Mycoplasma species are the smallest free-living organisms known on the planet. Mycoplasmal organisms are usually associated with mucosal surfaces, residing extracellularly in the respiratory and urogenital tracts. They rarely penetrate the submucosa, except in the case of immunosuppression or instrumentation, when they may invade the bloodstream and disseminate to different organs and tissues throughout the body.
Unlike viruses, Mycoplasmas can grow in tissue fluids (blood, joint, heart, chest and spinal fluids) and inside any living tissue cell without killing the cells, as most normal bacteria and viruses will do. Mycoplasmas are frequently found in the oral and genito-urinary tracts of normal healthy people and are found to infect females four times more often than males. This is the same incidence rate as rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and other related disorders.
Mycoplasmas are parasitic in nature. They attach to specific cells without killing the cells and thus their infection process and progress can go undetected. In some people the attachment of mycoplasmas to the host cell acts like a living thorn; a persistent foreign substance, causing the host's immune defense mechanism to wage war. This allergic type of inflammation often results in heated, swollen, and painful inflamed tissues, like those found in rheumatoid diseases, fibromyalgia and many other autoimmune disorders like lupus and MS, Crohn's and others. In such cases the immune system begins attacking itself and/or seemingly healthy cells. Some species of mycoplasmas also have the unique ability to completely evade the immune system. Once they attach to a host cell in the body, their unique plasma and protein coating can then mimic the cell wall of the host cell and the immune system cannot differentiate the mycoplasma from the body's own host cell.
Mycoplasmas are also parasitic in nature (referred to as mollicutes) because they rely on the nutrients found in host cells including cholesterol, amino acids, fatty acids and even DNA. They especially thrive in cholesterol rich and arginine-rich environments. Mycoplasmas can generally be found in the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. They need cholesterol for membrane function and growth, and there is an abundance of cholesterol in the bronchial tubes of the respiratory tract. Once attached to a host cell, they begin competing for nutrients inside the host cells. As nutrients are depleted, these host cells can begin to malfunction, or even change normal functioning of the cell, causing a chain reaction with other cells (especially within the immune and endocrine systems). Mycoplasmas can even cause RNA and DNA mutation of the host cells and have been linked to certain cancers for this reason. Mycoplasmas can also invade and live inside host cells which evade the immune system, especially white blood cells. Once inside a white blood cell, mycoplasmas can travel throughout the body and even cross the blood/brain barrier into the central nervous system and spinal fluid.
Mycoplasma species are often found in research laboratories as contaminants in cell culture. Mycoplasmas may induce cellular changes, including chromosome aberrations, changes in metabolism and cell growth.
This Quantum Formula antidotes the various species in the Mycoplasma genus, as well as mollicutes, tryptophan, arginine, peptidoglycan, sterols, cholesterol.
Mycobacteria are common in normal soils and natural water supplies. People frequently encounter these bacteria in the normal course of their lives. Mycobacteria are a large group of bacteria with nearly a hundred different species. However, only a few are of medical importance. These include: Mycobacterium tuberculosis which causes tuberculosis, Mycobacterium leprae which causes leprosy, and a group known as atypical mycobacteria or non-tuberculosus mycobacteria (or NTM), which cause a variety of skin, lung, and other infections. The following list focuses on non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM).
Listeria can be found in soil, which can lead to vegetable contamination. Animals can also be carriers. Listeria has been found in uncooked meats, uncooked vegetables, some fruit like cantaloupes, unpasteurized milk, foods made from unpasteurized milk, and processed foods. Pasteurization and sufficient cooking kill Listeria; however, contamination may occur after cooking and before packaging. For example, meat-processing plants producing ready-to-eat foods, such as hot dogs and deli meats, must follow extensive sanitation policies and procedures to prevent Listeria contamination (that doesn't mean it always works, but they try). Listeria monocytogenes are commonly found in soil, stream water, sewage, plants, and food. Listeria are responsible for listeriosis, a rare but potentially lethal food-borne infection.
Leptospira are bacteria that can occupy diverse environments, habitats and life cycles. They are found throughout the world. High humidity and neutral (6.9-7.4) pH are essential for their survival in the environment, with stagnant water reservoirs - bogs, shallow lakes, ponds, puddles, etc. - being the natural habitat for the bacteria.
Legionella live within amoebae in the natural environment. Legionella species are the cause of the human Legionnaires' disease and the lesser form, Pontiac fever. Legionella transmission happens via aerosols — the inhalation of mist droplets containing the bacteria. Common sources include: cooling towers, swimming pools (especially in Scandinavian countries), domestic hot-water systems, fountains, and similar disseminators that tap into a public water supply. Natural sources of Legionella include freshwater ponds and creeks. Person-to-person transmission of Legionella has not been demonstrated.
The natural habitat for Helicobacter is the stomach and upper digestive tract. Some species of Helicobacter have been found living in the lining of the upper gastrointestinal tract, as well as the liver of mammals and some birds. Helicobacter species are able to thrive in the acidic mammalian stomach by producing large quantities of the enzyme urease, which locally raises the pH from ~2 to a more biocompatible range of 6 to 7.
The only known natural habitat for Haemophilus genus is the nasopharynx (upper respiratory). It has some species that are non-pathogenic (do not cause disease) and some that are very pathogenic. Some of the most important ones are listed below.
Francisella is a genus of pathogenic bacteria, also considered parasites of macrophages (white blood cells whose normal task is to engulf and then digest cellular debris and pathogens). The most notorious of the species is F. tularensis, which causes the disease tularemia.
Escherichia coli (commonly abbreviated E. coli) and related bacteria constitute about 0.1% of stomach flora. The fact that it was found in the colon is why it was called coli! Fecal-oral transmission is the major route through which pathogenic strains of the bacterium cause disease. Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes (refers to distinct variations within a subspecies of bacteria or viruses) can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls. The harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the stomach and can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2. They prevent the establishment of pathogenic bacteria within the intestine, yet certain species are human pathogens and the most common cause of urinary tract infections.
The natural habitat for Enterococcus is in the gastrointestinal tract of a multitude of animals and humans. Common clinical infections caused by Enterococcus include: urinary tract infections, bacteremia, bacterial endocarditis, diverticulitis, and meningitis.