host posted on June 10, 2008 13:25
Doug Kaufmann
Two independent medical news articles were released to the press on May 10th, 2008. Both, I contend, confirm what I call the “fungus/brain connection.”
The first headline reads, “Mom’s Infection May Boost Epilepsy Risk in Offspring.” The second, “Bladder Trouble Tied to Depression, Anxiety.”
Before going further, let’s pause and take a short course in Mycology, (the study of fungus), 101. There may well be over one million fungal species. Fungi make secondary by-products, called “mycotoxins.” These poisonous by-products can be devastating to human health and exposure has severe consequences, including death. Literally any human tissue, including the brain, is vulnerable to fungal infections.
The May 2008 issue of Pediatrics expounds upon the ability of moms' infections to cause epilepsy in their children. Among the infections cited were cystitis, kidney infections, upper urinary infections and vaginal yeast infections. Those infections not associated with risk of passing along epilepsy were genital herpes, venereal warts and other forms of herpes.
The April 2008 issue of Urology referred to a medical condition in women called “dysfunctional voiding” in which there is a need to urinate often, (every hour or so), yet there is difficulty in urinating. The lead author, Dr. Alex Lin, stated that the researchers have suspected that dysfunctional voiding and anxiety and depression were linked and now had proof that this was the case. Based on his research, he may now recommend that women get psychological counseling when they suffer from dysfunctional voiding.
While millions upon millions of dollars get indiscriminately pumped into well-meaning research like this every year, let’s see if we KNOW THE CAUSE devotees can figure this out quickly and inexpensively, so these researchers can go back to more relevant research like convincing veterinarians that puppies and/or guppies need the HPV vaccine.
Quite obviously, these doctors are either trying to prove that immune system flaws somehow lead to epilepsy or that bacteria must be far more toxic than they learned in medical school because it is causing brain abnormalities. Never once is it mentioned that the link between moms' infections and epilepsy, or bladder problems and depression, might be iatrogenic, (caused by medicine).
What do doctors do when an “infection” or a bladder problem exists? They immediately prescribe an antibiotic. These patients were probably all prescribed antibiotics for their health problems and the antibiotics themselves, or foods in the patients' diets, could have easily caused the health problems they reference in the future. Antibiotics are fungal metabolites, (mycotoxins). Some classes of mycotoxins are neurotoxic. In addition to being neurotoxic, they can adversely affect tissues far from the brain. One mycotoxin, Ochratoxin A (OTA), is found in barley, malt, rice, beer, wine, and a host of other food products. OTA is known to be nephrotoxic, (poisonous to the kidney), hepatotoxic, (poisonous to the liver), teratogenic, (able to disturb the growth and development of an embryo or fetus), or carcinogenic, (able to cause cancer), in animals. The point is, these mycotoxins are poisons and are fully capable of causing neurological conditions, yet the articles never refer to them.
Keep in mind that a very common antibiotic, Amoxicillin, has the noted side effect of hyperactivity, which obviously means that it affects the brain. Yet parents are led to believe that Amoxicillin is harmless. Another antibiotic, Kantrex, warns that neurotoxicity is a side effect, even when taken orally. We must begin to think of medications as potential trouble starters, even though we are told that they are trouble stoppers!
But what about the women with yeast infections? Why did they also tend to have offspring with epilepsy, since doctors would never prescribe antibiotics for a woman with a vaginal yeast problem? That’s a great question. Vaginal yeast is called candida albicans. Candida albicans is known to produce gliotoxin, which has several prominent biological effects, including immunosuppression. It lowers immunity! A birth canal overgrown with candida exposes a newborn child to a poison known to impede immunity, so epilepsy is just one of the many problems that theoretically could be suffered from upon exposure. And why didn’t women with herpes and venereal warts have children with epilepsy? Because neither of these problems are treated with antibiotics!
This all seems so obvious to those of us who understand the dangers of mycotoxins. Doctors are unquestionably smart people and more and more are stepping out of a field dominated by drugs and learning that patients want results and answers, not drugs and illness. Once again, the onus is on you to find a health care practitioner who listens, isn’t frightened by drug company interests and knows of the importance of natural products meant to enhance, not degrade immunity.
Until next time~~~many blessings!