Still No Supporting Studies Published
Fungal Infection
Fungal and viral prostatitis are rare entities, according to the medical literature. With the exception of studies that find fungal invasion of the prostate is rare and usually restricted to immunospressed men (AIDS, transplant patients) there are no published studies supporting the theory that a yeast or fungus is the cause of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS).
However, some men are convinced they have been helped by an antifungal (so-called “anti-candida”) diet. This may be for 3 reasons:
- Anti-candida diets restrict many foods that may be causing food intolerance reactions, such as wheat and milk. We have a page on the effect of wheat (and other gluten-containing grains) on UCPPS.
- Most sugars (FODMAPs), including sucrose (which breaks down into the FODMAP fructose) cause or exacerbate Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). IBS is linked (by research) to CPPS. IBS “gooses” the same nerves that are at play in CPPS.
- In an even more immediate fashion, sugar and sugary foods, forbidden on anti-candida diets, can cause a sudden flare in symptoms because sugar creates a surge of uric acid in the blood. Sugar consumption (specifically fructose) increases blood levels of uric acid (study) and causes a spurt of uric acid to be excreted via the kidneys/bladder/prostatic urethra, so causing discomfort to the inflamed tissues there.
Viral Infection
The latest study (2003) searching for viruses in CP/CPPS prostates concluded that the major suspected viruses are not to blame. Using highly sensitive PCR testing on 20 prostates removed from men with CPPS, all 20 samples studied were negative for genomes of cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex viruses type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) and human papilloma viruses (HPV).