How To Find A Doctor To Treat Intestinal Yeast, Candida, And Candidiasis

This web site focuses on fungal and yeast infections, especially intestinal Candida yeast infections, along with concomitant infections of pathogenic bacteria and intestinal parasites. The predominant illness in this category is Candidiasis, the overgrowth of Candida yeast in the intestines. There is a general consensus among victims of Candidiasis, those who suspect they have Candida infections and those who treat Candida infections that the mainstream medical community is unaware or in denial of the existence of this disease, and that few among this community are familiar with diagnostic tools to discover the condition, nor are they familiar with effective treatment procedures to eradicate the infection.

TYPES OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

There are a number of sources available to help find a healthcare profession with awareness and experience in this area. The category of healthcare professionals includes a variety of specialties with the obvious being allopathic medical doctors (MD's and DO's). DO's are Osteopaths (Doctors of Osteopathy) whose training is somewhat more focused on whole health care and natural healing than that of the traditional MD training, but they are fully qualified physicians who do heart surgery and everything else. Because of the slant of their training, a DO might be more open to considerations of Candidiasis and alternative therapies than MD's.

In addition to MD's and DO's, there are several other types of healthcare professionals who treat Candidiasis, and who collectively constitute the mainline of Candidiasis caregivers. This category includes Naturopaths (ND -- Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine), Chiropractors (DC -- Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine), Nutritionists, and Nurse Practitioners, among others.

WHERE TO START LOOKING

Among the MD/DO community, there are infectious disease specialists who are very familiar with yeast infections as a result of treating immune compromised patients such as those with HIV/AIDS, organ transplant recipients, and cancer patients who have been treated with chemotherapy. Despite this familiarity, they may not be aware or accepting of the nature of the iintestinal Candida infection (entrenched, long term, resilient infections), and might be entirely dependent on prescription drugs for treatment. Nevertheless, there are infectious disease specialists in every community, and this might be a reasonable first choice in your pursuit since for most people it simply means looking up an infectious disease specialist in the phone book.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

AMERICAN COLLEGE FOR ADVANCEMENT IN MEDICINE (ACAM)

"Founded in 1973, the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) is a not-for-profit medical society dedicated to educating physicians and other health care professionals on the latest findings and emerging procedures in preventive/nutritional medicine. ACAM's goals are to improve skills, knowledge and diagnostic procedures as they relate to complementary and alternative medicine; to support research; and to develop awareness of alternative methods of medical treatment." ACAM http://www.acam.org provides a search engine to find member doctors who self-identify with interest and training in particular specialties. Search at http://www.acam.org/doctorsearch.php for yeast (code YS) for doctors in your state.

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NATUROPATHIC PHYSICIANS (AANP)

AANP offers a searchable roster of member Naturopathic Doctors at http://www.naturopathic.org/find_nd.htm. AANP includes approximately 40% of the 1500 practicing Naturopathic Physicians. And, …

NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE NETWORK

The Naturopathic Medicine Network provides a searchable listing of licensed Naturopathic Doctors at http://www.pandamedicine.com/physicians.html. 

"Naturopathic Physicians (N.D.s) are primary health care practitioners. They are trained to be the doctor first seen by the patient for general health care, for advice on keeping healthy, and for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic conditions. They also serve those whose treatment by conventional means has not met their needs and who seek Naturopathic care as an alternative. Naturopathic physicians are well trained in all modern methods of diagnostic testing and imaging including X-ray, ultrasound, and other imaging techniques.

"The N.D. course of study is an intensive four-year graduate program including approximately 4,500 hours of academic and clinical training. The program leads to licensure as a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (N.D.). It is important to distinguish certified Naturopathic physicians from non-certified who have completed just a short-term coursework mostly by correspondence."

"The current scope of Naturopathic practice includes, but not limited to:

• Clinical Nutrition
• Botanical Medicine
• Homeopathic Medicine
• Physical Medicine
• Oriental Medicine
• Naturopathic Obstetrics
• Psychological Medicine
• Minor Surgery

Naturopathic practice excludes the use of most synthetic drugs and major surgery."

THE INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

"Founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1983, by seven progressive, forward-thinking physicians, the International College of Integrative Medicine (a not-for-profit medical society), has since expanded far beyond its original regional environs into a rapidly growing association with nationwide and international membership. As was true at its beginning, ICIM today continues to focus on educating health care professionals in the latest research-supported techniques and emerging holistic therapies that show promise for improving patient care.

"The ICIM mission emphasizes a two-pronged approach: the reversal of chronic degenerative disease and the prevention of such ailments, by increasing the skills, knowledge and procedures available to clinicians amenable to embracing alternative procedures, including nutritional supplementation, chelation and other noninvasive preventive and health-promoting therapies."

The ICIM offers access to its member directory at http://www.glccm.org/icimed. Physicians with memberships in ICIM are more likely to be attuned to the needs and issues related to fungal, yeast, and parasitic infections than average.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE (AAEM)

The AAEM is an association of healthcare professionals concerned with environmental illness, caused by stimulants found in air, water, food, drugs, and in the work, play, and home environments. Environmental stressors include food sensitivities, nutritional deficits, and infectious organisms. Thus, member physicians, which include MD's and DO's, may have appropriate interests and backgrounds to deal with Candida illnesses. The AAEM offers a search service of "Referable Physicians" at http://www.aaem.com/referable_physicians.htm. Referable physicians are members of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine who have successfully completed the Core Curriculum consisting of four Instructional Courses.

AMERICAN HOLISTIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AHMA)

AHMA membership is comprised of licensed medical doctors (MDs) and doctors of osteopathic medicine (DOs) from every specialty, and of health care practitioners certified, registered, or licensed in the state in which they practice. AHMA members are committed to the principles of holistic medicine, which includes education for lifestyle changes and self-care, complementary alternatives; conventional drugs and surgery, with the belief that searching for the underlying causes of disease is preferable to treating symptoms alone. AHMA currently offers a printed directory, and promises to offer an online searchable directory sometime in 2003. Go to http://www.holisticmedicine.org/ and follow the link to Doctor Finder.

FOUNDATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF INNOVATIVE MEDICINE (FAIM)

This Foundation defines innovative medicine as a treatment or therapy of empirical clinical benefit that is yet outside the mainstream of conventional medicine. Innovative medicine is complementary to conventional medicine, offering alternatives as an individual situation may warrant. FAIM offers a directory of its members at http://www.faim.org/directory.htm. Members are principally MD's and DO's in the NJ, NY, and CT area.

PRICE-POTTENGER NUTRITIONAL FOUNDATION

"The Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization, is a clearinghouse of information on healthful lifestyles, ecology, sound nutrition, alternative medicine, humane farming and organic gardening. We appreciate your interest in PPNF. Perhaps your doctor has directed you to PPNF. We will do our best to provide information that will help you make wise choices about nutrition and health options. PPNF can link you with environmentally and nutritionally oriented health care professionals around the country." Join PPNF for $35 plus $10 for a printed list of member health care professionals at http://www.price-pottenger.org/index.htm.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR HOMEOPATHY (NCH)

Homeopathy attempts to stimulate the body to recover itself. Many medical doctors (MD) and osteopathic doctors (DO) study homeopathy as a postgraduate specialty, much the same as, for example, neurology or orthopedics. A second group of doctors includes Naturopathic physicians (ND) who study homeopathy as part of their Naturopathic school training. Both of these groups have board certification: the Diplomate in Homeotherapeutics (DHt) for MDs and DOs, and the Diplomate of the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians (DHANP) for Naturopathic physicians. The Certified in Classical Homeopathy (CCH) is available to homeopaths of all professions. Homeopathic practitioners also include chiropractors, veterinarians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, acupuncturists, and certified nurse midwives. Read the page "How to find a homeopath" at http://www.homeopathic.org/find.htm, then click on "Search NCH Directory" at the top of the page which takes you to http://homeopathic.org/NCHSearchNew.htm. You can search by state or zip -- be sure to put a check mark in the box at the bottom to "include member status in search criteria" in order to limit the search results to just Practicing Members.

DR. CROOK'S IHF LIST

Dr. William Crook, author of the original book "The Yeast Connection" that brought the topic of Candidiasis to the popular forum, established the nonprofit International Health Foundation (IHF) to promote the health causes associated with discovering and treating Candidiasis. In 1999 the IHF published a group of pamphlets which would be sent to those contributing a $25 donation. One of these pamphlets included a listing of about 800 health care professionals which the IHF had been compiling since its inception in 1986. Dr. Crook offers the following comment about this list: "Unfortunately, in spite of our continuing efforts, we've had little success and all of our lists leave much to be desired." The observation continues that some individuals on the list may be too busy to accept new patients, some may not be sympathetic or understanding of Candidiasis and its proper treatment, and some on the list have moved or retired. Therefore, you should consider the list to be imperfect, and perhaps obsolete. Dr. Crook was the principal figure of the IHF which now appears to be inactive since his death in 2002. In his absence, the list is unlikely to ever be updated.

OTHER SOURCES

There is a listing of physicians who treat Candidiasis in the back of "Candida-Related Complex, What Your Doctor Might Be Missing", by Christine Winderlin and Keith Sehnert MD, Taylor Publishing Co., 1996 (ISBN: 0878339353). See our page BOOKS ON CANDIDIASIS to order a copy.

Great Smokies Lab offers a referral service to healthcare practitioners who have registered with them. Call 1-800-522-4762 (8 AM - 8 PM EST) or go to http://www.gsdl.com/contact/contact.html and fill out the contact form with your request. This information is available by Zip Code in the US.  Great Smokies has distributors and affiliations in many countries, and those organizations might offer a similar referral service.

The National Candida Society in the UK has a register of practitioners in the UK specializing in Candida (plus the usual information). http://www.candida-society.org.uk/ "We keep an up-to-date register of practitioners who range from Homoeopaths and nutritionists through to those who trained (and are highly qualified) in the medical field but chose to 'cross the floor' to alternative medicine when they became more interested in preventing illness and natural cures. In addition, some of our practitioners provide ancillary services for Candida sufferers such as colonic irrigation. All of our practitioners operate privately in the UK."

Compounding pharmacies. Many MD's treating Candidiasis prescribe amphotericin-B in an oral form, and nystatin powder. These products are only available "custom made" by specially licensed compounding pharmacies. There are about 2,000 compounding pharmacies in the US, so there might be several near you, wherever you are. See our page SCORING SPECIAL Rx DRUGS for information on how to find compounding pharmacies. Call up a few and ask them for the names of any physicians who have written prescriptions for these drugs. This avenue may be your best bet for finding a cooperative and knowledgeable MD or DO.

SOME CLINICS AND ONLINE PRACTITIONERS

There are many online practitioners -- we apologize to them for our failure to include them all. Those listed below caught our attention for one reason or another.

Dr. Elmer Cranton, MD http://drcranton.com/index.html operates a clinic in Yelm, Washington, and one in Trout Dale, Virginia. The focus of Dr. Cranton's work is treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other yeast-associated illnesses, and EDTA chelation therapy for reversing arteriosclerosis, improving blocked circulation, and slowing the aging process. His web page at http://drcranton.com/CFIDS.htm gives a good description of Chronic Fatigue and yeast illnesses and treatments. The essence of his Candida therapeutic strategy is encapsulated in our page Triple RX Treatment Strategy.

The Biamonte Center for Clinical Nutrition http://www.health-truth.com is a clinic operated by Dr. Michael Biamonte, a nutritionist in New York City who specializes in treating Candida-related illnesses. He conducts a national and international practice over the phone, in addition to his local NYC practice. His web site offers good Candida articles at http://www.health-truth.com/Articles/Candida.asp that are centered around Biamonte's treatment protocol. They provide a good understanding of the difficulties in treating Candida, along with the rationale for his structured approach. Start with article #4, then #6, then follow your interests.