What is Candida?
Candida refers to a class of individual species of yeast organisms. Normally, several species of Candida inhabit the human body, occurring in the intestines, mouth, throat and genitourinary tract. At low levels of occurrence, Candida has its uses; it can identify and destroy detrimental bacteria. The presence of Candida albicans, the most common Candida species, in the colon enables the human body to fight harmful pathogens. A healthy immune system protects beneficial microorganisms or friendly bacteria, which in turn prevent Candida from multiplying and mutating into mycelial fungi, which is invasive and capable of producing rhizoids or elongated root-like protrusions, which perforate the walls of the intestine. This causes undigested food particles, toxins, yeast, and bacteria to enter the bloodstream, resulting in Candida infection or Candidiasis. This condition is also referred to as Leaky Gut Syndrome.
Ill health and exposure to antibiotics, pesticides and other toxins reduce the number of useful bacteria in the colon and weaken the immune system, resulting in Candida overgrowth. Candida proliferation can also occur when one consumes excess sugar or when the digestive system’s pH balance is disturbed. Candida in its fungal form poses health risks. In yeast form, when Candida does not outnumber friendly bacteria, it is not invasive.
In most cases, Candidiasis results from overproduction of Candida albicans. Common symptoms of Candidiasis are burning, itching, pain in some cases and a cream-like discharge with an offensive odor. Moist and warm parts of the body are vulnerable to infection. The presence of mucous membranes in the mouth, throat, esophagus, vagina and intestines makes these areas very prone to infection. Candida infection also occurs in the folds of the skin and in the nail bed. Vaginal yeast infection, a common occurrence in women, is also a type of Candida infection. An infection of the mucous membranes or Mucocutaneous Candidiasis, as it is known, is a superficial infection, which is treatable with anti-fungal creams and oral remedies.
If you notice these symptoms, it is best to consult a physician who can diagnose and attend to the problem. It might even turn out that the cause is something other than Candida. Your physician might scrape some tissue from the area and culture it in order to identify the species of Candida. While Candida infection should be medically treated, its occurrence in a generally healthy body is not a cause for alarm.
Disseminated Candidiasis, however, represents a serious level of infection occurring when fungi cause contaminants to enter the bloodstream. Contaminated blood can infect organs in the body. Early treatment can prevent Disseminated Candidiasis from becoming dangerous.
In some cases, Candida infections keep recurring. A thorough diagnosis is then necessary to determine whether the infection is caused by leukemia, diabetes or HIV/AIDS. AIDS patients and others whose immune systems are seriously compromised are vulnerable to serious Candida infections. In such cases, utmost care should be taken to prevent infection and even if it does occur it must be treated and eradicated as early as possible.
Hopefully this article has answered the question, “What is Candida?” for you. Click on the hyperlink if you’d like to read more on the subject.
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