The Fungal Theory

I heard back from one of my friends who has been on the yeast free diet and anti-fungal supplements that I suggested she take. She has had constant vaginal yeast infections. Finally the yeast infection is gone!

Have you heard of this treatment? Hmmm...



FDA Approves New Treatment for Fungal Infections



The Food and Drug Administration approved Eraxis™ (anidulafungin) to treat certain infections caused by Candida, a yeast-like fungus that can cause serious infections in hospitalized patients or patients with compromised immune systems.



"This product offers a new alternative therapy for several types of infections associated with Candida", said Dr. Steven Galson, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "It is a helpful addition to the available antifungal medications that can be used in the treatment of these potentially serious fungal conditions."



Eraxis, a new molecular entity that has never been marketed in the United States, is an antifungal drug that is administered intravenously, and is used to treat Candida infections in the esophagus (candidiasis), blood stream (candidemia), and other forms of Candida infections, including abdominal abscesses and peritonitis (inflammation of the lining of the abdominal cavity).



The safety and efficacy of Eraxis was evaluated in clinical studies and Eraxis was shown to be safe and effective in the treatment of esophageal candidiasis, candidemia, and other Candida infections including abdominal abscesses and peritonitis.



Eraxis was generally well tolerated in clinical studies. The most commonly reported adverse events were mild diarrhea, mild elevations in laboratory tests of liver enzymes, and headache. Some patients experienced infusion-related reactions, most of which were mild. In a few patients with significant underlying medical conditions who were on multiple concomitant medications, there were reports of serious hepatic abnormalities.

Shingles is caused by the same virus, zoaster varicelli (SP) that causes chicken pox.  For some reason the chicken pox virus,  in people who may have had cicken pox decades prior, is reactivated and causes shingles.  Common causes are:

There are a number of things that make re-activation of the virus more likely, including:

• being elderly
  
• period of increased stress
  
• a long-term course of steroids
  
• having a condition that affects your immune system, such HIV/AIDS or leukaemia
  
• chemotherapy or radiotherapy (cancer treatments)
  
• medicines used after organ transplants (immunosuppressants)

If you are 60 or over, your Dr. will recommend you get a shingles vaccination.  They are pricey, like $200 and often the insurance companies make you run around as your Dr.'s office will not carry the vaccine, but the drug store does.  Mine counted as an out of network expense, for which I was never reimbursed.

Hi Imp. Thank you for the kind words. Interesting things have been happening to the tumors on my breast and I saw my onco on Monday, so I have been preoccupied. According to my blood tests, my estrogen levels have not budged in spite of having my first Zoladex injection seven weeks ago. My tumor markers have also risen slightly. Yet, the tumors have been getting soft and squishy, and they’ve been receding.  I have to be extra careful when I shower, because more and more lesions are getting soft and wobbly, and threatening to break off. They range in size from hazelnuts to plums.

The last couple of times something like this occurred, most of the lesions disappeared and new skin formed. My onco is somewhat sceptical, as my blood tests don’t show that the Zoladex is working yet, so my body is still swimming in estrogen. However, I am still on metronomic chemo plus Tamoxifen, and I have been doing my own complementary / alternative therapies, like losing weight through daily exercise and a mostly vegan diet, juicing daily, eating and drinking alkaline as much as possible and, of course, taking various supplements.

My DH and I have been wondering whether the Zoladex is finally beginning to work, or whether the anti-fungal measures I’ve been taking recently are behind the regression. The lesions really started receding and getting soft around two weeks ago, when I began to use an anti-fungal powder (active ingredient: clotrimazole) on them, as well as consuming anti-fungal foods like a clove of chopped garlic in a tablespoon of coconut oil twice daily, chased down with manuka honey and apple cider vinegar in cold water.

In the April 2010 issue of Annals of Oncology, the official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology and the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology, scientists In Singapore reported that a clinical trial which they conducted showed that an anti-fungal drug, ketoconazole, complements chemotherapy treatment as it blocks an enzyme in the body from breaking down docetaxel, a drug used to treat breast, stomach, lung and prostate cancers. You can read the details in my blog post http://healingpastures.com/2010/06/09/halve-chemo-and-side-effects/
I wonder if clotrimazole and the other antifungals I’m taking are making the metronomic chemo drugs I’m on now (cyclophosphamide and methotrexate) more effective?

Just for the record, I’m also taking Neways’ VMM (an immune system booster), Neways’ Hawaiian Noni Juice (anti-tumoral), Neways’ Maximol (liquid vitamins and trace minerals), Doctors Best Muscadine Grape Seed, Source Naturals DIM, Nutricology’s Artemisinin, and cod liver oil. I also brew and drink an anti-cancer and immune system-boosting Chinese herbal tea (I posted on this earlier in this thread). The lesions grew, albeit slowly, while I was on these supplements the last few months, which is why my DH and I suspect that the anti-fungals (added only in the last fortnight) are working synergistically to help everything to work more effectively now.

If only I could know for sure what’s behind this regression!

Imp, my onco is a lady who is very much a traditionalist. She thinks I'm a bit "out there" but she's always too polite to say so. If my condition continues to improve, I'll see whether I can talk to her about getting some oral anti-fungal medication next time I see her, which is Valentine's Day. She made no comments when I informed her that I was using an anti-fungal powder on the lesions. I suspect she thinks I'm being a litlle delusional about the lesions receding, as the blood tests don't show that Zoladex is suppressing estrogen production from my ovaries yet. But I see what I see, and I feel what I feel, and those suckers are definitely retreating.

I read an article recently by a top neurologist which said that many doctors have become too dependant on tests and scans. They've lost the ability to do what doctors in the past used to do - listen, touch, look, observe and even smell. Perhaps that's why my onco is so puzzled. She's also surprised that the cancer does not seem to have spread beyond my breast, as both she and the radiation oncologist say that cases like mine, with extensive lesions on the surface, almost always have metastases to other areas of the body. My husband and I believe that my supplements + healthy lifestyle have kept the cancer from spreading, although they may not have killed the cancer cells outright.

Having a healthy diet is certainly not easy. I like my carbs, but I try to avoid processed carbs. Going for a 30-minute walk at least once a day and replacing a main meal with salad - or at least having salad be the main item in a meal - really helps. If you're not parttial to salads, adding ingredients like sauteed mushrooms, avocadoes, peaches or apricots, and apples makes it more appetising.

This tread has me rather interested. I work at an old school that has mold growing on the ceilings. I'm beginning to wonder if it has contributed to my BC. It seems quite a few of us are having different kinds of cancer showing up recently, so beginning to question what is going on. 1 had BC, another has skin cancer that surgery hasn't stopped so she now needs to use a form of cream that is a chemo cancer treatment for it, plus of course myself. This is over just the last year.

I worked there for 8 years before the cancer was found. They painted the ceilings about 2 years ago. They told us they had the ducks cleaned, but I have noticed in the wing I'm in now the mold has come back, so I'm thinking it was just a cover up.

How interesting about the skin issues as well  I have exema as well which I never had till I worked here.

I actually have watched Doug Kauffman for several years when I have the summers off, and find he knows a lot about different diseases. What really makes me angry is what the school district is doing to the kids that are going to that school.

 Thanks for the names of the 2 books I will be getting them. What worries me is I am still working in that place, and will be for at least another 10 years. I'm not quite sure how to protect myself from the mold and what it is doing to my body. By the way I have also developed ashma since working there. Just so you know I'm 57 so I was healthy for 48 years before working in this school.

imposative, I have to say you are right on the mark at our school. We have way to many kids with behavior problems and days off school. We are one of the schools not meeting no school left behind, so dealing with that. We don't make AYP because our special needs kids aren't where they need to be, and most of our special needs kids are behavior issues.

I LIVE IN FLORIDA like tropical or humid all the time.

Impositive...



You said...barry, in addition, when a fungal cell and a human cell merge, I'm not sure they resemble either cell completely anymore. It's kind of like a baby...it has a little of the father and a little of the mother but also looks completely different from both. My understanding in how you put it is...if there is a merger of the two cells then it is no longer completely human or fungi...it is cancer. Cancer is then the new baby or alien tumor.



In your last post you said, you believe cancer is fungus. If it is a new entity then it is no longer fungus...but cancer? Right? I don't know about you, but I would find it strange telling people, "Hey, I have breast fungus."




At this point of my understanding, I believe there are many factors that cause the lesions (such as pathogens, maybe bacteria, such as H Pylori, or acidic environment due to poor diet or stress). Once there is a lesion the presence of fungi or yeast in the body then plays a part in the mutation of the cell destruction.

I will definately check into the book, know the cause. I am doing much, much better now. Thank you for asking.  I truly think the NED for 10 years had something to do with the supplements I took.  people always said to me , See it came back anyway...I said, yes but maybe I got 10 years BECAUSE of them..So I am now open to other possible reasons why it did and how to keep this nasty little problem of mine contained...I do live in the woods..lots of trees, molds etc...