Leaky Gut Disease

[Howard]

Hello,
I believe I am suffering from Leaky Gut disease and I was wondering if anyone had these or similiar symptoms:  coughing up mucus, occasional sinus infection and headache, nausua, twists and turns in lower intestine, IBS symptoms, sorta of a bad taste in mouth and on my breathe.  Are these clear signs of leaky gut?

If this leaky gut disease, how long will it last and what can I do to make this go away?

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Hello - thanks for asking your question.

Leaky Gut Syndrome (LGS) is a disease that is more widely accepted from the alternative medicine perspective.  This is all information that I found on my websearch.

LGS means just what it sounds like. The lining of the intestinal tract is no longer perfectly protecting our inner body from the foreign substances in the outside world. Remember, inside your intestinal tract is still outside your body. Just like inside your mouth is still outside your body--you have to go through the lining of your mouth to get inside your body. Things from the outside world travel through the tube from mouth to anus. The function of the lining of that tube is to break those substances down into particles that are so simple that, when absorbed, they can no longer be identified by our immune system as having come from something outside our body.

Altered intestinal permeability is a key element in the pathogenesis of many different diseases. Hyperpermeability initiates a vicious cycle in which allergic sensitization, endotoxic immune activation, hepatic dysfunction, pancreatic insufficiency and malnutrition occur; each of these increases the leakiness of the small bowel. Effective treatment of the Leaky Gut Syndromes requires several components: avoidance of enterotoxic drugs and allergic foods, elimination of infection or bacterial overgrowth with antimicrobials and probiotics, and dietary supplementation with trophic nutrients.

I stress that this answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

Links:
ADAM - Leaky Gut Syndrome
http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/autism/gut.htm

Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory - Leaky Gut Syndrome
http://www.gsdl.com/news/1999/19990227/index.html

Sobieraj.com - Gut Restoration
http://people.bu.edu/sobieraj/nutrition/gut.html

[PAJ]

Howard, you symptoms sugest Candida infection ,you may well have L/G syndrome it’s common with a yeast infection ,either by way of the yeast overgrowth  itself or by Candida-potentised bacterial infections .
Take a look at the information here http://www.panix.com./~candida/ be sure to read Dr Cranton a candida Guru . if you need more info post .

This article is from a Dr Truss another guru Try & get your doc involved ,but don’t hold your breath on that one , Treating a candida infection is too rich for most docs.[any thoughts Dr Kevin]

Lack of energy and digestive disturbances, arthritic joint pains, skin disease, menstrual problems, emotional instability and depression. All symptoms of what I call the 'antibiotic syndrome' which have greatly increased in frequency in recent years.
On further examination, more symptoms may be discovered. Most of the gastro-intestinal tract is tender when pressed, especially the small intestine, liver and gall bladder. There may even have been a gall bladder operation that failed to improve the condition, sometimes even worsening the symptoms.
There could be a history of thrush or oral, anal or vaginal itching. When these are present the diagnosis of Candida is obvious but it may also be present in the absence of these manifestations and that can be somewhat confusing. The yeast or fungus Candida albicans, of course, thrives during antibiotic treatment. I regard it as reckless negligence to prescribe antibiotics without simultaneous fungicides and replacement therapy with lactobacilli afterwards. I believe that this practice has greatly added to our vast pool of a chronically sick population.
However, the 'antibiotic syndrome' is not just due to Candida. I regard it more generally as a 'dysbiosis' where the wrong kind of microbes inhabit the intestinal tract, not just Candida and other fungi, but many types of pathogenic bacteria including coli bacteria which are normal in the colon but become disease-forming when they ascend into the small intestine.
If the problem has existed for years, there is usually a lack of gastric acid which then allows the stomach to be colonised by microbes, causing inflammation with pain and later, ulcers. The toxins released by the microbial overpopulation cause in addition chronic inflammation of the liver, gall bladder, pancreas and intestines. I regard it as rather likely that a chronic inflammation of the pancreas is a major contributing factor in the development of insulin-dependent diabetes.
Bacterial attack
Specific types of pathogenic bacteria appear to cause or contribute to specific auto-immune diseases. One variety of coli bacteria, for instance, produces a molecule that is very similar to insulin. When the immune system becomes activated against this molecule it may then also attack related features at the beta cells of the pancreas
Another type of bacteria, Yersinia enterocolitica, induces an immune response that attacks the thyroid gland and leads to Grave's disease with a serious overproduction of thyroid hormones.
Ulcerative colitis is linked to overgrowth with pathogenic microbes, the same as Crohn's disease, osteoporosis and ankylosing spondylitis. In ankylosing spondylitis the vertebra of the spine fuse together causing stiffness and pain. Other joints may in time become affected.
Klebsiella, another type of pathogenic bacteria, produces a molecule that is similar to a tissue type found in people with this disease. When klebsiella numbers in the gut decrease, related antibodies in the blood decrease and the condition improves.
Rheumatoid arthritis is linked to other bacteria, called proteus. Proteus is also a common cause of urinary tract infections. Women suffer urinary tract infections as well as rheumatoid arthritis twice as often as men, while men usually have higher levels of klebsiella and three times more ankylosing spondylitis than women.
In addition microbial overgrowth dam ages the intestinal wall so that only partly digested food particles can pass into the bloodstream, causing allergies. In this way all auto-immune diseases can be linked to food allergies.
While rheumatoid arthritis is a frequent feature of the antibiotic syndrome, and I regard it as relatively easy to cure, not many sufferers of this disease seem to be interested in this natural approach. The other day a young man with severe rheumatoid arthritis knocked at my door to collect money for a medically sponsored walkathon. When I told him that I do not give money for drug treatment as it can be overcome with natural therapies, he shouted: 'You are mad!' and left visibly upset.
Other auto-immune diseases that have so far been linked to dysbiosis are psoriasis, lupus erythematosus and pancreatitis. When remedies are given that bind bacterial endotoxins, these conditions usually improve. A further consequence of dysbiosis is susceptibility to food poisoning as with salmonella bacteria, while a healthy intestinal flora prevents these from multiplying and causing trouble.
Staphylococcus aureus or golden staph cause serious infections in hospital patients. It has been found that not only golden staph but also other infections are greatly potentised when they occur with a Candida overgrowth. As Candida overgrowth is a natural outcome of the standard hospital treatment, it is easy to see why golden staph is so deadly in hospitals.
A similar picture emerges with AIDS. People do not die from the AIDS virus but from Candida-potentised bacterial infections. I also see the antibiotic-induced dysbiosis in babies and infants as the main cause of their frequent infections, glue ear and greatly contributing to cot death.
While it used to be uncommon for children to have more than one or two infections a year, now more than six is the norm.
In the 1940's Candida was found in only three per cent of autopsies, now the figure is nearer thirty per cent. There are, of course, other factors that can cause dysbiosis - the contraceptive pill, steroids and other drugs, radiation treatment and chemotherapy - but the main culprit is, without doubt, antibiotics.
Closely related to Candida are the mycoplasms or pleomorphic organisms. These have been shown to be a main factor in the causation of cancer. Therefore, antifungal therapy has also major benefits in cancer treatment.
Dr Orian Truss
In 1953 Dr Orian Truss discovered the devastating effects of antibiotics in an Alabama (USA)

[Hyena of Ice]

"coughing up mucus, occasional sinus infection and headache, nausua, twists and turns in lower intestine, IBS symptoms, sorta of a bad taste in mouth and on my breathe. Are these clear signs of leaky gut?"

Sounds more like symptoms of food allergy, to me.  But then, I personally think Leaky Gut Syndrome is for the most part BS.  
In fact, those are all telltale signs of a histamine reaction.  Other common symptoms are excema (sp?) or excema-like skin inflammations, as well as a general feeling of itchyness all over your body.  

Do keep in mind that there's a huge difference between food sensitivity and food allergy.  

Food sensitivities are generally caused either by (non-allergic) irritation (fatty foods, spicy foods, alcohol, various poisons) or by the inability of the patient's body to digest certain compounds.  Sugars of just about any kind are one of the most common (lactose, sucrose, fructose, etc.)  

Food allergy runs along the same principle as hayfever.  It's something you're actually ALLERGIC to, only it's a tad bit worse than hayfever, because the offending compound my accumulate in your tissues for a short while, producing systemic allergic reactions (If you're really, severely allergic, it will cause a serious condition known as anaphalaptic shock.)

In the case of food allergy, your body treats the offending compound as a pathogen.  This means the following:
*Diarrhea to flush the toxins and pathogens out of the body as quickly as possible
*runny nose and sinuses to wash the offending pathogens out of the nasal and sinus passages and to protect the inflamed mucusal membranes
*Possible low-grade fever
*ecxema-like skin rashes and itchyness all over the body
I have noticed that people and animals with inflammitory skin reactions often have a foul-smelling odor that emanates from shedded skin.