Histoplasmosis or Cave Disease is a disease caused by an infection with a fungus known as Histoplasma capsulatum, which is common in the environment, most frequently in association with bird or bat droppings and in dark closed from long time, places.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!It is also known as cave disease, darling’s disease, Ohio valley disease, reticuloendotheliosis, spelunker’s lung, and caver’s disease.
The infection can cause a lung disease similar to pneumonia in some people. In some cases, the infection spreads throughout the body, known as disseminated disease. Disseminated histoplasmosis is most common in people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS, those receiving cancer chemotherapy, or people taking immunosuppressant medications for chronic conditions or transplants. Spread to other organs in immunosuppressed people may involve the liver, spleen, brain, joints, eyes, and bone marrow.
Skin lesions of histoplasmosis are varied and can be caused by an immune reaction to an acute pulmonary infection (the lesions do not have the fungus in them) or as a manifestation of disseminated histoplasmosis (the lesions are infected).
- Erythema nodosum presents with painful red plaques on the shins. This is due to an immunologic reaction and organisms cannot be obtained from this site.
- Erythema multiforme is a target or bull’s eye type of skin reaction. This too is an immunologic reaction and organisms cannot be obtained from this site.
- Skin lesions appearing as papules, pustules and nodules may be found throughout the body and are caused by the fungus spreading to infect the skin. Biopsy of lesions often shows the fungus.
Causes of Histoplasmosis or Cave Disease
The fungus is associated with bird or bat droppings in the environment, especially in caves. When one inhales the microscopic fungal spores, some people develop an illness similar to pneumonia and/or skin infections. Not everyone who touched or inhales the spores develops the illness. The spores may become airborne in demolition projects in areas that contain bat or bird droppings. The airborne spores can travel hundreds of feet.
Risk factors for Histoplasmosis or Cave Disease
Anyone may develop histoplasmosis. However, the illness is more likely to occur in infants, young children, and the elderly. Risk factors for developing severe or widespread disease include having a suppressed immune function or chronic lung and/or skin disease. The soil may also become contaminated with the fungus, so those who work with soil, such as landscapers and farmers, are at greater risk. Also at risk are workers performing demolition work in areas that contaminated with bird or bat droppings. Histoplasmosis is not contagious or spread from person to person.
Symptoms and signs
When illness does occur, the signs and symptoms appear anywhere from three to 17 days after exposure. The symptoms of pulmonary histoplasmosis are similar to those of pneumonia and include flu-like symptoms such
as fever, chills, sweats, a dry cough, malaise, and chest pains. Some affected people also experience joint pains and skin infections.
If the disease progresses without treatment, those affected may develop weight loss, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Ocular (eye) involvement in disseminated disease can cause loss of vision. If the infection spreads to the central nervous system, severe symptoms including seizures, headaches, and confusion may develop.
Diagnosis
The symptoms and signs of histoplasmosis are not specific enough to establish the diagnosis. The diagnosis rests upon demonstrating the fungus or an immune response to the fungus. Some of the many diagnostic laboratory tests available include the following:
- Cultures of body fluids or tissues to identify the fungus
- Detection of surface markers of Histoplasma in a urine test
- Blood tests to measure antibody response to Histoplasma
- Microscopic examination of samples of infected tissues
Chest X-rays in people with acute histoplasmosis are usually normal. However, physicians may notice so-called coin lesions or histoplasma mas in the chest X-rays of people with healed histoplasmosis. These are round accumulations of scar tissue. Calcification of lymph nodes around the bronchi may be evidence of prior healed infections. Depending on the severity and stage of the disease, infiltrates or other changes may be apparent on X-rays.
CT scans are useful to identify areas of spread in disseminated histoplasmosis.
Allopathic Treatment for Histoplasmosis or Cave Disease
Mild cases of histoplasmosis that are limited to the lungs will resolve without specific treatment in about a month. Severe infections or disseminated cases of histoplasmosis require treatment with antifungal medications. Itraconazole, fluconazole, and amphotericin B are antifungal drugs that treat histoplasmosis. A person may need to continue treatment for a period of several months.
Homeopathic Treatment for Histoplasmosis or Cave Disease
Homeopathic treatment for histoplasmosis is very effective, without any side effects and of very short duration (20-60 days according to severity and individuality).
Bryonia
Soreness in larynx and trachea. Hoarseness; worse in open air. Dry, hacking cough from irritation in upper trachea. Cough, dry, at night; must sit up; worse after eating or drinking, with vomiting, with stitches in chest, and expectoration of rust-colored sputa. Frequent desire to take a long breath; must expand lungs. Difficult, quick respiration; worse every movement; caused by stitches in chest. Cough, with feeling as if chest would fly to pieces; presses his head on sternum; must support chest. Croupous and pleuro-pneumonia. Expectoration brick shade, tough, and falls like lumps of jelly. Tough mucus in trachea, loosened only with much hawking. Coming into warm room excites cough. Heaviness beneath the sternum extending towards the right shoulder. Cough worse by going into warm room. Stitches in cardiac region.
Lips parched, dry, cracked. Dryness of mouth, tongue, and throat, with excessive thirst. Tongue coated yellowish, dark brown; heavily white in gastric derangement. Bitter taste. Burning in lower lip in old smokers. Lip swollen, dry, black, and cracked. Throat dryness, sticking on swallowing, scraped and constricted. Tough mucus in larynx and trachea. Skin hot and painful. Seborrhoea. Hair very greasy.
Knees stiff and painful. Hot swelling of feet. Joints red, swollen, hot, with stitches and tearing; worse on least movement. Every spot is painful on pressure.
Pulse full, hard, tense, and quick. Chill with external coldness, dry cough, stitches. Internal heat. Sour sweat after slight exertion. Easy, profuse perspiration. Rheumatic and typhoid marked by gastro-hepatic complications.
Allium Cappa
Hoarseness. Hacking cough on inspiring cold air. Tickling in larynx. Sensation as if larynx is split or torn. Oppressed breathing from pressure in middle of chest. Constricted feeling in region of epiglottis. Pain extending to ear. Eyes suffused and watery. Copious, watery and extremely acrid discharges from nose. Feeling of a lump at root of nose. Lame joints. Ulcers on heel. Painful affections of fingers about nails neuralgia of stump. Bad effects from getting wet. Limbs, especially arms, feel sore and tired.
Arsenic Album
Unable to lie down; fears suffocation. Air-passages constricted. Asthma worse midnight. Burning in chest. Suffocative catarrh. Cough worse after midnight; worse lying on back. Expectoration scanty, frothy. Darting pain through upper third of right lung. Wheezing respiration. Haemoptysis with pain between shoulders; burning heat all over. Cough dry, as from sulphur fumes; after drinking. Burning in eyes, with acrid lachrymation. Lids red, ulcerated, scabby, scaly, granulated. Corneal ulceration. Tearing needle-like pains; burning. Lips black, livid. Angry, circumscribed flush of cheeks.
Itching, burning, swellings; oedema, eruption, papular, dry, rough, scaly; worse cold and scratching. Malignant pustules. Ulcers with offensive discharge. Anthrax. Poisoned wounds. Urticaria, with burning and restlessness. Psoriasis. Scirrhus. Icy coldness of body. Epithelioma of the skin. Gangrenous inflammations.
Extremities: Trembling, twitching, spasms, weakness, heaviness, uneasiness. Cramps in calves. Swelling of feet. Sciatica. Burning pains. Peripheral neuritis. Diabetic gangrene. Ulcers on heel. Paralysis of lower limbs with atrophy.
High temperature. Periodicity marked with adynamia. Septic fevers. Intermittent. Paroxysms incomplete, with marked exhaustion. Hay-fever. Cold sweats. Typhoid, not too early; often after Rhus. Complete exhaustion. Delirium; worse after midnight. Great restlessness.
Oleum Jecoris Aselli
A nutrient and a hepatic and pancreatic remedy. Tuberculosis in the beginning. Hoarseness. Sharp stitching pains. Burning spots. Dry, hacking, tickling cough, especially at night. Whooping-cough in miserable, scrofulous persen. Soreness through chest. Haemoptysis. Palpitation, accompanies other symptoms. Pale.
Extremities aching; pain in elbows and knees, in sacrum. Rheumatism, with rigid muscles and tendons. Burning in palms.
Constantly chilly towards evening. Hectic fever. Night-sweats.
Phosphorus
Hoarseness; worse evenings. Larynx painful. Tickling in larynx while speaking. Aphonia, worse evenings, with rawness. Cough from tickling in throat; worse, cold air, reading, laughing, talking, from going from warm room into cold. Sweetish taste while coughing. Hard, dry, tight, racking cough. Congestion of lungs. Burning pains, heat and oppression of chest. Sharp stitches in chest; respiration quickened, oppressed.
Pneumonia, with oppression. Whole body trembles, with cough. Sputa rusty, bloody, or purulent. Tuberculosis. Repeated haemoptysis. Nervous coughs provoked by strong odors, entrance of a stranger; worse in the presence of strangers; worse lying on left side and in cold. Petechiae. Ecchymosis. Purpura hemorrhage. Scurvy. Fungus haematodes and excrescences.
Chilly every evening. Cold knees at night. Adynamic with lack of thirst, but unnatural hunger. Hectic, with small, quick pulse; viscid night-sweats. Stupid delirium. Profuse perspiration. Pale, sickly complexion; blue rings under eyes. Hippocratic countenance. Tearing pain in facial bones; circumscribed redness in one or both cheeks. Swelling and necrosis of lower jaw. Swelled and easily bleeding gums, ulcerated. Toothache after washing clothes. Tongue dry, smooth, red or white, not thickly coated.
Note: Do not advise it too low or too frequently here, it may but hasten the destructive degeneration of tubercular masses.
Allium Sativum
Constant rattling of mucus in bronchi. Cough in the morning after leaving bedroom, with mucoid expectoration, which is tenacious and difficult to raise. Sensitive to cold air. Dilated bronchi, with fetid expectoration. Darting pain in chest. Chilliness on one side only. Shivering, during coldness, redness of face. Vomiting during the fever. Sweat in afternoon. Sweat: acrid; causing itching; fetid.
Antimonium Tartaricum
Hoarseness. Rattling of mucus, but hard to expel. Velvety feeling in chest. Burning sensation in chest. Rapid, short, difficult breathing like suffocate; must sit up. Emphysema. Coughing and gaping consecutively. Bronchial tubes overloaded with mucus. Cough excited by eating. Edema and impending paralysis of lungs. Much palpitation, with uncomfortable hot feeling. Pulse rapid, weak, trembling. Dizziness, with cough. Dyspnoea relieved by eructation.
Coldness, trembling, and chilliness. Intense heat. Copious perspiration. Cold, clammy sweat, with great faintness. Intermittent fever with lethargic condition. Tongue coated, pasty, thick white, with red edges. Red and dry, especially in the center. Brown.
Face cold, blue, pale; covered with cold sweat. Incessant quivering of chin and lower jaw. Pustular eruption, leaving a bluish-red mark. Smallpox. Warts.
Uncaria tomentosa
Uncaria tomentosa is used in nootropic drugs, as well as in treatment of cancer and HIV infection. Have good reputation for immune-strengthening actions. Lack of coordination. Acts as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer. Crohn’s disease, gastric ulcers and tumors, parasites, colitis, gastritis, diverticulitis and leaky bowel syndrome, arthritis, rheumatism, diabetes, PMS, chronic fatigue syndrome, anti inflammation, viral infection and vascular conditions, and for its use as an immunostimulant, antioxidant, antibacterial and CNS-related diseases.
Hepar Sulphuricum
Loses voice and coughs when exposed to dry, cold wind. Hoarseness. Cough when walking. Cough excited whenever any part of the body gets cold or uncovered, or from eating anything cold. Croup with loose, rattling cough. Choking cough. Rattling, croaking cough; suffocative attacks; has to rise up and bend head backwards. Anxious, wheezing, moist breathing, asthma worse in dry cold air; better in damp. Palpitation of heart.
Chilly in open air or from slightest draught. Dry heat at night. Profuse sweat; sour, sticky, offensive. Ulcers on cornea. Scurf on and behind the ears. Discharge of fetid pus from the ears. Abscesses; suppurating glands are very sensitive. Papules prone to suppurate and extend. Acne in youth. Suppurate with prickly pain. Easily bleed. Angioneurotic oedema. Putrid ulcers, surrounded by little pimples, sensitiveness to slightest touch.
Curare
Dyspnoea, stitching pains side. Dyspnoea from weakness of motor nerves. Paralysis of respiration. Short, hacking cough, always dry, with soreness of chest walls, worse in damp weather, or laughing; spasmodic, shakes whole body. Burning heat in throat with sensation of distension. Severe pains in lungs, sharp, piercing pain through chest, worse in damp weather; dyspnoea, chronic cough. Fever. Chill without thirst. Temperature. Sweat with every exertion. Sweat, cold and bloody.
Ozaena. Tubercles on nose; fetid lumps of pus. Leprosy. Dirty-looking skin. Boils. Tubercles on nose. Liver spots. Blood oozes through. Itching.
Ipecac
Dyspnoea; constant constriction in chest. Asthma. Continued sneezing; coryza; wheezing cough. Cough incessant and violent, with every breath. Chest seems full of phlegm, but does not yield to coughing. Bubbling rales. Suffocative cough; patient becomes stiff, and blue in the face. Whooping-cough. Bleeding from lungs, with nausea; feeling of constriction; rattling cough. Croup. Haemoptysis from slightest exertion. Hoarseness, especially at end of a cold. Complete aphonia.
Eyes inflamed, red. Pain through eyeballs. Profuse lachrymation. Cornea dim. Blue rings around eyes. Periodical orbital neuralgia, with lachrymation, photophobia, and smarting eyelids. Miliary rash.
Intermittent fever. Slightest chill with much heat, nausea, vomiting, and dyspnoea. Relapses from improper diet. Body stretched stiff, followed by spasmodic jerking of arms towards each other.
Acalypha Indica
A medicine having a marked action on the alimentary canal and respiratory organs. It is indicated in incipient phthisis, with hard, racking cough, bloody expectoration, arterial haemorrhage, but no febrile disturbance. Very weak in the morning, gains strength during day. Progressive emaciation. All pathological haemorrhages having notably a morning aggravation.
Cough dry, hard, followed by haemoptysis; worse in morning and at night. Constant and severe pain in chest. Blood bright red and not profuse in morning; dark and clotted in afternoon. Pulse soft and compressible. Burning in pharynx, oesophagus, and stomach. Itching and circumscribed furuncle-like swellings.
Sulphur
Oppression and burning sensation in chest. Difficult respiration; wants windows open. Aphonia. Heat, throughout chest. Red, brown spots all over chest. Loose cough; worse talking, morning, greenish, purulent, sweetish expectoration. Much rattling of mucus. Chest feels heavy; stitches, with heart feeling too large and palpitating pleuritic exudations. Stitching pains shooting through to the back, worse lying on back or breathing deeply. Flushes of heat in chest. Dyspnoea in middle of night, relieved by sitting up. Pulse more rapid in morning than in evening.
Frequent flashes of heat. Violent ebullitions of heat throughout entire body. Dry skin and great thirst. Night sweat, on nape and occiput. Perspiration of single parts. Disgusting sweats. Remittent fever. Burning ulceration of margin of lids. Herpes across the nose. Nose stuffed indoors. Imaginary foul smells. Alae red and scabby. Lips dry, bright red, burning. Bitter taste in morning. Jerks through teeth. Swelling of gums; throbbing pain. Tongue white, with red tip and borders. Freckles. Itching, burning; worse scratching and washing. Pimply eruption, pustules, rhagades, hangnails. Excoriation, especially in folds. Feeling of a band around bones.
Senega
Coryza; much watery mucus and sneezing. Nostrils feel peppery. Hoarseness. Hurts to talk. Bursting pain in back on coughing. Catarrh of larynx. Loss of voice. Hacking cough. Thorax feels too narrow. Cough often ends in a sneeze. Rattling in chest. Chest oppressed on ascending. Bronchial catarrh, with sore chest walls; much mucus; sensation of oppression and weight of chest. Difficult raising of tough, profuse mucus, in the aged. Asthenic bronchitis of old people with chronic interstitial nephritis or chronic emphysema. Old asthmatics with congestive attacks. Exudations in Pleura. Hydrothorax. Pressure on chest as though lungs were forced back to spine. Voice unsteady, vocal cords partially paralyzed.
Burning vesicles in corners of mouth and lips. Dry coryza; watery mucus and sneezing. Nostrils feel peppery (burning). Catarrhal inflammation of throat and fauces.
Rhus Toxicodendron
Tickling behind upper sternum. Dry, teasing cough from midnight until morning, during a chill, or when putting hands out of bed. Haemoptysis from overexertion; blood bright red. Influenza, with aching in all bones. Hoarseness from overtraining voice. Oppression of the chest, cannot get breath with sticking pains. Bronchial coughs in old people, worse on a waking and with expectoration of small plugs of mucus. Hot, painful swelling of joints. Pains tearing in tendons, ligaments, and fasciae. Adynamic; restless, trembling. Typhoid; tongue dry and brown; sordes; bowels loose; great restlessness. Intermittent; chill, with dry cough and restlessness. During heat, urticaria. Hydroa. Chilly, as if cold water were poured over him, followed by heat and inclination to stretch the limbs.
Swollen face, erysipelas. Cheek bones sensitive to touch. Parotitis. Facial neuralgia, with chilliness. Crusta lactea. Teeth feel loose and long; gums sore. Tongue red and cracked; coated, except red triangular space at the tip; dry and red at edges. Corners of mouth ulcerated; fever-blisters around mouth and chin. Pain in maxillary joint.
Skin red, swollen; itching intense. Vesicles, herpes; urticaria; pemphigus; erysipelas; vesicular suppurative forms. Glands swollen. Cellulitis. Burning eczematous eruptions with tendency to scale formation.
Zincum Metallicum
Burning pressure beneath sternum. Constriction and cutting in chest. Hoarseness. Debilitating, spasmodic cough; worse, eating sweet things. Child grasps genitals during cough. Asthmatic bronchitis, with constriction, of chest. Dyspnoea better as soon as expectoration appears.
Lameness, weakness, trembling and twitching of various muscles. Chilblains. Feet in continued motion; cannot keep still. Large varicose veins on legs. Sweaty. Convulsions, with pale face. Transverse pains, especially in upper extremity. Soles of feet sensitive.
Formication of feet and legs as from bugs crawling over the skin, preventing sleep. Eczema, especially in the anaemic and neurotic. Itching of thighs and hollow of knees. Retrocession of eruptions.
Fever frequent, febrile shiverings down back. Cold extremities. Night-sweat. Profuse sweat on feet.
P. S : This article is only for doctors having good knowledge about Homeopathy and allopathy, for learning purpose(s).
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Dr. Sayyad Qaisar Ahmed (MD {Ukraine}, DHMS), Abdominal Surgeries, Oncological surgeries, Gastroenterologist, Specialist Homeopathic Medicines.
Senior research officer at Dnepropetrovsk state medical academy Ukraine.
Location: Al-Haytham clinic, Umer Farooq Chowk Risalpur Sadder (0923631023, 03119884588), K.P.K, Pakistan.
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