Common infectious diseases
(overview) | | Classification: | Comments: |
| fungal
infection | straight forward as in yeast
infections, but as obscure as blastomycosis |
| gastrointestinal infection | can
be acute like in a stomach flu or chronic as with a gastric ulcer |
| other
infections | Anthrax, BSE (prion), hantavirus,
hepatitis, Lassa fever, rabies, SARS |
| parasites |
tape worm, malaria, cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, and many others |
| respiratory
infection | mostly flu viruses and bacterial
infections | | sexually
transmitted disease (STD) | ranges from
classical VD to atypical presentations of VD |
| skin infection | depends
on skin wound type and host | | childhood
rashes | normal childhood skin problems |
| urinary
tract infection | from bladder infection
to kidney infection (pyelonephritis) | Infectious
Diseases (An Overview) Introduction: Infectious
diseases are an important part of Western medicine. In the early part of the 20th
century many infectious diseases were described and researched. In the second
World War penicillin was introduced. In the 1950's great progress was made
with antibiotics against tuberculosis. New antibiotics against syphilis and gonorrhea
were developed, the main sexually transmitted diseases in the 1960's and 1970's.
However, every time that progress was made the topic was getting more and more
complex as antibiotic resistance developed and new plagues like AIDS and BSE emerged.
Today we have remarkable challenges as besides AIDS (a virus) and BSE (a prion)
there are new strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria of malaria and tuberculosis,
methicillin resistant Staph. infection (MRSA) and Vancomycin resistant enterococcus
(VRE). We also have a myriad of viral diseases such as hepatitis C and others,
that together with AIDS have entered into the group of people who use intravenous
drugs with contaminated or shared needles. Further spread into the population
at large through close contact and intercourse poses a constant challenge to the
physician and society at large. Detoxification: Before jumping
to treatment with antibiotics only, I like to point out that it is important for
the body to be detoxified so that the nutrients and supplements can access the
cells and help the immune system to fight infections as well. Books like "Breakthrough"
(Ref.3) by Suzanne Somers have reviewed newer insights of antiaging medicine.
This points out the importance of detoxifying the body from heavy metals like
mercury, lead and cadmium. Glutathione, a natural compound active in the liver,
supports the immune system in fighting infections. Some anti-aging physicians
recommend to do chelation therapy with vitamin C and intravenous glutathione to
strengthen the immune system. In the following chapters I am attempting
to give an overview of this complex topic. There are so many different agents
of infections such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and prions. However,
in practice this scientific classification by the causing agent is not that helpful
as the system in the body that is infected is more important. However, classifying
by systems infected also has its weaknesses as there is an overlap between any
classification system. Ref. 1 and 2, which are the authoritative texts of the
American Public Health Association, have solved this dilemma by simply listing
the various communicable diseases alphabetically. I am using a compromise
solution as it is my feeling that from a practical point of view a classification
by infected systems is helpful, but this is supplemented by a classification by
infectious agents and lots of links to other sections. The table above depicts
this classification. Details of the various infectious diseases are explained
under the chapters that are linked to the links in the above table, which will
quickly guide you to the appropriate chapter in this web site. |
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