yeasts are growing.
Not much is known about possible symbiosis of yeasts and the human
intestinal mucosa. More data are available on therapeutic exhibition of
Saccharomyces boulardii. Gibson, Savage, Sonnenbom and Greinwald report on
treatment with probiotics.
The clinical relevance of a shift in intestinal organisms is discussed
by Chapoy and by Sonnenbom and Greinwald, for example. Abnormalities in the
intestinal flora may even induce premature births.
This does, however, require fuller investigation. Lack of knowledge is
confirmed by Gibson, Stremmel and by Wedding et al. Stremmel does refer to the
many in- vestigations stored under "Candida" in databanks, but not on
intestinal mycosis. The Medline Databank has no record of work on mycotoxins
and on alcohol production by Candida or yeasts in humans for the years
1991-1996. Thus the effect of yeasts on the mucosal surfaces of the intestine
or of enzymes secreted into the intestinal lumen is not yet known.
There appears to be particular ignorance in the German-speaking areas.
Barnert and Wienbeck make no reference to the possibility of dysbacterial
conditions in their review, though its effect appears to
have been established.
When is treatment required?
Basically, evidence of yeasts in the intestine or stools does not call
for treatment. In children in particular this may be a passing phenomenon.
Minor infections may quite often be followed by short-term fungal growth in the
intestine and this is spontaneously reversible. With food allergies an elimina-
tion diet often reduces even massive yeast levels.
In the view of those who consider intestinal mycosis to be a definite
syndrome, it involves chronic changes that are difficult to detect. One thus
gets a varied picture of absent or mild symptoms and is not sure whether to
treat them or not. As fungi tend to be parasitic or saprophytic, their
existence goes largely unnoticed. In this respect, too, they behave differently
from pathogenic bacteria which as a rule evoke inflammatory defense reactions.
Asymptomatic bacteriuria is thus the exception, lack of symptoms with
intestinal mycosis the rule.
Many people say after successful treatment that they feel a great deal
better. Unidentifiable abdominal problems with fungi found in stool cultures
may be an indication for ex iuvantibus treatment.
It has to be considered that the detection of fungi in stool smears may
also give falsely negative results.
Unless we have a concept of "health", with criteria for
"well" or "ill", we can only have opinions. The essential
nature of the human being has to be considered as a whole, including soul and
spirit, to know if one is dealing with states of health or illness.
The nature of fungi
Simonis has giving a loving botanical description of the fungi as seen
by a physician. He calls them retarded life forms that still have an echo of
the ancient Saturn period of human and earth evolution and have been unable to
relate to the more recent development of the Sun period. In terms of earth
evolution they may be considered to belong to the Moon period of earth
evolution known as Lemuria. Schoeffler on the other hand considers above all
the points of view and way of thinking that have led to the use of antibiotics.
Variety and adaptability
The systematics of fungi cover many categories. Those that play a role
in medicine are epidermophytes (Microsporum, Trichophyton), molds (Mucor,
Fusarium, cephalospores, Aspergillus, penicillin, cladospores and alternaria),
yeasts (blastomycetes) such as Candida, Cryptococcus, Saccharomyces,
Trichosporum, Geotrichum, dimorph fungi (Blastomyces, Histoplasma,
Coccidioides, Sporothrix), etc. About 180 species have been found to be
potentially pathogenic to humans.
Steiner and Simonis referred to fungi as life forms living in the Moon
region of the earth. They originate in the element of warmth, like pollen, but
then go into the sphere of decay as saprophytes.
Their fruiting bodies face the soil and not the light as in higher
plants. Rudolf Steiner spoke of the way algae and fungi strongly absorb the
astrality of an environment.
Fungi may really be considered to be unicellular. They are eukaryotic
and without chlorophyll and therefore have to depend on nutrients in organic
matter as a source of energy. On the other hand they are also capable of living
under exclusion of light. Fungi can specialize and elongate, sprout and produce
hyphae. These may form networks called mycelia. Deriving from a single cell
these are called thalli, and if loosely structured colonies. Fungi are able to
bud or grow spores to produce conidia, some of them mobile. The spores may be
sexual or asexual. Some produce hyphae which then produce mushrooms, as they
are commonly called (boletus, fly agaric). The spores are shed in autumn,
similar to the pollen of flowering plants.
Fungal spore allergy in autumn is the counter image in time of the
seasonal pollen allergy in spring.
Fungi do not produce fruit in the proper sense. Their fruiting element
are the asexual spores, as in Aspergillus. Sexual reproduction of spores
involves reproduction from the thallus itself with the aid of sexual mechanisms
and heterosexual reproduction from different kinds of genetic material. There
are fungi where such structures are not known, and also parasexual exchanges
between different fungi.
Like fly agaric, many fungi produce surface pigments to face the light.
Their actual growth sphere is colorless, however. In this they differ
fundamentally from many higher plants, especially those producing pigments in
the root. We might go so far as to say that fungi do the opposite of higher
plants when it comes to color. A rose producing red in its leaves seeks to fend
off astralization.
In pigment-producing fungi, however, the color is part of the astrality
they seek to absorb (toadstools and mushrooms). ‡ Steiner
referred to diphtheria as fungus-like and suggested treating it with cinnabar
red, saying that this would tie up the astral body more closely with the ether
body. The same applies to medicines made from fly agaric. ‡
In many respects fungi hold a half-way position in nature. Their
skeletal matter is the chitin of insects (not in the case of yeasts, however).
In their great variety, the alternation of spore, resting stage and shoot form
they are close to the algae. ‡ Steiner stressed this: "... and so
everything that is fungal by nature has a close relationship with the lower
animal world, bacteria and similar creatures, and particularly with harmful
parasites."(49) Fungi may thus be said to be a kind of chameleon in lower
nature, adapting to any given situation. ‡
Fungi and temperatures
Fungi grow at widely differing temperatures. In the human body they
thrive at 37° C but especially also at lower temperatures. They are at home in a
cool, dark space. But they do not shun humid warmth either. Some specialists
among them thrive at quite high environmental temperatures. Spores in
particular may be extremely heat resistant whilst they also tolerate very cold
temperatures, retaining their germinative power for a long time.
Fungi live in a sphere of warmth that is as yet undifferentiated and in
an excess of organic matter. Harking back to earlier stages of earth evolution
they have a relationship to the ancient nitrogen and cyanide atmosphere. They
do not as a rule generate heat energy in their quite considerable metabolic
processes but consume it. They will thus often maintain cool. Bacterial
processes on the other hand
tend to generate heat, as in the spontaneous ignition of hay. Fungi often
produce gases and relate more to the watery and airy rather than the heat
element. This preference for the watery and airy elements may be the reason why
they preferably attack the lungs and intestines in human infections.
Symbiotic union of fungi and the roots of plants produce mycorrhiza, a
borderline region between organically structured plant matter and the
completely lifeless mineral soil. Such mediation between plant and soil
prefigures life, providing excess nitrogen is present.
Substances produced in the mycorrhiza have a deadening effect on the
surrounding area. Substances from bacteria inhibit fungal growth and vice versa
(e.g. griseofulvin from penicillin). Most modern antibiotics derive largely
from fungi, or were originally derived from their substances. Rimpler et al.
thus also refer to tumor-active substances in fungi. Steiner's above- mentioned
comments may be taken as a spiritual scientific pointer to possible antibiotic
actions; which is what Simonis thought. Nystatin (Nystatinum verkäuflich in C
Potenzen bei remedia.at) has however been isolated from Streptomyces strains
capable of producing both antibacterial and antimycotic substances. Toxin
production thus seems to be a characteristic of the whole group of fungi, and
this no doubt also includes Candida. Nothing of any account has however been
published
on Candida toxins in recent years.
Relationship to light
Whilst bacteria relate more to warmth, algae differ from fungi in that
they show a definite orientation towards light. With their chlorophyll they
draw the light down into the water, using it to produce matter in
photosynthesis. Binding of iodine by algae also relates to the light.
Fungi do not have these important faculties, being unable to open up to
light. They actually prefer the lightless sphere of humus and the roots of
higher plants and thrive best under light exclusion. It is only occasionally
that they send the fruiting bodies we know as mushrooms and toadstools up into
the air from the damp rotting soil. This would seem to be to seek the air,
however, rather than the light, so that their spores may spread.
The basic shape of fungi, the spore, is spherical. We thus have a plant
in the plant world that consists entirely in a kind of head. Fungi do not
develop the leaf sphere which is so much the essence of plant nature. They therefore
also do not relate to the rhythmic processes connected with leaf development.
Instead they produce a "flower" at ground level, as Steiner put it,
also saying that their development is peculiarly astralized. This would explain
why they do not relate to the human intestinal system, which is based on plant
leaf-type principles, but may become pathogenic in it, similar to the lung.
Steiner also spoke of the soil itself being the basis for fungal life,
with fungi not rising above its sphere. It is different with trees. The powers
of the earth make them grow beyond the soil, taking them up into the light.
Fungal metabolism thus also relates little to light, unlike that of intestinal
bacteria.
Putrefactive bacteria convert matter into bound heat and light energy in
their high-energy metabolism. Their heat and light processes integrate in the
organism. This is not the case with parasitic fungi.
They generally use only partial stages of metabolism, leaving the rest
to putrefaction. Their metabolism thus does not submit to the principles that
guide the human organism, which relates strongly to light.
Relationship to matter
Fungi play an important role in dealing with dying matter in the soil.
They show a preference for residues from living organisms that contain
nitrogen, and thus facilitate nitrogen metabolism for plants. Fungi also
contribute a great deal to carbon conversion in the world.
Their capacity for converting large amounts of substrate makes them an
ideal means of conducting metabolic processes in an industrial context. They
also have the advantage that they do not on the whole bring about complete
lysis but perform only part stages. Another important advantage is that they
finally yield the original substance again, either as a substrate or as a gas such
as CO2. Bacterial metabolism on the other hand not only converts matter to heat
energy, as mentioned above, but this energy is often converted to high energy
matter and stored in the bacterium. Fungi thus are selfless in their
metabolism, releasing the substance they have been processing. On the other
hand they are also toxic, releasing their metabolic products unprotected into
the environment.
Large scale industrial utilization of fungi started in the late 1920s.
Citric acid is almost exclusively produced with the aid of fungi, annual
production being more than 100,000 tons. There is unlikely to
be any field in the food and chemical industries where fungi do not play
a major role. The numerous enzymatic processes used in the food industry also
imitate fungal metabolism.
R.S. characterized their growth, with degradation, decomposition and
excess of matter as dying life. Compared to bacteria, fungi appear to take the
degradation of matter only to a certain level.
Thus fermentation, a self-limiting process with a relatively low energy
yield, is one of their characteristics. They limit their activity in the
conversion of matter, letting others take the process to completion.
Constructive metabolism is taken care of by plants in the soil and by
intestinal bacteria in the human intestine, in either case with the aid of
light processes. It may be assumed that the attachment to dying processes seen
in fungi means that humans suffering from mycosis are confronted with increased
levels of toxic decomposition products.
This behavior towards matter, with retardation of a whole digestive
process in favor of part processes, concerns an aspect of fungal pathology that
has so far been given little attention. Fungi prevent the complete digestion
necessary for the human organism. Humans need to convert all matter into a form
that is their own. "Anything taken in from outside (into the human
organism, author) must either merely be something that enables it to develop
its own activity; or it has to act in such a way in the body that the foreign
activity does not differ from one of the body's own inner activities once it
has
entered into the body." Fungi not only remain parasitic foreign
bodies in man but also provide their host with a parasitic metabolism, at least
in the intestine.
It has long been known that fungi grow more actively in sugar solutions.
Vaginal mycosis thus develops quite often during pregnancy with its tendency
towards pre-diabetes. This still calls for more large-scale studies. It seems
that one-sided excess of matter with high-level sugar consumption favors fungal
growth.
Ways of gaining insight into intestinal fungal growth in the light of
the anthroposophical view of man
Behavior of I-organization and astral body
As one would expect, medical nomenclature tends to obscure the situation
rather than clarify it. It is difficult to know if a fungus is "just
there" (com mensal), on the borderline to being pathogenic
("mutualist"), takes away important nutrients ("parasite")
or is directly pathogenic by producing toxins or by means of invasive
infection.
The basic process we find in humans with intestinal mycosis has to do
with conditions Steiner described under the heading of neurasthenia.
Pathological processes may develop if the upper and lower activities in the
human organization are not sufficiently in accord with each other, with the
upper not intervening adequately in the lower, and head processes staying among
themselves. The digestion is weak as a result, unable to assimilate foreign
food matter adequately. The individual's attention is too much on the outside
world, allowing foreign processes to enter to excess and meeting this with an
excessive secondary reaction. These processes, which one also sees with
allergies, were described by R.S.
Weakness of definition may also be due to the opposite condition, which
is the kind of hypersensitivity one sees with hysteria. Metabolism makes itself
independent, and wounds may be caused. n example of the overweening metabolic
activity described by Steiner(48) would be candidal diaper rash of short
duration when infants are teething. It generally ends when the teeth erupt.
Relationship to allergy
Allergies arise because foreign processes are not properly perceived. One
often sees food allergies in conjunction with intestinal mycosis. The
intolerance often only shows itself with a careful elimination and
re-exposition diet. The human being is not able to register the foreign nature
of the food nor the foreign fungal flora. In the author's experience people
allergic to milk protein, hen's egg white, almond and soya tend to attract
Candida rather than other yeasts. These are often people with an overweening
metabolism who are more inclined towards hysterical disorders. People in whose
stools Aspergillus has been detected will often show a neurasthenic component
and have cereal grain allergies.
Fungal infection might be seen as a barometer indicating that the
I-organization is not intervening adequately in the organism. Humans differ
from animals in that foods must be thoroughly killed off
and then built up again in a completely individual way. With both
allergy and intestinal mycosis we may assume that the origin lies in a
neurasthenic constitution. Metabolic predominance and hysterical wounding are
then secondary phenomena. It seems likely that such foreign processes also
appear temporarily in the course of acute diseases that weaken the constitution
as a whole.
It is possible that fungi with their foreign substance are in themselves
an allergen. It may also be possible that their presence "triggers"
the actions of other allergens.16 Some patients with neurodermatitis do not
improve with diet and constitutional treatment but only when their intestinal
mycosis has been dealt with.
Fungal growth in the intestine has its own dynamics. The I or the
I-organization cannot integrate them into its own growth principles. The result
is that an area in the organism which is not under control is occupied by other
life forms with foreign activity. In connection with the "bacillus
theory", Steiner repeatedly said that it was the soil which mattered and
not the bacillus. Fungi also work against the
I-organization in another respect. They produce alcohols from higher
fatty acids. These not only cause destruc- tion and toxic effects but also make
people sleepy, weakening the human I-organization.
The activities of the I depend on warmth and light. Abnormal fat
absorption may cause too much or too little fat to enter the organism. In the
first case one gets pathological heat foci, in the second, malnutrition. Post's
thermography shows intestinal areas subject to mycotic changes to be colder,
possibly because the fungi act against the warmth organization. This would be
another possible explanation of their negative effect on immune defences.
Aspects relating to the treatment of intestinal mycosis
The main aim of treatment based on the anthroposophical view of the
human being must be to give the I or I-organization and the astral body better
access to the lower human being and intestine.
Actual treatment of the mycosis is of secondary importance. The
suggestions made below can, in the author's view, only be general. Treatment
has to be individual to each patient. An attempt will also
be made to consider the treatments suggested in the literature and find
the rationale for their actions in the light of anthroposophical physiology.
Eurythmy therapy
The main aim of this is to support the I-organization in its actions in
the body. This calls for general treatment to promote health in soul and
spirit, to support the human being in his activity. Steiner had a great deal to
say about the digestion, devoting the whole of the 4th lecture in the eurythmy
therapy course to it. Eurythmy therapy is therefore the method that does most
to strengthen the I-organization, for it directly addresses the activity of the
human individual.
Nutrition
Many authors refer to the importance of the diet. The negative effect of
refined sugar is stressed by all. This is understandable, for the preparation
of sugar is one of the central functions of the
I-organization. Taking too much refined and processed sugar, one
relieves the I-organization of its function and thus weakens it.
A special diet always addresses a person's will. Steiner thus also spoke
of the helpfulness of a diet chosen of one's own free will and of the way
activity is reduced by a diet taken in a purely passive way. Many of the diets
suggested in the lay press unfortunately ask people to follow the advice of others
blindly. One also suspects that some have no proper foundation. Thus it is
difficult to see how a fungus can be "starved out". The opposite
view, that a low-sugar diet to "starve it out" would give the fungus
an extra appetite for the intestinal wall, is equally difficult to understand.
Many of the measures recommended in the literature weaken patients rather than
strengthening them. Special diets are always "asocial" and
egotistical by nature, as Steiner made very clear.
They should therefore only be of limited duration.
A sudden change to a wholegrain diet which is difficult to digest may
also prove harmful. High proportions of roughage containing cellulose may
induce fermentation with negative consequences.
The foods we eat relate to some degree to our organs. Foods that
influence the liver, such as artichoke, are therefore recommended. A root diet
with its mineral content strengthens the astral head powers
in the upper human being, with the result that he no longer has to be
active in metabolism. Lactic fermentation products such as sauerkraut or yogurt
strengthen the astral body.
Strengthening the I-organization medically
Medicines based on quartz or silica serve this purpose. According to
Steiner, "silica is the external correlate, outward directed activity for
the I-organization" or "the physical basis for the
I-rganization." Treatment with Cichorium also comes under this heading,
for instance as Cichorium/ Pancreas comp. pilules (Wala).
Stibium supports delimiting processes in the intestine, also if the
basic problem is an allergy, Antimonite 6x trit. (Weleda) being an example.
Kalium aceticum compositum dil. (Weleda) or Plumbum 1x/Stannum 14x trit.
(Weleda) facilitates I-organization intervention or its delimiting function.
Finally all mercury preparations help the mercurial process in which the
I-organization is active in the small intestine. Respiratory function in the
lower human being can be encouraged with an iron silicate preparation, e.g.
nontronite 12x trit. (Weleda). Treatment with roots containing pigments or
extracts of these would also go in this direction - carrot juice, beetroot,
aloes.
Phosphorus and sulfur based medicines to strengthen the lower abdomen
The relationship between phosphorous flowering processes and the lower
abdominal organs was shown by Steiner. All medicines based on flowering plants
have this effect, wormwood for example, with the flowering green part of the
plant used (Absinthium 1x dil., Weleda). Treatment with Aloe (1x dil., Weleda),
Resina Laricis 1x dil. (Weleda), propolis extract, evening prim- rose oil
(Epogam(R), Gammocur or similar), borage oil, garlic (Allium sativum 1x dil.,
Weleda) or onion (Allium cepa 1x dil., Weleda) or Myrrhinil intest, a
preparation based on chamomile flowers, birch charcoal and myrrh. Fern and
bracken spores, e.g. in Digestodoron (Weleda) or Aquilinum comp. pilules
(Wala), have the sulfurous character of the spores as their active principle.
Steiner referred to their action as strengthening the catabolic principles in
the digestive tract.
The effect pigments have on the astral body is also an important aspect
of diet - beetroot, carrots, roots, leaf vegetables. The common aspect to this
treatment is that the powers of light are enhanced in the intestine.
Suggested treatments for intestinal mycosis thus resemble those for
warts or worms, where the weakness of the astral body towards external
influences is increased. Thuja is also used for this.
The phosphorus process exists also in the antimycotics used in conven-
tional medicine. These contain either pigments such as gentian violet with its
surface action, or they may be regarded as pigments, azoles, for instance
(micononazole, ketokonazole, fluconazole), or may be chemically converted to
pigments. Tonoftal is not a pigment but a high-energy substance. As their
action is purely physical, the effect often lasts only for as long as they are
given. Etheric activity has to take over. If this does not happen, or we do not
aim to make it happen with treatment, the danger of resistance developing is
great also with fungi, though this was not considered possible in the past.
Instead of giving chemical antimycotics one may also try relatively high
vitamin C doses, ½ tsp t.i.d., starting low and gradually going up to this.
Sandthom77 (sea buckthorn) original or "low sugar" elixir (Weleda)
have a similar effect.
Insufflation of ozone into the intestine is another sulfurous type of
treatment. About 200 ml are produced using a generator and insufflated into the
rectum using a syringe and catheter. The ozone is bound to break down pretty
quickly at body temperature, and its effect as a substance probably does not go
beyond the sigmoid, yet convincing results have been seen in treating severe
neurodermatitis with Candida confirmed in the stools.
Sugars, bitters, tannins
Roots with their sugars, bitter principles and tannins directly
stimulate I, astral body and physical body activity (GA 319). This strengthens
the totality of the upper human being's activity in the digestion. Instead of a
pathological head-development in the lower human beings, as in the case of
malnutrition, one has penetration of the digestive functions. Examples are
Gentiana lutea (Gentiana lutea Rh 5% dil., Weleda, or Gentiana comp. pilules,
Wala) or Geum urbanum Rh D3 dil. (Weleda).
In the author's experience there is a point to focusing on particular
organs in treating different forms of intestinal mycosis. In his experience,
treatment with the emphasis on the liver is effective with Candida mycosis,
giving Hepatodoron, Chelidonium, Taraxacum or Cichorium, for example.
Aspergillus mycosis appears to be more of a kidney problem, and Carbo Betulae
or Equisetum may be considered, possibly in form of Equisetum cum sulfure
tostum 6x trit. (Weleda).
Pancreatic extracts or bitters to encourage secretion are also helpful,
Pancreas Ix trit. (Weleda), for instance. Cichorium/Pancreas comp. pilules
(Wala) or Cichorium Rh 3x dil. (Weleda) may also be considered. Treatment with
pancreatic enzymes may sometimes serve the purpose, possibly in combination
with bile acids, or also gastric acid substitution.
Antagonism between bacteria and fungi
Another approach to treatment involves substitution and promotion of the
physiologic intestinal flora. Steiner spoke of antagonism between bacteria and
fungi in 1924.(49) A wide range of preparations is now available that contain
Bifidum bacteria, lactobacilli, Bacteroides or Bacterium subtilis. Though
widely used, data are not really adequate in this field. Many preparations
contain lactose or milk protein, which has to be taken into account if there
are allergies in this direction. Treatment has to be long-term, which means it
is more costly. If the choice of substitution is right, the method does,
however, frequently prove effective.
Guided symbiosis is said to influence immune functions. Again it has to
be continued for some time. One often starts with a preliminary phase using
metabolic products of E. coli (e.g. Pro Symbioflor, Colibiogen, Rephalysin or
Hylak). The next phase is with lactobacilli or coccal preparations (Symbioflor
1, Acidophilus, Eugalan, Paidoflor) to stimulate the acid-producing flora.
Thirdly one would try substitution with Coli bacteria to restore the
milieu, e.g. with Symbioflor 2 or Mutaflor. Others recommend Coli substitution
only, to match the development of the first flora in the newbom. Some
laboratories specialize in producing individual symbiont preparations based on
an analysis of the intestinal flora. These methods, too, are often effective
but costly.
A principle Steiner mentioned in the Agriculture course(49) probably has
not yet been systematically applied to clinical treatment for humans. He
suggested river or wetland meadows among the fields. "For if we manage to
have not only woodlands (birds live above all in softwood trees, mammals in
shrubs and bushes, author) but also river or wetland meadows suitably close to
the farm, these meadows will prove particularly helpful to farming in that they
provide a good soil for fungi. And one should see to it that the soil of those
meadows contains fungi. You will then make the strange discovery that where you
have wetland meadows, meadows rich in fungi... close to a farm, these fungi
will because of their relationship to bacteria and other parasitic creatures keep
such creatures away from others. ... The right balance and placing of woodland,
orchards, shrubs and bushes and wetland meadows with a certain natural fungal
culture is so much the essence of a good farming situation that one may even
have to reduce the area utilizable for agricultural purposes to some
extent...".
Displacement treatment using apathogenic yeasts
This has been used in a particular section of natural medicine in recent
times. The yeast referred to as apathogenic which is generally used is Saccharo-
myces boulardii.
Nosodes - out with the old
Finally nosodes or similar preparations are used to influence the
retarded development aspect. As fungi are connected with the ancient Moon stage
of earth evolution,.man must let go of that aspect and take his evolution
forward. This may be the rationale of Monilia albicans 30x pilules (Staufen) or
Albicansan 5x dil./ Nigersan 5x dil. (Sanum Kehlbeck), for example.
Prospects
Candida infections are on the increase, above all in patients with
immune deficits, in premature infants, and indeed with epiglottitis. Fungi are
also getting resistant to antimycotics, probably by selection
of resistant strains after antimycotic treatment.
Unfortunately the issue of an abnormal intestinal flora, e.g.
"dysbacteria" or "overgrowth syndrome,” is mainly discussed by
physicians working with natural medicine. This should not be a matter for
division between conventional and natural medicine but for more intensive basic
research. Koletzko and Baumler-Meri are right in asking that the discussion
should be more objective and not emotive.
This would also mean that patients' feelings of being unwell must be
taken seriously.
It may be justifiable to refer to psychopathologic phenomena in many
instances. But these only apply to a small proportion of patients. If both
physician and patient are realistic in their expectations,
the risk of aggravating any hysterical and depressive desire to be sick,
with "fungi in the intestines," is low. On the other hand there is no
reason to put on airs and declare that this disorder does not rank
as a disease at all.
Modern medicine clearly is still only beginning to get somewhere with
fungus research. The literature relating to industrial uses is vast. But the
last investigation of fungal infections in German swimming baths is more than
10 years old. The simple treatment of oral candidiasis is also less effective
than is often thought. Nor are people in the habit of giving much thought to
the matter of intestinal homeostasis, as may be seen from a paper by B.
Koletzko, who denies the existence of problems due to the wrong bacterial
flora. Patients experience a lack of understanding, with the result that
attempts at lay treatment are common. The modern school of medicine must be
challenged to pay attention to these syndromes and not deny their existence.
To date, then, Candida mycosis is not an accepted disease entity, and
work has not gone beyond the description of individual cases. The uncertainties
that exist in relation to diagnosis and treatment have to be accepted. They
make it possible for practitioners to refuse to accept intestinal mycosis as a
syndrome or to include it in their own critical review of potential treatments.
Until firmer data are available, the positive results of a treatment must be
accepted "ex iuvantibus". It would not be the first time that new
perspectives have arisen in medicine by humbly taking note of existing
uncertainties.
Vorwort/Suchen. Zeichen/Abkürzungen. Impressum.