A general overview of how yeast infections happen

Yeast infections that occur as a result of Candida albicans are generally referred to by the group name Candias is and can take many different forms. However, the etymology of how such an infection develops isalways pretty similar, irrespective of the particular part of the body that is under attack.

As a general rule, Candida albicans is a yeast which exists in a single cell form. In this form, it remains essentially harmless.

However, all fungi are on a constant watch for sources of nutrition, and once such a nutritional source is located, many millions of these single cell Candida yeast organisms will gravitate towards that source of nutrition. When they do so, they become a mold, and it is at this point where the risk of a yeast infection has begun to develop.

In order to absorb nutrition, fungi have the same ability as animals to secrete hydrolytic enzymes as a way of turning previously indigestible solid matter into foodstuffs that the fungi can feed on. Consequently, when any individual Candida yeast cell identifies a suitable source of food, the whole colony of Candida cells (millions of them) is mobilized so that every individual cell can absorb the maximum amount of nutrition from that food source.

So, what does all this tell you about yeast infections in general, and vaginitis in particular?

What it should indicate is that Candida albicans can only attack and infect your body when conditions are suitable for it to do so. For example, there are millions of Candida cells on your skin, every one of which is looking for a suitable source of nutrition. However, as long as your skin is clean, dry and unbroken, no such opportunity is going to be presented to the yeast culture to start feeding from you. As a result,you will remain free of infection.

If conditions are not so good, then there are a myriad of different situations where the Candida cells can begin to attack. For example, if your skin is cut or has some kind of abrasion or lesion, then that provides a ‘window of opportunity’ for the Candida albicans cells to cluster together into mold culture, and begin to infect your body. You have natural defenses

As suggested, your body has natural defense mechanisms that will under normal circumstances protect you against any form of Candiasis infection.

Firstly, in order for yeast to successfully invade and infect your body, there has to be a ‘doorway’ or ‘gateway’ through which they can enter. A simple example of exactly such a ‘gateway’ would be a cut or abrasion on your skin.

However, millions of people all over the world suffer skin cuts and abrasions every day – children for example fall over and skin their knees with monotonous regularity – and yet the majority of these people do not suffer yeast infections, or indeed any kind of infection at all. This immediately indicates that the ‘doorway’ argument of itself is not sufficient to explain yeast infections.

The second consideration is that your skin is covered with many millions of microbes and bacteria, and not all of them are Candida albicans cells.In fact, many of the bacteria on your skin are in direct conflict with Candida for every source of nutrition, and these so-called ‘good’  are more often than not stronger than the yeast cells.bacteria

In these circumstances, although there is a doorway to a new source of nutrition, it is these ‘good’ (non-infectious) bacteria cells that appropriate this particular source of food for themselves and, consequently, there is no infection.

Your body also produces antibodies, and while these antibodies are not in themselves capable of attacking the Candida cells, they do provide assistance to the ‘good’ bacteria on your skin that helps them to do so.

Finally, if your body’s immune system is in tiptop condition, then that single fact significantly reduces the chances of a yeast infection taking a hold. This is an extremely important point to remember, because any immune system weakness is generally considered to be a very significant factor in deciding why some people are more prone to yeast infections than others.

However, as you can see, your body has several different ways of defending itself against all forms of infection including Candiasis, and this is why in the vast majority of situations, infection is unlikely to set in.

The General Yeast Infection Facts That You Must Know

What is yeast?

Yeast is a fungus, so it is a close cousin of mushrooms, toadstools, truffles and puffballs. According to current scientific research, over 100,000 different types of fungus have already been identified, but some estimates suggest that as many as 1.5 million different strains of fungi could exist.

Fungi are not plants, because they lack the chlorophyll that is a primary characteristic of plants. Another factor that distinguishes fungi from plants is their inability to make their own food.

They inhabit climates that range anywhere from cool to tropical, and can be found even in the air that we breathe every day. Fungi will most commonly be found in moist environment, so that they thrive in leftover foods and fruit materials, damp, windfall leafs, soil, manure, brackish water and any other similar environment where nourishment is readily available.

Many fungi are ‘good’ as far as man is concerned. For example, in addition to mushrooms and truffles, without fungus we would have no bread or beer, because it is the yeast that is added to the bread or beer making process that turns it into what it eventually becomes. Without fungus, the world would be one enormous landfill site, because it is fungus that breaks down trash and thereby returns it to the constituent parts that are eventually returned to the soil.

So, fungi have many characteristics for which we should be grateful. That is not however always true.

You are covered in (and full of) fungus.Whilst it may sound a bit unpleasant, almost from the moment we are born, every person on the face of the earth is living in their own personal primordial soup of micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi and yeast. These microbes live on your skin, in your mouth, nose and digestive tract so that every part of you both externally and internally is awash with microbes from the moment you are born until you take your very last breath.


It is estimated that among these micro-organisms that live on and in you throughout your life, there are several hundred different types of yeasts. Fortunately, only a very small handful of these yeast cultures are potentially harmful, with the primary cause of yeast infections being one particular strain known as Candida albicans.

This is a yeast that lives in the mouth, throat, nose, intestines and all over the skin of most normal human being. It is also considered to be a normal part of the internal lining of the bowel, and in its normal state actually helps to ensure that regular, normal bowel movements are maintained.

Candida albicans first attaches itself to newborn babies either during or very shortly after birth, but it remains essentially harmless even to a baby as long as that baby has an immune system that is strong enough to keep the growth of the yeast culture in check.

By the age of six months, around 90% of babies will test positive for the presence of Candida albicans. This is why babies whose immune systems are somehow weakened are often prone to oral thrush in the first few months of their life, as this is a yeast infection caused by Candida.

By the time we are adults, almost every person plays host to Candida albicans. However, for the vast majority of the time, this is not going to cause any kind of problem at all, any more than any other of the millions of microbes on your body will do.

This is because for most of the time, there is a balance between all of these different strains of microbes, and as long as this balance is maintained, you will remain healthy and infection free. For example, there are other bacteria on your skin that fight against Candida albicans for the same food sources, and consequently this keeps the Candida cell growth in check.

It is only when this balance is somehow upset that the conditions will prevail whereby a yeast infection can begin to set in.

Vaginal Yeast Infection

The term vaginitis is one that is applied to any inflammation or infection of the vagina, and there are many different conditions that are categorized together under this ‘broad’ heading, including bacterial vaginosis, trichomoniasis and non-infectious vaginitis.

However, for most women, the most common form of vaginitis is that caused by a yeast infection.

Because this is the most common form of vaginitis, this is therefore the particular form of infection that is going to be investigated and analyzed

 You are going to discover:

• Exactly what a yeast infection of this nature is;
• Why it happens;
• Why it is so often difficult to stop it coming back again time after time – this is something that you absolutely have to know;
• What you can do to prevent the condition occurring in the first place; and
• How to treat the condition when it does arise.

Three out of every four women will suffer vaginitis caused by a yeast infection, the chances are pretty high that you might suffer one day even if you have been fortunate enough not to have done so thus far.

By reading these articles and learning what causes the condition and what you can do to prevent it, you can reduce or perhaps even remove the chances of a yeast infection becoming an embarrassing, itchy or even painful part of you life.

As prevention of any medical condition is always better than having to cure that condition after it has already set in, the information you are going to pick up from reading this website is absolutely essential for every woman, irrespective of their age or their country.