Candida - Treatment and Symptoms

Candida is a yeastlike fungus commonly found in the normal flora of the mouth, skin, intestinal tract, and vagina, which can become clinically infectious in immunocompromised persons. It causes superficial infections of the mucus membranes, such as vaginal yeast infections. It can cause more serious, systemic infection when a person's immune system is compromised by diseases such as cancer and AIDS. Candida infection is more common following antibiotic use, which can kill off the bacteria that normally live on mucus membranes, and otherwise inhibit overgrowth by candida. Candida albicans is the candida species most likely to cause candida infection.

Candida is a normal resident of the human gastrointestinal(GI) tract, present in small numbers with no negative health effects. It is a skin rash caused by a yeast living on normal skin in 80% of all people. In most people, the presence of this yeast on the skin is not visible. In some people, for unknown reasons, the yeast grows more actively and causes a red, itchy, scaling rash. Candida is a normal part of the bowel flora (the organisms that naturally live inside our intestines, and are not parasitic). It has many functions inside our digestive tract, one of them to recognize and destroy harmful bacteria. Without Candida albicans in our intestines we would be defenseless against many pathogen bacteria.

What are the symptoms of Candida ?

Symptoms of candida is large in number yet some of them are as follows:

1)Thrush appears as creamy-white or bluish-white patches on the tongue - which is inflamed and sometimes beefy red - and on the lining of the mouth, or in the throat.

2)Diaper rash caused by candida is an inflammation of the skin, usually red and sometimes scaly.

3)Vaginitis is characterized by a white or yellow discharge. Inflammation of the walls of the vagina and of the vulva (external genital area) causes burning and itching.

4)Infections of the fingernails and toenails appear as red, painful swelling around the nail. Later, pus may develop.

5)Infection of the penis often results in balanitis (inflammation of the head of the penis).

An infection in the bloodstream can affect the kidneys, heart, lungs, eyes, or other organs causing high fever, chills, anemia , and sometimes a rash or shock. Candida can cause the following problems depending upon the organ infected:

• in the kidneys can cause blood in the urine
• in the heart can cause murmurs and valve damage
• in the lungs can cause bloody sputum (mucus discharge)
• in the eyes can cause pain and blurred vision

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