Chronic Disease & Infectious Disease

As a Naturopathic doctor, many patients come in and say “I have not felt good since….” In a significant number of these cases, there is a bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic component at the center of the case. Many of these patients are struggling with fatigue, foggy brain, nutrient depletion and gut problems. I’ve helped these patients restore their health and resolve the microbial invasion that has plagued them.

Parasitic Infections

I’ve found that many people have long term parasitic infections and don’t know it. For these patients, their symptoms present as chronic fatigue or neurological symptoms, chronic headaches or foggy brain. Previous treatments may have temporarily improved the symptoms. However, the improvement quickly dissipates and the person is again inhibited by chronic symptoms. This presentation is common in patients with liver flukes, worms, nematodes and Lyme.

My approach is to see the totality of the symptoms and diagnosis it as a parasitic infection. This is tricky because many of the worst parasitic invasion cases I have seen did not test positive for parasites on the stool testing. Consequently, I often employ functional testing to identify the problems.

Another critical piece is to recognize that these patients are nutrient depleted and exhausted. Treatment must not further exhaust them. Patients must be built up while the parasitic invasion is addressed.

Viral Infections

In my clinical experience, chronic viral infections can present with many symptoms but two patterns are common. The first pattern is the immune system is working in overdrive to keep the viruses in check, so the patient winds up exhausted and chronically depleted. The second pattern is the patient has some energy problems but the majority of their symptoms are neurological; headaches, foggy brain, heaviness in the head, feeling like the brain is on fire or just feeling off.

In these chronic viral infection cases, I have found that multiple viruses are acting at once. In many cases, the reduced immune response creates a great environment for bacterial and fungal co-infections. My approach in these patients is to support the immune system and address the viral infection directly without further depleting the patient.

Fungal Infections

I find that most chronically ill patient’s immune systems are not working optimally. Consequently, fungal co-infections are extremely common. With our sugar-rich food, many patients get Candida infections. They treat their Candida and it temporarily goes away. But they can not get long term resolution. In many of these cases, co-infections are the culprit and the patient’s treatment plan needs to be structured to address the co-infections.

I also find that fungus tends to vacuum up heavy metals. When the fungus starts to die off during treatment, the patient can get strange symptoms and a “die-off effect”. Much of this “die-off effect” can be related to the heavy metals being dumped back in the system. Treatment must be structured to effectively remove the fungal invasion without further depleting the patient with the “die-off effect”.

A Naturopathic Doctor in Berkeley

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