View source for Unsolved:Candida hypersensitivity

{{Short description|Proposed syndrome}}
{{Infobox alternative diagnosis
| name          = Candida hypersensitivity
| synonyms      = systemic candidiasis, chronic candidiasis
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{{alternative medicine sidebar|diagnoses}}
'''Candida hypersensitivity''' is a [[Unsolved:Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] syndrome promoted by William G. Crook, M.D.<ref name="Crook">{{cite book|title=The Yeast Connection: A Medical Breakthrough|year=1986|first=William G.|last=Crook|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=0933478062|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/yeastconnection00croo}}</ref> It is spuriously claimed that chronic yeast infections are responsible for many common disorders and [[Medicine:Symptom#Non-specific symptoms|non-specific symptoms]] including [[Medicine:Fatigue|fatigue]], weight gain, [[Medicine:Constipation|constipation]], [[Medicine:Dizziness|dizziness]], muscle and joint [[Medicine:Pain|pain]], [[Medicine:Asthma|asthma]], and others.<ref name="SBM">{{cite web|title=Candida and Fake Illnesses|url=https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/candida-and-fake-illnesses/|website=Science-Based Medicine|date=25 September 2013|access-date=4 July 2018|first=Steven|last=Novella}}</ref>

==Background==
''[[Biology:Candida albicans|Candida albicans]]'' is a [[Biology:Fungus|fungus]] that colonizes a large majority of the population (meaning it is present in the body but not causing an infection or any problems). Under certain conditions, however, it can cause an [[Medicine:Candidiasis|infection]]. The most common manifestations are thrush (a superficial ''Candida'' infection in the mouth) and [[Medicine:Vaginitis|vaginitis]], also commonly referred to as a yeast infection. Several ''Candida'' species can also cause a serious infection known as invasive candidiasis, which can be systemic if blood borne (candidaemia). This is almost always restricted to those with compromised immune systems, such as patients undergoing [[Medicine:Chemotherapy|chemotherapy]] or with advanced AIDS, or undergoing medical treatments.<ref name="SBM"/>

==Symptoms==
After reading publications by C. Orian Truss, M.D.,<ref>{{cite book|last=Truss|first=CO|title=The Missing Diagnosis|location=Birmingham, AL|publisher=The Missing Diagnosis, Inc.|year=1983}}</ref> Crook proposed the idea that a condition he termed systemic candidiasis, or '''Candida hypersensitivity''', was responsible for a long list of common conditions and [[Medicine:Symptom#Non-specific symptoms|non-specific symptoms]] including [[Medicine:Fatigue|fatigue]], [[Medicine:Asthma|asthma]], [[Medicine:Psoriasis|psoriasis]], [[Medicine:Sexual dysfunction|sexual dysfunction]], and many others.<ref name="SBM"/> The list of symptoms is similar to that of [[Unsolved:Multiple chemical sensitivity|multiple chemical sensitivity]].<ref name="Barrett2005"/> Many patients presenting with symptoms of environmental sensitivity claim to suffer from multiple "fashionable" syndromes.<ref name="Stewart1990">{{cite journal|last1=Stewart|first1=Donna E.|title=The Changing Faces of Somatization|journal=Psychosomatics|volume=31|issue=2|year=1990|pages=153–158|issn=0033-3182|doi=10.1016/S0033-3182(90)72188-3|pmid=2330395|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Criticism==
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology strongly criticized the concept of "candidiasis hypersensitivity syndrome" and the diagnostic and treatment approaches its proponents use. AAAAI's position statement concludes: (1) the concept of candidiasis hypersensitivity is speculative and unproven; (2) its basic elements would apply to almost all sick patients at some time because its supposed symptoms are essentially universal; (3) overuse of oral antifungal agents could lead to the development of resistant germs that could menace others; (4) adverse effects of oral antifungal agents are rare, but some inevitably will occur; and (5) neither patients nor doctors can determine effectiveness (as opposed to coincidence) without controlled trials. Because allergic symptoms can be influenced by many factors, including emotions, experiments must be designed to separate the effects of the procedure being tested from the effects of other factors.<ref name="Barrett2005"/><ref name="AndersonChai1986">{{cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=J|last2=Chai|first2=H|last3=Claman|first3=H|last4=Ellis|first4=E|last5=Fink|first5=J|last6=Kaplan|first6=A|last7=Lieberman|first7=P|last8=Pierson|first8=W|last9=Salvaggio|first9=J|last10=Sheffer|first10=A|title=Candidiasis hypersensitivity syndromeApproved by the executive committee of the American academy of allergy and immunology|journal=Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology|volume=78|issue=2|year=1986|pages=271–273|issn=0091-6749|doi=10.1016/S0091-6749(86)80073-2|pmid=3734279|doi-access=free}}</ref>

By 2005, scientists were taking note of "a large [[Unsolved:Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] cult"<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Odds|first1=FC|title=Candida infections: an overview.|journal=Critical Reviews in Microbiology|date=1987|volume=15|issue=1|pages=1–5|pmid=3319417|doi=10.3109/10408418709104444}}</ref> that had developed around the topic of [[Medicine:Candidiasis|yeast infections]], with claims that up to one in three people were affected by yeast-related illnesses including Candida hypersensitivity.<ref name="Barrett2005">{{cite web|author1=Stephen Barrett, M.D.|title=Dubious "Yeast Allergies"|url=http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candida.html|date=October 8, 2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513203124/http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candida.html|archive-date=May 13, 2008}}</ref> 

==Legal action==
Some practitioners of alternative medicine have promoted dietary supplements as supposed cures for this non-existent illness, rendering themselves liable to prosecution.<ref name="Barrett2005"/><ref name=NCAHF>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncahf.org/articles/c-d/candida.html |title=Candidiasis Hypersensitivity |access-date=18 January 2014 |publisher=National Council Against Health Fraud |author=Jarvis WT}}</ref> In 1990, alternative health vendor Nature's Way signed a FTC consent agreement not to misrepresent in advertising any self-diagnostic test concerning yeast conditions or to make any unsubstantiated representation concerning any food or supplement's ability to control yeast conditions, with a fine of US$30,000 payable to the [[Organization:National Institutes of Health|National Institutes of Health]] for research in genuine candidiasis.<ref name="NCAHF" />

==See also==
* [[Philosophy:List of topics characterized as pseudoscience#Health and medicine|List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]]

==References==
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{{Pseudoscience}}
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]

{{Sourceattribution|Candida hypersensitivity}}