Medical Research Needs to Be Done

Research needs to be done to show that fungal infections are the start of the hormone-dependent cancers like breast cancer. My hope is that this blog will be read by women with breast cancer and their families and it will help them, and that it will be read by researchers or people in a position to get research done.

Even though I am a medical doctor, when I have tried to discuss with other doctors that my cancer began as a skin fungal infection, I have been immediately shot down, cut off and treated like I was spouting nonsense. The infectious disease specialist I tried to talk to said, "There is no proof that fungal infections cause cancer" and in her next breath said, " There are no good tests for detecting fungal infections."

I was too shocked by her abrupt, negative response to respond effectively. If I had responded, I would have said, "Don't those two things go together? The proof hasn't been found because we don't have the tests to diagnose the infection?"

Bacterial infections are usually diagnosed by taking a tissue or fluid specimen from someone who is ill and culturing the specimen in the lab. The sample is added to petri dishes containing the appropriate nutrients and the bacteria grow into colonies in the dish and are identified by the appearance of their colonies.

Fungi are notoriously hard to culture in the lab. We just do not know what nutrients work, what temperature or humidity levels to use. Fungi are also very slow growing - they can take weeks to begin to grow in culture, if they ever do grow.

I think many illnesses are caused by fungal infections, especially any disease called "autoimmune." We assume the illness results from the body attacking itself, when what is really happening is the body is fighting an infection and surrounding tissues are damaged in the process.

I believe these fungal infections develop very slowly, over weeks or months, and they do not cause the severe, obvious symptoms that are the hallmark of bacterial infections like staph, strep, E. coli, salmonella. These cause sudden high fevers, pus, diarrhea, loss of life or limb and can cause epidemics. In contrast, systemic fungal infections don't cause obvious sypmtoms. They slowly grow and slowly cause vague aches and pains, bloating, lack of energy, general misery. Doctors tell you it's all in your head. Don't be such a complainer.

Fibromyalgia has long been said, outside of the medical community, to be caused by Candida albicans, a very common yeast that causes vaginal yeast infections and is found in the gut. This is a classic example of an infection that causes prolonged misery and a profound loss of enjoyment of life without the obvious signs of infection like fever or pus. One of the typical features of fibromyalgia is sudden pain caused by trigger points. Touching a trigger point instantly sets off muscle spasms and severe pain. My cancer-causing fungal infection spread from my left breast to my left armpit, then around my body to my left shoulder blade and spread to the left side of my spine.

At the painful spot where the infection reached the spine, I have developed a classic trigger point. The muscles on the left side of my chest frequently spasm. If I try to massage this area, especially the painful spot next to my spine, the touch triggers a severe spasm that is so painful it takes my breath away. I believe a nerve emerging from my spine has become inflamed by the infection. This may be the mechanism for the trigger points in fibromyalgia - nerves inflamed by a systemic fungal infection.

Simple, inexpensive tests can be done to show the presence of fungal disease in cancerous tumor biopsies. Since the fungal infections that cause inflammatory breast cancer are the most aggressive and fast-spreading in premenopausal women because of their high levels of sex hormones, the diagnostic biopsies showing cancer in this group of women would have the most obvious signs of fungal infection. Microscope slides of these biopsies could be treated with silver stains that reveal fungal organisms. The type of fungus visible on the slides could be identified by its appearance. Tumor cells could be tested for the presence of fungal DNA, including whether fungal DNA has incorporated into the genes of the cancerous cells.

Once initial studies proved the presence of fungal disesase in cancerous tumors, accurate diagnostic tests like effective lab culture could be developed.

The wonderful thing is, we already have effective anti-fungal medicines available. When research confirms the involvement of fungal infections in hormone-dependent cancers, doctors will have the evidence they need to treat the disease in cancer patients and we can begin saving the lives of cancer patients immediately, just as I have been saved.