Some women don’t ever get vaginal yeast infections.  Some women seem to never be WITHOUT a vaginal yeast infection.  A new study gives options to get rid of chronic yeast infections.

First we, physicians, need to make sure that the culprit is yeast.  About 70-80% of so-called yeast infections aren’t yeast at all.  Your doctor can perform an exam and send a sample to be cultured in the lab.  The lab will confirm that it is yeast.  We all have yeast on our skin, but some immune-compromised (those with diabetes or cancer) are less able to fight it.

Probiotics have shown effectiveness against

• chronic Candida,
• thrush (yeast in the mouth),
• and vulvovaginal Candida.

It is thought that the probiotic secretes a surfactant that keeps the Candida from adhering to the tissues.   The study, published in the journal Mycoses 2012, showed patients taking probiotic of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and L. fermentum had significantly less yeast after 4 weeks than those that did not take it.

Hope this helps.