Genital thrush is usually the first sign of Candida in the body. If treated promptly in the early stages, it can be ‘nipped in the bud’. If untreated if can develop into full-blown Candida with all the resultant complications.

Candida albicans, is a ‘yeast’ that normally inhabits the mouth, throat, intestines and genitourinary tract of most humans and is usually considered to be a normal part of the bowel flora (the organisms that coexist with us in our lower digestive tract).

Its job is to recognize and destroy harmful bacteria. Without Candida albicans in our intestines we would be defenseless against many pathogen bacteria. In a healthy person, Candida albicans is numbered in millions. It is controlled by a properly functioning immune system and "friendly" bacteria.

However, if the number of friendly bacteria is decreased (often caused by antibiotics), the immune system is weakened or other conditions for yeast proliferation occur (diet high in sugar, improper pH in the digestive system)

Then, Candida albicans will move from yeast to fungal form and start to invade the body. In the yeast state Candida is a non-invasive, sugar-fermenting organism, while in fungal state it is invasive and can produce rhizoids. Rhizoids can penetrate the intestinal walls, leaving microscopic holes and allowing toxins, undigested food particles and bacteria and yeast to enter the bloodstream. These condition is known as Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Actions to stimulate a person's immune system to fight yeast on its own is thought by many not useful in the beginning stages of treatment. They consider the person already has an exhausted immune system.

However homeopathy is one of the few sciences that can raise a person’s vitality by acting directly on the energy system in the body. Remedies can be very useful for genital thrush or candida.

It is important to note there are several stages to candida. Professional care will be needed if the candida moves beyond the simple stage.

· Simple candida is when a person has only mild complaints.

· At severe levels the affected person may have badly disturbed sleep, flu-like symptoms and poor recovery from any illness. There may even be other parasites present.

Many books emphasize the importance of eliminating sugar, alcohol and carbohydrate foods from your diet in an effort to starve the yeast to death. This may help simple cases but only slowly.

Some recommend a diet rich in Vitamin C and Vitamin E and also the mineral Zinc. However Candida interferes with the body’s ability to absorb such nutrients. Therefore supplementation with a yeast-free multi-vitamin/mineral will be required. Do not ignore supplementation as many Candida suffers are chronically deficient due to their condition.