Thursday 12 May 2016

Candida: An Overview of this Pesky Fungus

In recent years, we have all become a little more aware of candida, although we might not know its name. Candida is a type of fungus that causes common ailments like thrush and nappy rash. Below, we are going to explore this fungus in more depth.

What is candida? 
As we mentioned above, it is a type of fungus. It lives on all of our bodies, where it usually causes no problems.

However, sometimes, the fungus can grow in excessive numbers, and this leads to the problems, such as nappy rash and thrush.

Why does candida grow excessively?
Under certain conditions, the candida fungus will grow to excess numbers. There are several reasons why this happens:

1. A recent course of antibiotics can cause you to lose the friendly bacteria that keeps the candida fungus at manageable levels. 
2. A compromised immune system means that the body cannot fight the infection (it’s common in immunology problems, such as AIDS). 

What are the Candida Symptoms?
There can be various signs of candida. These include:

White, thick, patches in the mouth, nose, or genitals. 
Pain and itching 
Difficulty eating in the case of oral thrush
Tiredness and lethargy
Foggy thinking 

The latter two candida symptoms can be indicative of other problems, too. You are more likely to have candida if you also have the thick white patches.

How do you treat candida?
There are numerous ways of treating candida. You can buy anti-fungal medication over-the-counter. You can also buy products from health shops that can purportedly reduce the number of infection-causing candida spores. There is also a “candida” diet that can supposedly keep the fungus at bay; this usually involves cutting out sugars, which is the main source of fuel that the candida fungus uses.

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