The Fungal Theory

Julia, crunchy poodle..just wanted you to know, I'm sending lots of prayers your way. I hope your surgery goes fine. Look forward to hearing from you. God Bless E B

Oh my. I don't even know where to begin. I'm not usually at a loss for words, but wow, this thread did it.

Not to worry, this will be my last post on this thread, even if I'm "dared" to come back and muddle your "independent scholarly research" with facts. 

I agree! If you connect the dots it seems that cancer and fungus are one in the same. I'm open. If someone can show me otherwise then I'll gladly change my position on the fungus theory. I still have a few questions that need to be answered before fully embracing this theory...but hey, it sure looks like it could be.

Dr. E. Chester Ridgway, the University of Colorado's chief endocrinologist, believe that as many as 70% of Americans are now hypothyroid. How could this be? We have pointed out several factors which could contribute to this epidemic, such as the use of fluoride and chlorine, both of which suppress thyroid function. However, we have recently come to suspect that "the yeast beast" plays a leading role in hypothyroidism. Cold hands and feet, for example, are a common symptom of candidiasis,

yet on a blood test the person will have a perfectly normal thyroid level. Further examination will show that the patient has a wide array of hypothyroid symptoms. Thyroid tests may be normal, but thyroid function, therefore is clearly not.

http://www.greenwillowtree.com/Page.bok?file=candida_art.html

I'm somewhat amused at the statement that supplement and vitamins cause yeast infections. It is common knowledge that antibiotics can cause yeast infections, or any drug that suppresses the immune system. Doctors and those in medicine know that yeast or a fungal infection is an opportunistic disease.

I was prescribed at least four rounds of antibiotics, and in the case of eradicating H Pylori two strong antibiotics the same time. It doesn't take a lot of smarts to know that's why I had a candida infection. It was the supplements and probiotics that got rid of the yeast!

There are a few science things I want to mention in this.

IMHO Cancer is NOT a fungus at all.  Evidence for this is:

• 1. The cell walls of fungi are composed of a unique biological chemical called chitin. If there were fungal cells in a cancer tumors, this biological molecule would be found.
• 2. The morphology of candid and fungal cells is completely different than human cells. They do not look alike under a microscope. Candida cells are regularly shaped round cells. Human cells, cancer or normal, have more irregular borders due to the lack of a rigid cell wall.
• 3. Reproduction in a tumor cell and a yeast cell are completely different. The yeast cells commonly form a bump on the side of the cell that is called a bud, that will eventually split off. There is also a form where they grow in chains called hyphae. Both of these would be easily identifiable under any microscope.
• 4. Although both yeast cells and human cells undergo mitosis, there are some differences. In human cells, the cell splits into two halves, not buds. The individual steps of mitosis, including formation of the new cell membrane, can be seen through the microscope in human cells. The pathology report of BC breast tumors will have a note about mitotic divisions in determining the aggressiveness of the cancer cells. These are cells dividing in half, not budding like yeast cells. The more cells in the process of mitosis, the more aggressive the cancer.

That having been said, I do have a note.  There is the possibility of metabolic products of fungi being carcinogenic.   For instance, Aflatoxin B1, which is produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus growing on stored grains, nuts and peanut butter, is an example of a potent, naturally-occurring carcinogen.

However, I do not believe that candid albicans is cancer causing for the following reasons.

• 1. Approximately 70% of the population has an overgrowth of candida somewhere on their body on mucous membranes, skin, etc. that the body is able to control it to some level. If candida caused cancer, you would find a much higher rate of cancer.
• 2. Newborn babies are exposed to candida as they exit the birth canal. Even with a weaker immune system, babies do not develop cancer.
• 3. Many infants drinking milk from a bottle develop thrush, a candida infection in the mouth. A sleeping baby with a bottle in his mouth provides a perfect incubator for yeast infections, a nice warm place, food supply, and a relatively undeveloped immune system. Most babies develop some degree of thrush in infancy.If candida was causing cancer, you would find many instances of cancer in babies.
•  In conclusion, cancer is not a fungus but that does not rule out that a product of fungi metabolism can be one of the many hundreds of carcinogenic compounds.  However, IMHO, the chance of candida being carcinogenic is very small.

Side Note: For an interesting connection, look up Salem Witch Trials and fungus.  One theory is that the hallucinations that affected the girls were the result of a fungus in their food supply.

Certainly a course of antibiotics can result in a yeast overgrowth, not because it suppresses the immune system, but because it kills off the good bacteria (also) that keep the bad ones in check.

To think that supplements cannot cause harm is simple denial. If they have something in them that can affect the body, then they can affect the body NEGATIVELY as well as positively. Since the supplement industry carries on its business unregulated, and since there are no "doses" that have been established as safe and effective, plenty of people do themselves harm because they have no reliable information to go on.

I know a woman who takes 16 supplements daily under the "advice" of a naturopath. She has had issues with persistent diarrhea and has even had some neurological issues. Her doctor has told her to stop all the supplements to make sure that none are causing her issues, but irrationally, she continues with them and lets him believe that she has done what he said. No wonder conventional medicine sometimes fails. Their efforts are sabotaged by people who think they know better because they read something that sounded impressive on the internet, or someone pretending to be an authority sold them a bill of goods.

Make no mistake. Supplements are drugs. However, they are unregulated drugs whose efficacy and side effects have never been charcterized, unlike controlled drugs.

LJ13...I'm going to put you on my daily prayer list



If you read my previous post you would know that I see a nauturalpathic doctor, who recommended most of my supplements. She had me bring them all to her office. She knows exactly what I'm doing...where my primary doctor never asked.



What's funny is my doctor prescribed medicine that main side effects are mouth sores when I was already struggling with mouth sores. Hmmm...I was also prescribed two medicines that together could had been fatal. Fortunately, I looked up the side effects and how they worked together...as the pharmasist didn't even catch it. When my husband returned the medicine (they usually don't take back med's), they were more than willing to refund our money.



I don't hear people suing herb companies for supplement side effects, where it's common to hear people suing about drugs advertised on t.v. My goodness, we cook with most of the herbs, we are talking about, such as garlic, coconut oil, olive oil and so on...it's food for our body!

http://labmed.ucsf.edu/education/residency/fung_morph/fungal_site/yeastpage.html ...pictures of various fungi. The Cryptococcus Species looks so much like cancer. Like impositive said, there are a lot of different funguses. Not all yeast infections are deadly. I also read that there are about five stages of fungi. Thrust, and vaginal yeast are the earlier stage of candida. Our healthy immune system keeps the candida in check. This is why babies and most people do not get cancer. And when the fungi gets into our cells (as I read) it changes the host cell.



Cryptococcus Species: Direct Examination ... FUNGI


http://labmed.ucsf.edu/education/residency/fung_morph/fungal_site/yeastpage.html



* Cells spherical and irregular in size, ranging from 5-20μ in diameter

* Classically have thick polysaccharide capsule, however, poorly encapsulated strains are becoming more common

* One or more budding forms are attached by a narrow constriction





http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1997/10.30/GeneticSecretso.html

Barry,  I looked at the link in the web site showing fungal infections.  The one that you mentioned,Cryptococcus Species, shows the typical stain of the capsule, a polysaccharide common to fungi, chitin.  This is one of the major differences between fungal and human cells.

I looked at those pictures and felt that a fungal infection is relatively easy to identify on microscopic slides, of course, given a good specimen.  They are shaped differently, they may have hyphae, and they stain completely differently.

I cannot believe that given the thousands upon thousands of tumors examined microscopically, that pathologists, microbiologists, and research doctors have not been able to identify fungal growths as a common entity in cancers.

• 1. I still say because of biochemical differences , such as the presence of chitin, tumor cells are not fungal cells (I am sure there are more differences here if I pursued it.).
• 2. Because of differences in morphology, shape, tumor cells are not fungal cells.
• 3. Because of reproductive differences, even how mitosis operates within individual cells and the timing of mitosis, tumor cells are not fungal cells.

I repeat that a metabolic product of fungal cells may be carcinogenic, but that does not have to be in the same area of the body that they fungus grows, as the carcinogens could get into the blood stream.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this issue.

Barry, not sure what you mean by Afloxan, that is a medicine used to treat arthritis.

I think you are talking about aflatoxins.  Aflatoxins are enzymes used by fungi to dissolve the substrate on which they grow.  They are found primarilyin grain products and include peanut butter.  I read somewhere that most peanut butter has trace amounts of aflatoxins.

The fungi that produce aflatoxins, aspergillus (sp?) are highly aerobic and would not normally be found in interior cancer cells.  The fungi from this family cause diseases on the skin and in the respiratory system in individuals with compromised immune systems or increased exposure.

More important is our consumption of aflatoxins as the aflatoxins that we eat in grain producets, touch, breath, can cause cancer.  This is along with the 500 some other carcinogenic substances.

I would think that everyone has some amount of aflatoxins in their body, by nature of eating.  However,  in most people the body is able tocontrol it.

As there are many carcinogenic substances, I would not expect to find aflatoxins in every case of cancer.

Chitin has a characteristic structure if identified under a strong microscope. It is called a thatched structure and is different than cellulose.

By the way, the fact that both cancer cells and fungal cells use sugar and ferment sugar, is not an evidence of relationship.  This is called convergent evolution.  Another example is that the chitin of the fungal capsules is the same structure as found in lobster shells.  It does not imply a relationship, but a quirk of the evolutionary process.