In the world of functional medicine, we deal with numerous occult infections. Viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi can sometimes find great hiding places in our bodies preventing our immune surveillance from eradicating them. Medical scientists must admit that even pharmaceuticals like antivirals and antibiotics may leave behind these hiding infectious agents. To fully eradicate these invaders to deal with present disease and prevent future recurrences, scientists and medical providers must confess that more must be done. Hearing the mainstream medical world talk of immune boosting as a solution to these secretive infections is music to my ears.
The world of antimicrobial pharma must admit that their medications always kill less than 100% of any infection with each administration of the therapy. The real hope is that by repeatedly killing, say, 99% of the total bacterial load in the body, eventually the numbers are lowered enough that the immune system can take over and finish off the invader. Without the finishing work of the immune system, we see patients with AIDS requiring forever antibiotics or dying of simple infections unless their immune systems are reawakened.
In patients with chemotherapy for cancer or immune-suppressives for organ transplants and autoimmunity, we see a similar issue. As long as the immune system is weakened, not only can many new infections wreck havoc, but old and hidden infections can re-emerge with a vengeance. Chickenpox can return as shingles. CMV (cytomegalovirus) can destroy livers in transplant patients. Yeast can overgrow when chronic steroids are needed. Lyme disease can smolder and stealthily cause unexplained symptoms.
In the article of focus, researchers searched for explanations in why antibiotics do not seem to kill all the salmonella in the body. The medications clearly kill the bacteria they reach but a small percentage of bacteria seem to hide and escape this fate. For salmonella, they learned that the infection can hide in the “police headquarters”. They can hide in what is called white pulp of the lymph nodes where immune cells congregate, communicate, and coordinate our defenses.
Our bodies need neutrophils, a type of immune cell that attacks and destroy bacteria directly, in order to kill off the salmonella. In the white pulp of the lymph nodes, fewer neutrophils are present, and therefore salmonella which hides there has less neutrophils to worry about. Amazingly, the bacteria find their safest place inside the immune system local lymph node headquarters.
The research team now searches for ways to boost the immune system so that when combined with the antibiotics, a full eradication can be achieved. I hope they will reach out to a functional medicine provider for a few ideas on where to search for such immune boosting compounds. We have been using them for a number of years with success, sometimes even avoiding the need for antibiotics altogether. Helping patients live healthier more abundant lives requires following the science and common sense rather than the money of pharma.
Article in focus:
Jiagui Li, Beatrice Claudi, Joseph Fanous, Natalia Chicherova, Francesca Romana Cianfanelli, Robert A. A. Campbell, Dirk Bumann. Tissue compartmentalization enables Salmonella persistence during chemotherapy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021; 118 (51): e2113951118 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113951118
Thanks to Science Daily:
University of Basel. “An enemy within: Pathogens hide in tissue.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 December 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211213181554.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
