THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 22, 1995 TAG: 9511220545
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Caleb Stern was 7 when, after prolonged treatment with antibiotics, he developed colitis, an inflammation of the colon.
The condition worsened despite traditional medical treatment, including surgery. Finally, with their son facing major surgery that could have changed his life, his parents took a different approach.
``I talked with a colleague who is an allergist,'' said Caleb's mother, Dr. Kelly Stern, a Chesapeake family practitioner. ``He suggested taking him off of milk.''
Caleb improved tremendously after a couple of weeks, she said. But then he developed symptoms of severe depression. Stern went back to her friend. Maybe it was too much yeast in his body, he said.
This theory - that antibiotics sometimes destroy beneficial bacteria along with harmful bacteria in the body, resulting in an overgrowth of yeast, or candida albicans - was new to Stern. She learned more, she said: Too much yeast can create toxins that cause food allergies and can attack the immune system and the brain, causing physical and psychological symptoms.
Now Stern believes there may be some credibility to the theory. And Tuesday, she was in the television audience of CBN's ``The 700 Club'' to hear Dr. William G. Crook, the man who has been the theory's biggest promoter.
``We have been to so many doctors,'' Stern said. ``They don't seem to know anything about it. I am open-minded. I am certainly willing to listen. I've read the testimonials, and I've had personal experience.''
Crook, a 78-year-old University of Virginia Medical School graduate, has practiced for years in Jackson, Tenn. He has written 12 books, many of them based on the yeast theory. His latest is ``The Yeast Connection and the Woman.''
And some traditional physicians like Stern are beginning to listen.
``There is a horrible epidemic going on in America today - ear infections,'' Crook said on the ``700 Club'' telecast Tuesday. ``I started practicing in the 1950s. We saw no hyperactive children, no autistic children. By the early '70s, they were coming out of the woodwork. Pediatricians have been deaf, dumb and blind as far as looking at this.''
Crook believes that prolonged treatment with antibiotics and the resulting yeast overgrowth, toxins and allergies can cause hyperactivity, learning problems, autism in children and a variety of chronic health problems in adults - from fatigue and depression to impotence and infertility.
Crook is gaining a following among those who have been helped by the theory and its simple treatment: nutrition and an anti-fungal drug.
When he was a guest on ``The 700 Club'' earlier this year, the Christian Broadcasting Network was flooded with calls, said Molly Young, who coordinates guests for the show. Crook said he received more than 7,000 letters.
Something so simple isn't easy for the traditional medical community to accept, said Dr. Linda Rodriquez, a Virginia Beach pediatrician treating hyperactive children with yeast-fighting drugs and nutrition.
``It's frustrating,'' she said. ``The medical community thinks it's a fad. There is a lot of negative feedback. I can help the children, but I see parents with problems. And they can't find internists or family physicians willing to treat them.''
Joan Windsor, a licensed counselor in Williamsburg, said she felt for years that there was a link between children's chronic ear infections and psychological problems.
``I kept thinking there was some kind of problem. When I found Dr. Crook's books, I found the answer.''
Stern knows it worked for Caleb, now 11. He no longer has any symptoms of colitis.
``The psychological symptoms went away,'' she said. ``He's a normal kid. Things upset him, but he bounces right back. We are wondering if, long range, we'll see some improvement in his learning problems.'' MEMO: Dr. Crook can be reached through the International Health Foundation in
Jackson, Tenn., at (901) 423-5400. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Dr. William G. Crook is a 78-year-old University of Virginia Medical
School graduate.
by CNB