I would disregard quackwatch - it was put together by a clueless
retired shrink who does not bother to read the literature. I think a
PhD in immunology at Univ Michigan is more credible than a retired
shrink.

Microbes in your gut could be cause of allergies
Posted By: News-Medical in Medical Research News
Published: Tuesday, 1-Jun-2004
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Allergies making your life miserable? Tired of popping antihistamines
like candy? Can't go anywhere without your inhaler? The real problem
may not be your stuffed-up head. It could be the microbes in your gut.

At the American Society for Microbiology meeting held here this week,
scientists from the University of Michigan Medical School will present
results of experiments with laboratory mice indicating that
antibiotic-induced changes in microbes in the gastrointestinal tract
can affect how the immune system responds to common allergens in the
lungs.

"We all have a unique microbial fingerprint – a specific mix of
bacteria and fungi living in our stomach and intestines," says Gary B.
Huffnagle, Ph.D., an associate professor of internal medicine and of
microbiology and immunology in the U-M Medical School . "Antibiotics
knock out bacteria in the gut, allowing fungi to take over temporarily
until the bacteria grow back after the antibiotics are stopped. Our
research indicates that altering intestinal microflora this way can
lead to changes in the entire immune system, which may produce
symptoms elsewhere in the body."

If confirmed in human clinical studies, Huffnagle believes his
research findings could help explain why cases of chronic inflammatory
diseases, like asthma and allergies, have been increasing rapidly over
the last 40 years – a time period that corresponds with widespread use
of antibiotics.

To understand the implications of the U-M research, it's important to
know something about the complex relationship between the
gastrointestinal, respiratory and immune system in the human body.

Every time you inhale, air flows past mucus-producing cells and tiny
hairs designed to trap bits of pollen, dust and spores before they
enter the lungs. These trapped particles are swept into the stomach
with saliva and mucus as you swallow.

"Anything you inhale, you also swallow," Huffnagle says. "So the
immune cells in your GI tract are exposed directly to airborne
allergens and particulates. This triggers a response from immune cells
in the GI tract to generate regulatory T cells, which then travel
through the bloodstream searching the body for these antigens. These
regulatory T cells block the development of allergic T cell responses
in the lungs and sinuses."

Most of the time, in ways scientists don't completely understand, the
GI tract immune system modulates or dampens down the allergic T cells'
response to incoming allergens in the lungs, according to Huffnagle.
But when antibiotics reduce the bacterial population in the GI tract,
the number of yeast and other fungal organisms increases.

In previous studies, researchers in Huffnagle's lab discovered that
fungi secrete molecules called oxylipins, which can control the type
and intensity of immune responses. Huffnagle says this suggests the
intriguing possibility that fungal oxylipins in the GI tract prevent
the development of regulatory T cells for swallowed allergens. In the
absence of regulatory T cells from the GI tract, T cells in the lungs
become sensitized to the presence of ordinary mold spores, pollen or
other allergens. The result is a hyperactive immune response, which
can produce allergy symptoms or even asthma.

To test Huffnagle's hypothesis, Mairi C. Noverr, Ph.D., a U-M research
fellow in internal medicine, gave a five-day course of oral
antibiotics to normal lab mice followed by a single oral introduction
of the yeast, Candida albicans, to create a consistent, reproducible
colony of microbes in the stomach and intestines. C. albicans is
normally found in the GI tract, and increased growth of C. albicans in
the gut is a common side-effect of antibiotics.

Two days after stopping the antibiotics – at a time when the gut
bacteria were growing back - Noverr exposed the mice to a common mold
allergen called Aspergillus fumigatus by inoculating spores into the
nasal cavities of all the mice in her study. She then examined the
mice for the presence of an allergic response in the airways and
compared results between the mice that received antibiotics and those
that did not.

"Mice treated with antibiotics and colonized with C. albicans showed
increased pulmonary hypersensitivity to A. fumigatus compared with
mice that didn't receive antibiotics," Noverr says. "The inflammatory
response grew stronger with every exposure to the allergen."

"After antibiotics changed the mix of microbes in the GI tract, the
mice developed an allergic response in the lungs when exposed to
common mold spores," Huffnagle explains. "Mice that didn't receive the
antibiotics were able to fight off the mold spores."

Huffnagle and Noverr will discuss details of the experiment in a
symposia lecture and poster presentation at the ASM meeting. Complete
data from the study has been submitted for publication in a future
issue of Infection and Immunity.

Huffnagle maintains that disruptions in the growth of bacteria and
fungi in the GI tract somehow interfere with the ability of regulatory
T cells to dampen the immune response to respiratory allergens. In
future research, he hopes to determine exactly how gastrointestinal
microbes are involved in the process of immune system modulation.

"We know from laboratory experiments that dietary antioxidants called
polyphenols, which are found in fruits and vegetables, can limit
fungal growth and that a diet high in saturated fats and sugars slows
the recovery of normal gut microflora," Huffnagle adds. "The
Mediterranean diet is rich in sources of polyphenols, so it's
intriguing that Mediterranean-diet countries have lower rates of
allergies, asthma and other inflammatory diseases than Western-diet
countries like the United States , Canada and England .

"If we can determine exactly how microflora in the GI tract affect the
immune system, it may be possible one day to prevent or treat
allergies and inflammatory diseases with diet changes or probiotics –
dietary supplements of ‘healthy' bacteria designed to restore the
normal balance of microbes in the gut," Huffnagle adds. "In the
medical community, probiotic therapy is becoming an area of increasing
interest."

Until then, Huffnagle emphasizes the importance of a healthy low-sugar
diet, with lots of raw fruits and vegetables, after being treated with
antibiotics to help restore the normal mix of microbes in your GI
tract as quickly as possible. "The old saying, ‘an apple a day keeps
the doctor away' may be more true than we thought," he says.

Huffnagle's research has been funded by the National Institutes of
Health and a New Investigator Award from the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund.
Other collaborators in the research include Dennis M. Lindell, a U-M
graduate student in immunology, and Rachel Noggle, a research
assistant in internal medicine.

Notes: This is a basic scientific research study conducted in
laboratory mice. Much additional research will be required before
scientists will know if these results can be applied directly to
people. Your physician is the best source of advice for questions
about antibiotics and treatment of asthma, allergies and other
inflammatory diseases.

http://www.med.umich.edu

Hello,
You lost it, sweetheart; go to the end of the line.
You said, "antifungal agents could lead to the development of resistant germs".
GERMS???!!!! Now, now, hear this: we are
talking FUNGUS, not GERM. Fungus is fungus and germ is germ,
and never the two shall twain. What you say is true about
antibiotics and "germs" (bacteria), but have no interrelations to bacteria
(germs). You are mixing oranges with apples.

Another thing is that Candida isnot the only fungus
causing trouble in the sinuses, however since Candida
can develop into an over-growth (fungus with roots into
the membrane of the sinus), so frequently as to become
alarming now, it is urgent that every medical entity
start taking a good, long, hard looksee at it. Anyone
trying to hinder this action should be sued, if not
put in jail. Candida is the most common (or popular)
right now, because it is the one being found 96% of
the time, in sinus sufferers.

Get this straight, bubba, sinus complaints arenot a
"disease"; they are a condition (a weakness), which
today is beginning to get scary. As all weaknesses,
certain healthy conditions and actions of a health
nature must be addressed. With sinus we are doing
that right now, and one good one is yogurt, because
it tones the digestive system, this one thing, yogurt,
is only the tip of the iceberg, and here is the rest
of the iceberg:
http://www.mall-net.com/mcs/afung.html

Doc's think it is wise to address the fungus instead
of the infection - stick that in your pipe and smoke it,
old-timer . . . and remember this:
Where there is irritation;
There is blockage;
Where there is blockage;
There is swelling;
Where there is swelling;
There is infection.

Considering my Phoma, we can consider our "weakness"
to reacting so violently to everything that is natural
in nature. In other words you donot "get rid of Candida",
you CONTROL it. You cannot "get rid of fungus", as fungus
is amongus 24/7. You can only work on the "weakness"
within oneself. Fungus can get so bad as to be life-
threatening, just as easily as bacteria, and/or they
can become chronic, thus causing you to live a half-life,
which is what we are all about here at news:alt.support.sinusitis

Another thing Candida isnot, "systemic", in our case.
It is as the order of mold spores and has "satellites"

"They" say it is "normal" to have Candida in the body,
Yeah, sure, like it is "normal" for a dog to have fleas,
and is not "abnormal" until it grows roots and becomes a
fungus. Candida is a yeast . . .

How do we get it in our sinuses? I would say in as many
ways as we get everything else in our body. One way is
to get born with it . . . another way is sex; still
another is food; breathing; not washing the hands; and
endless other ways. Candida, as all fungus, starts in
the soil. It is part of Mother Earth's digestion. It
is a parasite. Fungus breaks down earth elements,
such as dead trees, foliage, or anything else that
falls dead on the soil. The soil is Mother Earth's
digestive system. When fungus gets into our sinuses
it still tries to do the job God intended for it to do.

Another thingy you obviously donot know is there are
two ways of suffering from fungus in the sinuses:
when it is rooted (actually digesting us) and when we are
allergic to it, of course if we have both conditions:
. . . well . . . fun and games . . .
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/benjamin.htm
MustRead!  http://WWW.PAMINIFARM.COM
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6

 

(5) neither patients nor

Now this is interesting

http://fampract.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/18/3/258

Nystatin (a topical antifungal drug that only treats fungal infection
of the mucous membranes) was compared to a placebo in patients
suffering with:

"chronic fatigue, poor concentration, impaired memory, respiratory
tract symptoms, gastrointestinal distress, pains in muscles and
joints, skin problems, recurrent infections, urogenital problems, etc"

Most if not all these symptoms are associated with sinusitis.

"Nystatin was significantly better than placebo in reduction of the
overall symptom score (P < 0.003)"

What this means is that nystatin really does help the above symptoms,
and the possibility that the results of this study are due to chance
is less than 0.3%.  In other words you can be 99.7% confident that the
results of this study are genuine and not due to chance.  Now maybe
Barrett considers 99.7% certainty to be "speculative and unproven",
but a reasonable person would not.

Anyone who has taken nystatin knows its not a panacea.  Although it
helps, you never regain the quality of life you had before you were
prescribed antibiotics.  And if you stop the nystatin, the symptoms it
helped come back in full force.

There is NOTHING that completely reverses the damage caused by
antibiotics.  Not drugs, not yogurt, not dietary changes.  Nothing.

* * *

I think you misread my post, or confused someone else's with mine. I simply
said that I like yogurt.


* * *

It was prescribed by my ENT starting on 11-08-2000 (I still have a copy of
the instructions), who spoke to the pharmacist and told him how to mix the
compound with amphotoericin which the pharmacy obtained from a local
hospital. I had to ask around a bit to find a pharmacist willing to mix the
compound. Most pharmacists don't practice chemistry at all; they prefer to
just sell packaged goods. I believe my doctor said he knew some researchers
at the Mayo Institute who published on the subject.