The Fungal Theory

impositive

Here's something very interesting I found....

We've all heard of tumor markers, right?  Elevated levels of Serum PSA (Prostate Specific Antigens) are associated with prostate cancer. PSA chemically is a 33-kDa serine pretease, which was found to be produced by the molds Aspergillus flavus,A. fumigatus, A. aryzae, Ophiostoma piceae, and Scedossporium apiospermum-all of which happen to be of the Ascomycete (sac) group of fungi.

These "cancer" patient's blood test's positive for mold!!!  When a test comes back highly suspect or positive they call it "cancer". I call it a systemic fungal infection.  Just another indication of the role of fungus in this disease we call "cancer". 

To take this further...May 1, 1997 - Medical Tribune article states"Antifungal agent lowers PSA levels, study finds."   The  antifungal drug Nizoral (ketaconazole) has demonstrated it's ability to actually decreasePSA levels.

Another tumor marker, CA19-9 (carbohydrate antigen) mostly related to cancers of the pancreas but also found in lung cancer and inflammatory conditions of the intestines, such as ulcerative colitis.  Aspergillus was again found to be associated with high levels of CA19-9 in a case study where a young man with asthma was elevated for a worsening cough. Enlarged lymph nodes in his chest seen upon x-ray were suspicious for lymphoma or lung cancer, especially given his elevated levels of CA19-9.  Further investigation revealed positive blood tests for Aspergillus fumigatus  IgE (allergic) antibodies and A. fumigatus -precipitating antibidy (antibodies to this mold were found in his blood stream.) He was treated for allergic bronchopulmonary aspergilliosis.

Elevated CA19-9 levels are also seen with cystic fibrosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis as well.  Do you suppose anyone has correlated these diseases with fungus?  Maybe they should...

AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) is another tumor marker mostly related to gonadal or liver tumors as well as hepatitis and cirrhosis. Aflatoxins from aspergillus molds can induce increased levels of the AFP tumor marker.  This not only helps establish the liver cancer-fungus link but also makes perfect sense in light of the fact that aflatoxins are the most potent liver carcinogen in the world.

Tumor markers....or fungus markers????  You decide.

impositive

Barry, I had an MRI before my lumpectomy. I never really thought about the dye back then but I would agree....cant be good. When do you get your results?  Hope all is well.

asschercut

barry wrote: "Victoria, I know someone who uses yogurt for deodorant."

That's interesting. Actually I don't use a deodorant - haven't done so for years. Hubby and I have never had a body odour problem. I use organic baby wipes, and carry them in my handbag where ever I go. It's always nice and fresh under there.

I'm having an MRI in January. It's either that or a mammogram. I really don't have any other options. I had an MRI in 2009...and I can't remember any dye being used?

Victoria

asschercut

I just found this info on the side effects of MRI dye...

Chemical dyes are sometimes injected into patients prior to an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to enhance internal images. However, certain widely used MRI dyes may cause a number of side effects, including a serious, potentially fatal disease known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, or NSF. The Food and Drug Administration in May 2007 ordered a labeling change to gadolinium-based MRI dyes to warn medical professionals and patients of the risk of NSF and other side effects.

http://www.adrugrecall.com/mri-dye/mri-dye-side-effects.html

Great!

Victoria

impositive

I had a thermography a couple weeks ago. No more mammograms or MRI's for me.  However back in 2009, when I did have an MRI, nothing was said to me about the dye. They must put in in the small print of paperwork. There's a website dedicated to lawsuits of this particular disease. It's nephrogenicsystemicfibrosis.org/. There's also an official site for registry at Yale University-http://www.pathmax.com/dermweb/ . There, is says to date, it is a condition that has only has occurred in people with kidney disease . It says the contrast is most used when they need to see angiogenisis so that's why we cancer patients get the dye. There's a lot of information there if you want to read more. 

My take...from what I've learned about fungal disease....NSF is described as large areas of hardened skin with slightly raised plaques, papules, or confluent papules.  Some degree of kidney disease appears to be a common denominator. Microscopically, it resembles sclerosis which is described as the stiffening of a structure, usually caused by a replacement of the normal organ-specific tissue with connective tissue.  There are several "sclerosis"....(this is not a complete list) multiple sclerosis, osteosclerosis, liver sclerosis (cirrhosis), Lou gerrig's disease is a sclerosis and finally atherosclerosis.  I have previously mentioned the books  (fungalbionics .com) written by 3 doctors form the World Health Organization. They've written The Prevention of Breast Cancer, Hope at Last, The Prevention of Prostate Cancer, Hope at Last and The Prevention of Atherosclerosis, Hope at Last.  They think that Atherosclerosis is linked to fungus. Alan Cantwell MD (originally a dermatologist)who wrote The Cancer Microbe and Four Women Against Cancer, believes scleroderma (a progressive disorder characterized by thickening and tightening of the skin-sounds like NSF, right?) to be "microbe related" as well.

SO there's your fungus link...

Hindsfeet

Impositive, I knew if there was a fungus link you would find it



I got a call back today and they want me to do the mri over! I said that it wasn't going to

happen unless it was absolutely necessary. I said to her that it was only a routine mri so it was ok if I skipped it unless they saw something suspicious. She is going to call back the person who reads the mri and call me

back. I can't imagine doing two mri contrast dye's days a part. The lady who called did say that I wasn't at risk for serious side effects. But I read a comment from a man on a mri blog, who had five mri contrast dyes and it was the last one that destoyed his kidneys. This would be my fifth contrast dye since 2007, when I was first dx with bc. With my interest in alternative medicine, I don't know why I didn't check out the mri contrast dye. It seems that a lot of ladies here get annual mri's. Until yesterday, I thought it was harmless.

There is a mri thread on the dcis board where I put info that I found last night while researching mri contrast dye effects...and what it is. Very interesting.

Hindsfeet

I posted this on the mri thread...post here as well.



What is Gadolinium?



This is an FDA approved contrast agent for MRI. Gadolinium, or gadodiamide, provides greater contrast between normal tissue and abnormal tissue in the brain and body. Gadolinium looks clear like water and is non-radioactive. After it is injected into a vein, Gadolinium accumulates in the abnormal tissue that may be affecting the body or head. Gadolinium causes these abnormal areas to become very bright (enhanced) on the MRI. This makes it very easy to see. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Gadolinium is a rare metal found in the earth. Gadolinium is atomic number 64 on the periodic table; which many of us studied in high school or college chemistry. It is a silvery metal that is “ferromagnetic” or strongly attracted by a magnetic, which makes it an ideal product to enhance MRI and MRA images. Gadolinium is a stable compound in dry air, but when exposed to moist air, it will tarnish and forms a loose “film” which falls off and exposes more of the surface area to oxidation. The gadolinium also reacts to water and will dissolve in dilute acid. Besides being used as a contrast agent for MRI and MRA images, Gadolinium has a number of other uses. Gadolinium is used to make a component of our microwave ovens, it is used in a compound that makes phosphors for color television tubes and it is also used to make computer memory and compact discs. Gadolinium is also used in nuclear marine propulsion as a burnable poison. Gadolinium also has other unique metallurgic properties so that a very small amount of gadolinium can improve the workability and resistance of iron, chromium and other related alloys to oxidation and high temperatures. Today, the medical profession uses gadolinium regularly as an intravenous agent to enhance the images taken by MRI and MRA studies. Because gadolinium is a highly toxic, when it is used as a medical contrast agent it is attached to another chemical called a “chelate.” A chelate is a compound that “holds” the gadolinium so that it is not toxic and the body can process the gadolinium and dispose of it through our natural waste filtration system, the kidneys. Under most circumstances, the gadolinium is simply passed out of the body through the kidneys in urine. However, in some individuals who have compromised kidney function, the kidneys cannot work efficiently to remove it and some of the gadolinium remains in the body causing potentially serious gadolinium side effects. The longer the gadolinium stays in the bloodstream, the more chelates lose their hold on the gadolinium and break off, allowing more of the toxic gadolinium to contaminate the bloodstream. As the blood circulates throughout the body, the gadolinium is deposited in the skin, tissue and numerous organs. Once the gadolinium has taken up residence in human tissue, there is no proven way to remove it. Over the past years, physicians saw patients with renal failure who received toxic gadolinium develop a deadly disease, and now gadolinium has been linked with a serious disease called Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) or Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD). http://www.usrecallnews.com/2008/04/gadolinium-health-alert.html

Hindsfeet

They don't always tell you, but after a mri drink lots of water...DETOX.



BTW..... I also read that people who have mri's aren't allowed to give blood for 12 months. That the contrast remains in your blood stream and it cannot be filter out?

wendy57

Barry, I donate blood every 8 weeks and have never been asked about MRI's, CT's, Muga's, Bone Scans or any other scan (with or without contrast dye). Would be interested in in your source about 12 month deferral for donation after MRI.  Neither the American Red Cross http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-topic nor my local blood bank  http://giveapint.org/donate/eligibility lists MRI within 12 months as an exclusion??

thenewme

Hi Barry,

You wrote, "BTW..... I also read that people who have mri's aren't allowed to give blood for 12 months. That the contrast remains in your blood stream and it cannot be filter out? "

I'm not sure what this all has to do with "The Fungal Theory," but where did you read that?  

I don't see anything about MRI contrast in the RED CROSS ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

However, it does mention a 12-month wait after any organ transplant, and a kidney transplant would be one of the risk factors for gadolinium-induced NSF.  Maybe that's where your confusion came in?  The risk of NSF from an MRI is very, very small as I pointed out on the other thread where you mention this theory.

ETA- oops, Wendy - missed your post while I was posting!  Great minds think alike

Hindsfeet

Gee...I was reading so much last night about mri constrast dyes that I have no idea where I read it. Sorry I appreciate the correction.

I actually posted this on the dcis mri thread, but thought since we were somewhat talking about mri contrast dyes that it was ok to post it here as well. The question that came to mind was...Could constrast dye cause lesions? Fungus grows where there is injury and lesion. So, I thought maybe constrast dye (gadolinium) that's not eliminated could cause harm in our organs or tissue? It is a toxic metal. To be honest, I'm not sure. I'm a little wary of what I've read about gadolinium.

Windy...I thought that if you were dx with cancer that you could not give blood. I also heard that if you had chemo you couldn't give blood. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong

wendy57

Quick digression off "fungal topic" to answer Barry's question about blood donation and cancer.  Most Blood banks have criteria similar this (from the American Red Cross): "Eligibility depends on the type of cancer and treatment history. If you had leukemia or lymphoma, including Hodgkin's Disease and other cancers of the blood, you are not eligible to donate. Other types of cancer are acceptable if the cancer has been treated successfully and it has been more than 12 months since treatment was completed and there has been no cancer recurrence in this time. Lower risk in-situ cancers including squamous or basal cell cancers of the skin that have been completely removed do not require a 12 month waiting period."

Wishing everyone a blessed and peaceful Christmas!

motheroffoursons

Barry and impositive

Am swallowed up by xmas  can't write untl 27th as we have guests

Hindsfeet

I'm out and about until later, but I wanted to throw a thought out there in regard to the fungal theory.
...

If all scientists and researchers put up a wall anytime a new theory or idea was presented, we'd never get anywhere in the world medicine. Lets not throw out concepts and ideas just because we THINK we already have the answers....and I think it's pretty clear that science does not have all the answers ... especially when it comes to cancer.



It seems to me thatJohn Hopkins and other research institutions are making headway in regard to the fungus theory. Is it possible that mainstream medicine hasn’t caught up with what is going on in research?

impositive

I have mentioned before that there are some drugs that are used to treat bc that are antifungals or are derived from fungus such as Taxol and Tamoxifen. We have probably all heard of Femara (the brand name), another well known bc drug. The generic name is letrozole. There are many antifungal classes of drugs. One of those classes ends in "azole"; clotrimazole, econazole, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, miconazole, to name a few. So I thought it interesting that letrozole ends in the same sort of suffix. When I tried to find similarities between the two here's what I found. Letrozole is non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor. It blocks the production of estrogen. 

I found a study at PubMed, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12489563, titled Assessing pregnancy risks of azole antifungals using a high throughput aromatase inhibition assay.  It says "some azole drugs may disrupt estrogen production...."  "We tested a panel of azole antifungal agents that are commonly administered to women of childbearing potential, for their potential to inhibit aromatase."

Once again....notable similarities between bc drugs and antifungal drugs.

impositive

A very interesting story....it's about a boy whose father nominated him to be an honorary Captain at an Iowa University football game because of all his son had been through.  

 http://www.westbranchtimes.com/article.php?id=6331

I wonder if they had looked for fungus the first time if he would have lost his eye.....

impositive

Here's another story of cancer being mistaken for fungus....

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_348af9d3-1e52-52bc-862a-9782aa2c5c22.html

impositive

More about antifungals drugs and cancer....

Title - Cheap antifungal drug may fight cancer-U.S. study

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1221068920100412

Hindsfeet

Interesting Impositive. I've been sharing a lot about the fungus theory with friends who have different types of what I would consider fungal related problems. There are a few who are now on the yeast cleanse, and others considering it after the New year...like myself

Hindsfeet

. I wondered how much seasonal illnesses has to do with yeast overgrowth? Are doctors aware that a lot of sinus problems, and types of pneumonia are fungus related and should not be treated with antibiotics?



Diagnosing a Candida Yeast Infection in the Sinuses



It’s hard to get yeast fungus out of sinus mucus. If any is left, the yeast multiplies again. Moreover, symptoms may be the same as any other sinus infection and it’s hard to diagnose, although it may sometimes result in greenish, glue-like clumps being expelled from the nose.

http://www.vaxa.com/sinus-candida.cfm



So...what happens when we see the green stuff...we go to the doctor and get antibiotics. It maybe the worse course of action.


Have you heard of getting fungal pneumonia? How many times is pneumonia treated by antibiotics?

According to this one website fungal pneumonia should be treated by antifungal drugs and sometimes by surgical debridement.



http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/fungal-2.html

In many patients with competent immune systems, fungal lung infections may cause only mild to moderate flu-like symptoms such as coughing, fever, muscle aches, headaches, and rashes. In other patients, fungi may cause infections that remain localized at the initial site of the infection and do not spread (the organisms are walled off in granulomas). However, people with these localized infections may, at some point in their life, become immunocompromised and the long-standing, silent chronic fungal infection may then become an active acute infection. Some infections caused by fungi may take months to years to cause symptoms, slowly and progressively growing worse and disseminating throughout the body, causing night sweats, chest pain, weight loss, and enlarged lymph nodes. Others may progress rapidly, causing pneumonia and/or septicemia. Fungal lung infections are more likely to be severe in people who have underlying lung disease and/or compromised immune systems such as those with HIV/AIDS. Both acute and chronic fungal infections can cause permanent lung, organ, and bone damage and can be fatal.
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Hindsfeet

Impositive, I was looking up about the cheap fungal drug to fight cancer that you mentioned, and came across this article..



Antifungal itraconazole can fight cancerous tumours:

Antifungal itraconazole belongs to class of drugs as fluconazole (Diflucan), ketoconazole (Nizoral), and miconazole (Micatin, Monistat).



Antifungal drugs belonging to this class prevents growth of several types of fungi by stopping the fungi from producing the membranes that surround the fungal cells.



Itraconazole is marketed under the brand name Sporanox by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica, to treat a fungal infection.



Itraconazole affects a so-called cascade of effects through a molecular pathway called Hedgehog – a pathway which is crucial in the development of cancer.
Researchers around the world have been looking for drugs that interfere with the Hedgehog pathway.



Around 2,400 different drugs had been tested in people that interfere with the Hedgehog pathway.



The reserachers found itraconazole the least toxic.



Moreover, itraconazole has been studied for nearly 25 years for its safety and potential side effects.



Itraconazole is used for the treatment of fungal infections in both HIV- and non-HIV-infected individuals.



It is active against fungal infections such as aspergillosis, blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, and candidiasis, as well as fungal infection localized to the toenails and fingernails (onychomycosis).



Itraconazole also is used for treating patients with fever and low white blood cell counts who are likely to develop a fungal infection.



The usual recommended dose is 200-400 mg daily as a single dose or two divided doses. Capsules should be taken with a full meal because food improves absorption.



The capsule and liquid are not interchangeable, and only the liquid form is used for treating oral candidiasis.



Itraconazole reduces the liver metabolism (breakdown) of some drugs, resulting in increased blood levels and side effects from the affected drugs.



Life threatening adverse effects occurred when itraconazole was combined with cisapride (no longer available in the U.S.), pimozide (Orap), quinidine (Quinaglute, Quinidex), dofetilide (Tikosyn), or levomethadyl (Orlaam).



Therefore, itraconazole should not be combined with these drugs. Other drugs whose blood levels are increased by itraconazole include warfarin (Coumadin), tolbutamide, glyburide (Micronase, Diabeta, Glynase), glipizide (Glucotrol), protease inhibitors [for example, indinavir (Crixivan), ritonavir (Norvir), saquinavir (Invirase, Fortovase)], midazolam (Versed), triazolam (Halcion), “statins” (for example, simvastatin or Zocor) and several others.



Itraconazole increases blood levels of certain calcium channel blockers, for example, nisoldipine (Sular) and verapamil (Calan).

http://www.dancewithshadows.com/pillscribe/antifungal-itraconazole-can-fight-cancerous-tumours-study/



Diagnosis: 11/27/2008, DCIS, Stage 0, Grade 3, 0/2 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2+

Hindsfeet

The source for the last post



http://www.dancewithshadows.com/pillscribe/antifungal-itraconazole-can-fight-cancerous-tumours-study/

impositive

It's interesting how antifungal drugs are used in "cancer."  The problem is finding a doctor who knows the fungal link. They are out there, we just have to find them. One tip I recently ran across is to ask around at your local health food store or if they have a community board, post that you are looking for a doctor who is faimiliar with treatment of fungal infections. 

Hindsfeet

Interesting article...http://gfa-ng.com/cancer/how-cancer-begins-the-exact-cause-of-cancer-explained.htm

I've wonder how carcinogen actually causes cancer in the cell. This article simply explains how...



“carcinogen” is anything that weakens or damages cell walls, allowing microbes to enter in.



A carcinogen creates a cut in tissue (over 90% of all cancers originate in tissue layers). This cut causes a small pool of blood to form in the tissue. This small pool of blood is a safe haven for microbes because it is not part of the bloodstream.



In this pool of blood, microbes, especially fungus, grow and thrive. This pool of blood also weakens the cell membranes of the cells surrounding the pool. The combination of a weakened cell membrane, and many highly active microbes, allows some of the microbes to get inside the cells surrounding the pool of blood, thus causing cancer cells to form.

impositive

Barry, that's a brilliantly written article. Easy to understand. I need to bookmark it so I can send to those that I'm trying to explain this theory to. Thanks.

Hindsfeet

I wonder if by putting anti-fungal cream on your breast, you could kill any possible cancer cells in your breast. Just a crazy wild thought

Hindsfeet

Interesting article...what do you think?
The Link Between Stress and a Yeast Infection http://www.yeast-infection-gone.com/Natural-Cure-for-Yeast-Infection.php



Stress is described as the disruption of homeostasis, due to either physical or psychological stimuli. Both positive and negative factors can lead to stress such as live events, personal relationships, lifestyle habits, and even financial situations. Although stress is a natural part of everyday life, excessive stress can lead to a weakened immune system.



Because yeast fungi multiply when the immune system is weakened, yeast infections are more common in individuals who have more stress in their lives than they can handle. Chronic stress, stress that occurs over a long period of time or occurs on a frequent basis, can lead to frequent yeast infections that can be hard to treat and may lead to a systemic illness in the bloodstream.



Stress management is a great natural yeast infection cure, since it can actually prevent the infection from ever occurring. Time management is one of the best ways to reduce stress, rather than having to worry about being late or missing a deadline. Asking for help from family members, friends, or even co-workers is another simple but effective treatment for yeast infection, since they can help with responsibilities to save some time and reduce stress.



In addition, getting a full night's sleep and eating a healthy and well-balanced diet are also ideal, since they can strengthen the immune system and also reduce the effects stress has on the body.

impositive

Barry, I don't know that much about medicare drug coverage and the costs. I have a major medical insurance policy. It covers NOTHING until I hit a $10,000 deductible so it's pretty much worthless unless we have something catastrpohic. I basically keep it in place for my family, not so much for illness but for injury. It's also an HSA (Health Savings Account) so you can deposit tax free money into an account and pay for your uninsured expenses from it. It helps a little but I look at it this way....If I were doing the traditional treatments, it would be costing me about $10,000 per year so I'm saving a little, though not much. 

I dont know how much Diflucan (fluconazole) costs but for a systemic infection, the dose recommended could be as much as 200-400 mg per day for as long as 8 weeks to a year (in extreme cases)!  That could get expensive. I looked at those "online pharmacies" to try to get an idea but still dont know how those compare to a real pharmacy. Those say it's about $350 for 2 months of 400 mg per day or $175 for 200 mg per day.    

Sorry about your MRI findings, please let me know how it comes out, hopefully, like you said, it's nothing. I had a thermography about 3 weeks ago but no results yet. I'm calling tomorrow to see why I haven't heard anything. If they find something...I'm going to bare down with my diet and exercise (as I'm not always perfect) and get my NP to give me an antifungal prescription, take it for 6-8 weeks and then look again.  If that doesn't work, I will change antifungal perscriptions as not all fungi respond to the same antifungal.  I no longer live in fear of those findings.

Edited...I forgot...I dont know if the cream would work but couldn't hurt! Coconut oil is an antifungal...you should try that.

Hindsfeet

Impositive...I'm thankful to finally have Medicare, but you have to pay for a good plan. It's not free insurance. Most plans have an option on the drug part. There are so many side effects to conventional drugs that I didn't know if I would use the drug part of it except for anti-fungal drugs.



I spent time with a friend on Sunday who has had yeast infections about every time she takes antibiotics. Her doctor prescribes only one Dificucan to clear it up. From what I understood her to say is that you can only take one pill a month. Correct me if I'm wrong She said it works...one pill only. She said it was about $20 a pill. So...it's possible to take it for a long period of time without it hurting your liver? likes 6 weeks?
/

It is interesting to see what you would do if you were dx with cancer again. You have a lot of faith in only doing the fungal regimen. I don't know if I would be comfortable not doing surgery. Fungus/cancer is deadly, and I would fear if it all wasn't all removed that it would spread elsewhere. I've learned already how hard it is to get rid of candida.
I've read that once it gets into your system it is VERY hard to destroy. I say, cut it out and do the anti-fungal regimen. Also, my naturalpathic doctor said that the thermography does not always show up cancer. It only shows hot spots and too can have too many false positives...due to hormones and etc. I want the assurance that what ever diagnostic tools used will find early cancer. I am not fearful of a dx, but don't want to miss something that could had been easier dealt with at the early stage.
/

I'll have to use the coconut oil. If I were dx with cancer, I would contribute it to the several months of candida sickness. Not worried about it...knowledge takes away the fear
/

I spent time with a lady yesterday who has brain cancer. She was so fearful. She said, I don't know what they are doing to me, and I don't think the doctor knows either. She said after the next chemo round she would try the anti-fungal treatment. She's lost hope, and quality of life. I have several friends now on yeast free diets and antifungal supplements. It will be interesting to see how it works for them.

Sherryc

Barry, the last time I had a vag yeast infection it was really bad and my gyno treated me with two doses of diflucan.  I took one skipped two days and took the other dose.  At the time I also had some other issue which my doc felt that I was having systemic yeast and that was why she gave me two doses.  That was last Feb and I have not had any other problems