Chronic Bacteria, Is it affecting you?
A messy subject, for sure! But one worth considering if you are suffering any form of chronic or recurrent illness. Those who are suffering chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, recurrent sinusitis or infections (UTIs, ear infections, etc) are most likely are harbouring a reservoir of chronic bacteria in their bodies.
You may feel like you’ve tried everything to heal, and for some reason keep having relapses or not making progress in recovery. You may notice that you are suffering the same type of illness / infection recurrently, and that recurrence occurs especially when you are stressed or run down. To understand why this is happening, we need to look at how bacteria works.
Opportunistic and Stealth Organisms
Bacteria are opportunistic. So right off the bat we can consider the perfect scenario for continued or recurrent infection. Fatigue, Stress, Poor Sleep, Vitamin Deficiencies, Low Immunity, Poor Diet all provide opportunities for bacteria. Do you fall into any of these categories? Have you observed a pattern in when your recurrent infection returns? Bacteria ‘persisters’ can lay dormant only to regrow after stress or any when the opportunity arrises.
Bacteria can be planktonic (swimming freely as single cell entities) or can be grouped together in a protective layer. This biofilm protects those cells from injury or death, helps it to hide from our immune system, and responds only transiently to antibiotics. After treatment with medication, any remaining cells that survive in the biofilm layer contain subpopulations of bacteria in different stages of their life cycle. Already this can render them more evasive to antibiotics.
When those remaining biofilm bacteria regroup (and often when you are stressed or run down), they can come back 1000 times stronger and express a different set of genes. Amazingly, those bacteria form a ‘collective’ and develop the ability to work together to protect themselves. This leads to antibiotic resistance, stealth behaviour (evading blood tests), with the bacteria becoming ‘smarter’.
So, this isn’t a horror story and there is no need to be scared. It does, however, highlight the essential role that natural medicine plays in the management and prevention of recurrent infection.
What can be done to resolve chronic infection?
Repeat antibiotics may reduce the infection, but as we can see the bacteria can return smarter each time. A A Naturopath will design a strategic treatment plan which utilises herbal/nutritional medicines to:
Weaken this biofilm layer prior to administering antimicrobials
Clean up the debris and toxins that result from the dying bacteria
Nourish the gut, strengthen mucous membranes/tissues, improve immune health to ensure we break this cycle of infection
I certainly am not anti antibiotics, and there is a time and place for these drugs. However there is so much more that can be, and must be done in order to ensure resolution. Herbal medicines have a number of essential healing abilities that not only eliminate bacteria, but improve the tissues and resistance to the return of bacteria.
I strongly recommend anyone who suffers repeat infections such as sinusitis, urinary tract infections, unexplained bloating or bowel issues, or autoimmune/chronic fatigue, skin conditions to come in for a thorough consultation and treatment prior to the cooler months.
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