It's worth noting that practitioners of western medicine have been scoffing at naturopathic doctors for decades over their focus on the role of C. albicans in some chronic, systemic disorders that are difficult to diagnose and treat. The standard wisdom was (and largely still is) that everyone has candida and it is
only medically relevant in severely immunocompromised individuals.
It is nice to see that researchers are starting to look more deeply into the fungal component of the microbiome and peripheral effects that fungi can have around the body beyond the classically studied and treated acute fungal infections. Although populations are less stable and are in smaller number than the bacteria and viruses, we carry an incredible load of these organisms in our bodies and they are constantly interacting with our microbiome and immune system:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5...
"Dysbiosis (ie, an imbalance in the composition of the microbial community, which includes loss of symbionts, outgrowth of pathobionts or opportunists, and disturbed inter-microbial competition and microbial diversity) of the gut mycobiota has been implicated in a number of diseases, spanning autoimmune, metabolic, and neurological disorders, and cancers. Colonisation and growth of opportunistic fungal pathogens in the gut can induce dysregulated host immune responses thereby influencing the disease course. In addition, gut fungi—particularly Candida spp—sophistically influence the assembly and function of the gut bacterial microbiome (another cardinal regulator of host physiology), through cellular contact, competition or collaboration for available nutrients, production of secondary metabolites and antimicrobial peptides, and physiochemical changes to the gut niche."
It is nice to see that researchers are starting to look more deeply into the fungal component of the microbiome and peripheral effects that fungi can have around the body beyond the classically studied and treated acute fungal infections. Although populations are less stable and are in smaller number than the bacteria and viruses, we carry an incredible load of these organisms in our bodies and they are constantly interacting with our microbiome and immune system:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5...
"Dysbiosis (ie, an imbalance in the composition of the microbial community, which includes loss of symbionts, outgrowth of pathobionts or opportunists, and disturbed inter-microbial competition and microbial diversity) of the gut mycobiota has been implicated in a number of diseases, spanning autoimmune, metabolic, and neurological disorders, and cancers. Colonisation and growth of opportunistic fungal pathogens in the gut can induce dysregulated host immune responses thereby influencing the disease course. In addition, gut fungi—particularly Candida spp—sophistically influence the assembly and function of the gut bacterial microbiome (another cardinal regulator of host physiology), through cellular contact, competition or collaboration for available nutrients, production of secondary metabolites and antimicrobial peptides, and physiochemical changes to the gut niche."