To treat my prostatitis and epididymitis conditions, I tried a number of different treatments, including antibiotics, homeopathy, naturopathy etc., but none worked other than phage therapy. I did a lot of research into phage therapy before deciding to go for it. My research included reading a lot of academic papers and research studies, interacting with phage scientists and microbiologists, and watching a lot of videos to understand what phages are and how they work. I will try to explain phages and phage therapy in this post.
Bacteriophages, or ‘phages’, are naturally occurring viruses that infect and feed on bacteria. They do not harm any organisms other than their target bacteria. They are found everywhere – in the air, in water, soil, food, even inside our bodies, and any other environment that allows bacteria to grow in it.
Phage Therapy is the use of phages to cure bacterial infections in human hosts.
How does Phage Therapy work?
Phages attach themselves to the wall of the bacterial cell, puncture the cell wall and inject their DNA (genetic material) into the bacterial cell. The DNA uses the cell structure and nutrition from the bacteria to replicate itself. As more and more copies of the phage are created, the bacterial cell bursts and the phages inside are released.
These phages then find other bacterial cells to infect, and repeat the process with them, thus eliminating the entire colony of bacteria in this manner.
If you have a bacterial infection and want to take phage therapy, a relevant body fluid or swab is cultured to ascertain the bacteria infecting the body. Once the culture is obtained, various phage medicines are applied to the cultured bacteria to test whether they can be killed by the phages. Once a sensitive phage medication is identified, it is used to treat the infection.
There are many ways to administer the phage medication, and the appropriate methods are decided by the treating doctors, based on the location of the infection, among other factors.
Safety of Phage Therapy
Phages are not broad-spectrum by nature. That is, a specific phage is only meant for a corresponding bacterial strain. This means that when you take the phage medicine, it does not start destroying all the bacteria inside your gut (that aids digestion and boosts immunity) and the rest of your body. Only the bacteria that the phage is meant to ‘eat’ will be attacked by it.
I have my own experience of taking phages for 12 months in order to cure my chronic epididymitis and chronic bacterial prostatitis. During this period, and afterwards, I felt no side effects of phages, and they have not negatively impacted me in any way. As opposed to the antibiotics that I took orally that caused severe side effects in just 2 months but did nothing to cure my infection, this was medication that I could take for a prolonged period of time without harming my body in the process.
However, as with any form of medication, it is unadvisable to take phage therapy without proper testing and supervision from trained practitioners. It is also important to know that not every place that offers phage therapy will give you the best treatment you can find. Going to the right place is imperative for a safe treatment using relevant phage medicines, and for a good chance of a successful treatment outcome.
If you are reading this and are considering phage therapy, feel free to contact me at pranav711@gmail.com.