Finding Natural Health Information on the Internet

In case you haven’t noticed, it is getting more and more difficult to find natural health information through the usual search engines. In June 2019, Google began a new algorithm to change ranking results in their search engine. Many “holistic” and “natural” websites have been excluded from the page one listings thereby making it more difficult to find the health information and/or practitioner that you are seeking.

Some of the most popular sites, such as Dr Mercola, Dr. Axe and even IAOMT, cannot be found on page one when searching for information on holistic medicine or dentistry. In some cases, they cannot be found at all, unless you specifically look up their website. Even with that, some pages of these wbsites have been blocked to keep specific information out of the public knowledge. This seems to be particularly happening with ant-vaccine sites. Mike Adams at Natural News wrote an interesting commentary on this here.

In addition, QuackWatch seems to consistently come up on page 1 of Google search, which further undermines alternative/holistic health issues.

It seems that the only way to get around this is to use a different search engine. There are many to choose from, but I am personally using DuckDuckGo with good comprehensive results.

Feel free to share any information in the Comment section below that may be useful for those looking for answers.

Candida Infection of the Mouth

Oral candidiasis -- also known as Oral thrush, is a condition in which the fungus Candida albicans accumulates on the lining of your mouth and tongue. Candida is a normal organism in your mouth, but sometimes it can overgrow and cause symptoms. When the fungus begins to grow uncontrollably, an infection can develop.

Oral Candida

Oral thrush most often occurs in infants and toddlers, people receiving cancer therapies, diabetics, and anyone with a compromised immune system. If you have any history of taking antibiotics or heavy metal toxicity (including mercury fillings),  you are a prime candidate for a Candida infection. 

There are many cases of patients with a long history of “stubborn” candida overgrowth and yeast infections that couldn’t be easily healed. Only when the heavy metal toxicity problem was addressed, the candida overgrowth became easier to manage. This is very common in people that have mercury fillings or a known exposure to mercury.

Oral Symptoms of Candidiasis:

• Creamy white lesions on your tongue, inner cheeks, and sometimes on the roof of your mouth, gums and tonsils

• Slightly raised lesions with a cottage cheese-like appearance

• Redness, burning or soreness that may be severe enough to cause difficulty eating or swallowing

• Slight bleeding if the lesions are rubbed or scraped

• Cracking and redness at the corners of your mouth

• A cottony feeling in your mouth

• Loss of taste

• Redness, irritation and pain under dentures (denture stomatitis)

Other Symptoms of Candidiasis:

• fatigue

• skin issues

• sugar cravings

• autoimmune disease

• digestive issues

• joint pain

• headache

• brain fog

Some Simple Remedies for Treating Oral Thrush:

1. Salt water rinses

2. Oral probiotics throughout the day: yogurt, manuka honey, probiotics lozenges

3. Coconut Oil Pulling

4. Apple Cider Vinegar to maintain proper pH and increase good bacteria in the mouth

5. Tea Tree Oil or Peppermint Oil rinse. Gargle with few drops added to warm water

6. Baking Soda to maintain good pH by neutralizing acids in the mouth

7. Chewing garlic

8. Grapefruit seed extract rinse

9. Aloe vera applied directly to the lesions

10. Visit your dentist for treatment with ozone or laser treatment  

In severe cases, usually related to cancer or a weakened immune system from HIV/AIDS, the lesions may spread downward into the esophagus — the foodpipe stretching from the back of your mouth to your stomach. If this occurs, you may experience difficulty swallowing and pain or feel as if food is getting stuck in your throat.

Thrush is uncommon in healthy children and adults, so if thrush develops, see your doctor to determine if further evaluation is needed to check for an underlying medical condition or other cause.

Cold sores vs. Angular Cheilitis

With so much stress in our lives, cold sores on the lips (and in the mouth) are commonplace.  But sometimes a cold sore may be something else. If you've ever had cold sores that didn't respond to medication designed to treat them, it might be angular cheilitis, a completely different medical condition that looks surprisingly similar. The good news is that angular cheilitis is usually easy to treat, perhaps even easier that cold sores.

Angular cheilitis may mimic cold sores, but there are specific signs you can look for to tell them apart.

1.     Angular cheilitis usually begins as a patch of dry, irritated or cracked skin at one or both corners of the lips. It can persist for years, if left untreated.

2.     Cold sores typically begin as an itchy or painful area that turns into one or a group of small, painful blisters. Over a 7-10 day time period, they may weep, scab over, and then finally heal. They can be found anywhere on the soft tissues of the mouth, intraorally and extraorally.

3.     Angular cheilitis originates from a yeast or staph infection, vitamin deficiencies or poor fitting dentures.

4.     Cold sores are a contagious viral outbreak, usually manifesting when you are under stress or have a weakened immune system.

A cure for either one of these conditions is simple and quick once we know the cause. Nutritional support with a painless laser treatment is usually the easiest way to treat these and to prevent recurrence. Knowing which one you have can make all the difference in the outcome. Always best to see your health provider for a proper diagnosis and plan of action.