Saturday, December 5, 2009

Men can have Candidiasis Too - Do You Know?

By Salli Smith

Yeast infection usually occurs in women. But what most men don't know is that this disease also occurs in men. This is because men and women alike have the fungi Candida in the body. Even healthy people have Candida as this fungi loves to live in moist and exposed parts of the body.

The presence of these fungi in the body is not really a problem for most people. This only becomes a problem when there is overgrowth of Candida causing physical pain to the body. The overgrowth of Candida in the body leads to the infection called Candidiasis.

Candidiasis is something that men don't want to have as this is not only painful, this is also embarrassing as well. You don't really want anyone to know that you have this infection. And men usually get this when factors that promote the growth of the Candida yeast is present in the body. One of these factors would be low immunity.

Due to nutrient deficiency, men's immunity is lowered. Stress can also lower immunity as well as other factors like low white blood cell count, transplant surgery, low stomach acidity, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. And when a man's immunity is compromised, this allows Candida to grow and flourish in the body leading to Candidiasis.

Another factor that leads to penile yeast infection is bad diet. This is because when you don't have a proper balanced diet, this also leads to an imbalance in the number of bacteria inside the body, promoting the out of control growth of Candida in the body.

Candida also flourishes with the over consumption of antibiotics. This is because antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria. And the decrease in number of good bacteria leads to an increase in growth of the fungi Candida since no bacteria or not enough bacteria is present inside the body to prevent or stop the growth of Candida.

And if you have diabetes, you can also get penile yeast infection. This is because sugar, which Candida loves, promotes the growth of Candida. Men with diabetes also have lower immunity thereby increasing the risk of Candida overgrowth.

And men should also be cautious in using condoms with nonoxynol-9. This is because this chemical kills not just sperm but also bacteria as well allowing Candida to flourish in the penis. So use condoms that do not contain the chemical nonoxynol-9.

Men should also be cautious with people that they have sex with as sexual intercourse can also cause penile yeast infection. Sexual intercourse is even considered as the most common cause of penile yeast infection. So to make sure that you don't get Candidiasis, you have to practice safe sex but using condom that does not contain the chemical nonoxynol-9. Also a proper balanced diet will help block the growth of Candida in the body thereby preventing Candidiasis.

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