A Yeast Story
When life is finally discovered on another planet, it will probably be yeast. Fungi are hearty cooties that have some characteristics of both plants and animals. They can morph into different forms in order to survive and thrive. Spores can be dormant for years. This life form probably evolved in concert with humans, so there shouldn’t have been a problem.
There was a natural balance. But then, antibiotics entered the picture. They are a part of the fabric of our modern environment. Need a Caesarean delivery? That’s done with intravenous antibiotics, through a sterile field (not exactly the natural way). Get a cold or flu? Antibiotics. Fever? Sure. How about, “I think that I’m getting sick”? Antibiotics are good for that, too! We haven’t changed genetically in the past decade, but those little yeasty beasties could have.
In the microbial world inside of our bodies, there are viruses, bacteria and yeast to vie for the available food supply. Start with day one of life and introduce a (weakened Hepatitis B) viral load to the nascent immune system. This represents medicine’s first assault on those viri. Modern science will be addressing and nuking lots of viruses for the next several years in a child’s life, boosting their ability to get rid of that invader. Next on the “enemies of the body” list is bacteria. Those guys living in our children’s ears, noses, tonsils, adenoids – out with them! Antibiotics for ear and other infections. Antibacterial soap. Antimicrobials in our milk. Pesticides on the food. Oh, and by the way, the good bacteria that live in your gut are gonna be zapped, too. But, since we don’t know a thing about the enteric nervous system we can just ignore that side effect. OK, who’s left? …Who? Yo. YEAST!
So, the valuable organisms that are supposed to be doing good work in our gut – work that affects the immune system, the nervous system and digestion are all depleted. Could that be why some children keep getting “sick all of the time?” Could that be why chldren have unusual pooping patterns, have difficulty toilet training or require laxatives and stimulants? Is it possible that much of the eczema that children have, especially the kind that won’t get better easily, is due to a fungal infection? Could that cause some of the behaviors that we see in autism?
OK, the clinical fact that I observe each and every day is this: many children who exhibit stereotypies and other movement disorders demonstrate improvement in those characteristics when their gut health is addressed. And, specifically, the bug that seems to cause the greatest havoc is fungus (yeast, Candida, mold, spores, hyphae, slime).
How To Recognize A Yeast When You See One
The primary symptom that I have observed when it comes to yeast is “fog”. The children just don’t seem to be “with it” and they spend a great deal of time doing repetitive behaviors and stims. Sometimes, they act especially silly or they can even have sleep disturbances. And, of course there are bowel disturbances such as chronic constipation or diarrhea. I believe that yeast can interfere with other biomedical treatments and make them appear less effective or not effective at all, especially if “die-off” occurs. This is when treatment causes the colonies of organisms to release toxins in response to their impending demise, in order to signal the host to cease and desist any activity which will continue this course. It is the yeast’s defense mechanism. Not good for the host. The resulting behavior is not unlike those signs and symptoms that I ascribed to assisting in making the diagnosis, but it can be much more pronouncecd. We’re talkin’ increased stimming, vomiting, tantrums, bowel disturbances and sleepless nights for up to 14 days. Activated charcoal and liquid motrin can sometimes be a great aid for this problem (soaking up the toxin and making things a bit more tolerable). So, even such clinical changes in the patient due to treatment also assist in making the diagnosis of a yeast problem.
In other practices and years past, practitioners have used presumptive tests in the urine and sometimes blood to help diagnose a clinically significant yeast infestation. I believe, however, that the gold standard in making the diagnosis is a yeast culture. That is, sampling the stools (more than one) through a competent laboratory to see not only what is NOT in the sample (“No ova or parasites found”) as in traditional testing, but also what IS in the specimen. That includes; digestion of food, presence of inflammaory markers, pH, and other important substances. Plus – and this is a big one for me – I love to look at the poop personally. I’ve been doing it for over thiry five years and I think that I know my (patients’) shit. Features such as color, consistency, odor, and other things are extremely interesting. “What other things?” you ask. I have seen worms, toys, rope and money. White flecks and mucus are signs of yeast.
How to Get Rid of A Yeast
If you follow my thinking so far, you will know that the best way is to avoid the problem. Healthy children don’t have difficulty with the yeast in the environment. Somehow, we’ve got to stop the antibiotic frenzy. So, that brings us to the ANTI-YEAST DIET. I promise, I intend to follow up this post with my thoughts about yeast & diet & foods vis-à-vis ASD. It is simply too much info for this blog. Suffice it to say that, as far as the possibility that diet can prevent or treat problems, we should embrace the opportunity, not ridicule or deride the attempts at controlling the G-I system in the most natural manner possible.
Other than diet, I have a couple of things to offer. First, a competent pediatrician should examine the child and then attempt to treat clinically. Specifically, that sometimes involves giving an anti-fungal medication such as fluconazole (oral diflucan) and nystatin ointment for the skin. Reduction or abatement of disruptive behaviors with such a relatively benign intervention is common in my practice, and many other DAN doctors, as well. Second, I can’t extol the benefits of a good probiotic enough. This is a safe, simple to administer and relatively inexpensive intervention which can yield truly remarkable changes. In my practice, I try to match up the probiotic that I want to use with the information from the comprehensive stool test in order to decide which brand might produce the desired changes.
The Moral of the Story
Earlier, I said “clinical improvement” to make it clear that I undertand that this is a controversial topic and that there are many, many conventional physicians out there who would consider all of this kooky. Pseudo-science. Faulty thinking. The results that we observe are coincidental or fictitious. Ladies and germs, do you have a better explanation?
Tags: advice, ASD, asd advice, ASD advise, ASD diet, ASD etiology, autism, autism advice, autism advise, autism cause, autism treatment, casein free, CF diet, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, DAN doctors, diet for autism, food allergy, GF diet, Gluten free, vitamins and ASD
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Thanks for the meat Doc. Bring on the potatoes!