Alternative models for chronic disease

The evidence supporting a bacterial cause for chronic disease is strong. Still, there are other competing explanations including the acid/alkaline imbalance theory, autoimmune disease theory, the genetic predisposition theory, the single pathogen theory, and the spontaneous remission theory. Some have argued that viral co-infections are to blame for diseases of unknown etiology despite the evidence which has accumulated to the contrary.

According to the acid/alkaline imbalance theory, disease is caused or exacerbated by an overly acidic environment and can be remedied by consuming alkali or alkali-producing substances. In reality, the pathogenesis of disease is much too nuanced to say “low pH leads to disease.” If it were true that an imbalance is an indication of disease, doctors would use pH as a catch-all diagnostic tool, and the vast majority do not.

Some patients have reported feeling better after hyperbaric oxygen therapy. As with any therapy that may cause short-term benefit, there is always the concern that it is inhibiting the immune response. According to the Marshall PathogenesisA description for how chronic inflammatory diseases originate and develop., chronic disease patients must experience immunopathologyA temporary increase in disease symptoms experienced by Marshall Protocol patients that results from the release of cytokines and endotoxins as disease-causing bacteria are killed. in order to resolve disease. Anything else is ultimately counterproductive, and in the case of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, somewhat dangerous.

Chronic inflammatory diseases have existed for at least thousands of years. Manifestations of both arteriosclerosis can be observed in mummies of ancient Egypt. Ötzi the Neolithic Iceman who lived around 3300 BC was found to have arthritis.

This relative consistency of disease prevalence suggests that a number of the proposed environmental causes for disease, like man-made toxins and junk food are not the exclusive cause.

It has been widely hypothesized that lifestyle factors, including a poor diet and a lack of exercise, are driving what the World Health Organization has termed “an obesity epidemic,” but even the most ambitious obesity intervention programs, which have gone to great lengths to increase rates of exercise and improve eating habits of a population, have been, for lack of a better term, failures.

In contrast to infectious agents, little evidence implicates typical doses of dietary chemicals as primary causes of human cancer, probably because humans have evolved effective flexible enzymatic systems for degrading potentially carcinogenic chemicals.

There are currently a range of diseases for which there is epidemiological evidence, evolutionary evidence, and other kinds of evidence strongly suggesting bacterial involvement. Koch's postulates stipulate that chronic diseases caused by infections must be caused by a single species of pathogen, yet the minority of chronic diseases have been shown to be caused by a single species of pathogen.

Take Crohn's disease as an example. The following types and species of bacteria have been found in patients with Crohn's: L-form bacteriaDifficult-to-culture bacteria that lack a cell wall and are not detectable by traditional culturing processes. Sometimes referred to as cell wall deficient bacteria.², Bacteroides fragilis³, Chlamydia trachomatis⁴, Listeria monocytogenes⁵, Mycobacterium avium, subspecies paratuberculosis⁶, Mycobacterium kansasii⁷, and Pseudomonas maltophilia⁸. Yet none of these species are found consistently in Crohn's.

For a 19th century researcher, Robert KochAuthor of Koch's postulates, a set of rules for establishing a relationship between a causative microbe and a disease. Koch's belief that only one pathogens causes one disease has now been called into question as multiple postulates are increasingly considered out of date. had a strong, even visionary, grasp of molecular biology, but he did not have access to molecular tools. Koch might be shocked to learn the extent to which different species engage in horizontal gene transfer, to the point where the very definition of “species” may have to be reconsidered.⁹

The best way to resolve this inconsistency is to say simply that Koch was wrong and that chronic diseases are caused by a multitude of species and forms – a metagenomic microbiota.