Study suggests link between fungi and ulcerative colitis

Currently going through this. I think my biggest UC related issues are the mycoplasma and this saphrophytic fungi. I was on an antifungal diet ( in essence what a paleo diet is) and herbal antifungals that helped. But I chose to start nystatin. That was huge. That's when I started tolerating cheese and grains again. Had some fun with that for a month then locked my diet back down so I can get to the bottom of the fungi/mold issue. Nystatin stays in the gut tho, and my fungi is a systemic issue.

Nystatin drove everything out of my gut but it was not going quietly. I started seeing more fungus in my blood then got the first ear infection of my life. Tried to fight that naturally but due to the low blood flow to the ear, it wasn't working.. Also tried drops.. Made it worse.. So now I'm on diflucan and abx concurrently. Time will tell what the ultimate result will be. My stomach seems fine tho. And since I was depressed about abx and antifungals I decided to eat my first gluten in years, lol. No problems.

The diflucan has drastically reduced the crap I was seeing in my blood.

A little more - But perhaps a breakdown in the mucus barrier would eventually lead to these types of immune reactions as well - makes sense it would apply to both bacteria and fungus.. Or something like that. Who knows.

Interactions between commensal fungi and the C-type lectin receptor Dectin-1 influence colitis
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22674328

Abstract
The intestinal microflora, typically equated with bacteria, influences diseases such as obesity and inflammatory bowel disease. Here, we show that the mammalian gut contains a rich fungal community that interacts with the immune system through the innate immune receptor Dectin-1. Mice lacking Dectin-1 exhibited increased susceptibility to chemically induced colitis, which was the result of altered responses to indigenous fungi. In humans, we identified a polymorphism in the gene for Dectin-1 (CLEC7A) that is strongly linked to a severe form of ulcerative colitis. Together, our findings reveal a eukaryotic fungal community in the gut (the "mycobiome") that coexists with bacteria and substantially expands the repertoire of organisms interacting with the intestinal immune system to influence health and disease.

I think "Dectin-1 Deficient Colitis" might be one of many different colitis diseases that UC eventually breaks up into. With so many gene loci associated, it is unimaginable that this is one single disease.

Not sure but I believe they are Broad Spectrum. DBwithUC will probably know.

And I forgot which one it is but I thought one of the Deb's had a statistical background - so the reductions in overall numbers may make sense to them versus any specific strain or family of bacteria. 10 Trillion bacterial reduced by say even 10% would result in a significant reduction in reactions I would think. Again, I think it strongly appears from what OM has dug up lately that the bacterial imbalance is a result of chronic inflammatory conditions. Same probably applies to fungus. But as always, who the heck knows.

My guess again is that anything that reduces/dampens an immune response - be it Pred/Biologics etc, change in diet, organic lifestyle, FT and on and on - they all have one this one thing in common - reduction in immune response via one way or another. But it's all from the outside in... Or the luminal side.

So perhaps OM is right in saying that in order to get at the heart of the problem we need to deal with the mucus barrier problem that would even cause these reactions in the first place. A spontaneous change in the permeability or loss of this barrier. So fix it from the inside out...

NCOT is probably right in the adamacy of autoimmune disorder.

Normal again, I was just thinking about that today on mu way to teach when I saw all the college kids walking to classes with their bagels and coffee.
I do think fungi are bad for our systems and thanks for posting these, CM.

Drooling now...

How do you find out if you have and issue with fungi either in your GI tract or systemic?

Just got am email that my UBiome kit is shipping soon, I assume they will check all microbes including fungi. Never have I been so excited to see what is in my poop!

I'd be VERY cautious with Oregano Oil as well - I had a terrible reaction and think it's what tipped the scales in this recent flare up.

I started to have the return of Crohn's like symptoms such as a tight stomach/abs, gut wrenching feeling all the time, nausea, cramping (abdominal). It's powerful stuff. Please use caution.

Much like Aguywithus I did well with RS - and seemed to see improvement - throw in the Oregano Oil and wow... not good.

Ive taken diflucan but never for a period of time long enough to see whether it gave benefit to my UC symptoms. I've been in remission so it would be hard to tell regardless. I've always wondered if yeast was somehow related. It can't help.

Canada Mark- Been singing this song for 7 years now on here. Experimented with an antifungal diet (similar to Paleo) and took natural antifungals after researching and learning fungus to be responsible for many of our diseases. Symptoms disappeared within months. Off all drugs and symptom-free since. There have been other studies linking fungus to UC.

Canada Mark - or think of it this way...If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten. Go for it!