http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/06/19/depress... Depression: Is Yeast a Missing _link_? Dr. Mercola's Comments: The authors of this article, Dr. Dean and Ms. Beck, are key medical advisors to www.yeastconnection.com, a Web site I recommend highly to women _base_d on the pioneering work of Dr. William Crook. They contributed the Allergies and the Yeast Connection articles to previous issues of my newsletter. As I have mentioned before, Dr. Crook, one of my first mentors and a friend who passed away last year, was the author of the classic book, The Yeast Connection, and many other bestsellers that helped millions of women. He was instrumental in helping me recognize that there was a wide network of physicians who understood the importance of nutrition. He indirectly helped connect me into this network and I will be ever grateful for his guidance in this area as that was really the beginning of my journey into high-level natural health. His great legacy is being carried on at www.yeastconnection.com, where you will find out all the latest insights on how candida yeast causes problems in your body, and how to alleviate it. By Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. and Carol Beck, M.S. Depression casts a shadow over the lives of 19 million Americans, two- thirds of them women. The precise cause, in many cases, remains a mystery. Genetics, brain chemistry gone bonkers, even environmental depredation have all been mentioned, and documented, as causes of depression. We suggest that systemic yeast overgrowth is another often-overlooked cause of depression. In his latest book, The Yeast Connection and Women’s Health, Dr. William Crook says he and his colleagues found a very strong _link_ between Candida albicans yeast overgrowth and depression in patients who had a history of any of the following: •Use of antibiotics, especially long courses of antibiotics •Use of birth control pills •Persistent digestive distress •Recurring vaginal yeast infections Dr. Crook made the fascinating discovery that 85 percent of women suffering from depression who had even one of the above elements in their history found relief from depression and a host of other symptoms by following his Anti-Candida Treatment Plan. Why? Let’s look at the cycle of yeast overgrowth in the body and how it affects various body systems, including brain chemistry. It starts simply enough