Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Overgrowth of the usually benign yeast, Candida albicans, is well treated using naturopathic medicine. Untreated, it causes a wide array of non-specific symptoms in almost every body system.
Candida albicans overgrowth occurs when the normal balance between “good” and “bad” microorganisms is disrupted (most commonly by use of antibiotic or steroid medications), compromised immune system activity and diet that supports growth of yeasts.
Candida albicans overgrowth can dramatically affect quality of life, and in severely immune compromised persons (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus infected) spread to the lungs and liver.
Professional healthcare should be sought out if your baby develops painful white lesions in the mouth.
Symptoms of Candida albicans overgrowth
Possible symptoms of Candida albicans overgrowth include:
• Abdominal pain and bloating
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Heartburn
• Vaginal itching or burning sensation
• Headache
• Muscle aching
• Poor concentration and memory
• Fatigue
• Recurrent ear infections
Treatment of Candida albicans overgrowth at Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of Candida albicans overgrowth treatment are to reduce dietary factors that may be contributing to Candida albicans multiplication, reduce Candida albicans population in the body, increase numbers of “good” microorganisms in the body and prevent symptoms occurring from Candida albicans “die-off”.
Conventional treatment for Candida albicans overgrowth depends on your age and the cause of the infection, and may include antifungal medications that may eventually result in drug resistance or liver damage. For this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to manage your Candida albicans overgrowth symptoms.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, a typical approach to treating Candida albicans overgrowth may be to first identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., poor diet, poor stress management, breastfeeding technique) or general health (e.g., HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, chronic use of corticosteroid medications) that may be contributing to Candida albicans overgrowth, use of botanical (herbal) medicines as natural antifungal medications, use of probiotic supplements to increase numbers of “good bacteria” and use of nutritional supplements and diet therapy to prevent symptoms of Candida albicans “die-off”.
Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
• Nutritional supplements
• Botanical (herbal) medicines
• Homeopathic medicines
• Cleansing protocols
• Homotoxicological medicines
• Lifestyle counseling
• Acupuncture
• Hydrotherapy
References
Murray MT, Pizzorno JE. Chronic candidiasis. In: Murray MT, Pizzorno JE, editors. Textbook of natural medicine. 2nd ed. Toronto: Churchill Livingstone; 1999:415-23.
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Oral Thrush [Online]. [cited 2010 Jan 9]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/oral-thrush/DS00408 .