• See "Candida + Acetaldehyde" http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1986782
Why are the boiling points (the temperature at which the liquid form changes into a vapor) so markedly different?
Acetaldehyde is larger and heavier than water but has a much lower boiling point. Carbon dioxide is the same molar mass as acetaldehyde and somewhat smaller, but with a drastically lower boiling point. Also, since the boiling point of acetaldehyde is significantly lower than body temperature (37°C), one might expect that any acetaldehyde released by yeast in the body would be a gas rather than a liquid, but the actual situation is more complex.
The answer to this apparent conundrum lies in how these substances interact with themselves and each other. Molecular structures that are polarized have electron cloud distributions that form slightly positive and slightly negative regions (a dipole) in the molecule. These partial charges create attractive forces between molecules that can hold them together. The stronger the attractive forces between molecules, the more energy required to dissociate them and the higher is the boiling point.
Carbon dioxide is linear and centrosymmetric with no electrical dipole. As a non-polar molecule it is easily separated from other carbon dioxide molecules and has a very low boiling point. It is emitted from intestinal yeast metabolism as a gas and remains that way to be expelled by the body.
Water exhibits a special type of electrostatic dipole-dipole interaction called a hydrogen bond that is possible because its hydrogen atom is bonded to its highly electronegative oxygen atom. Acetaldehyde is a polar molecule with a dipole moment about 1.5 times greater than water but it cannot hydrogen bond with itself because none of its hydrogen atoms are bonded to its oxygen. The much stronger hydrogen bonds in water make its boiling point much higher than that of acetaldehyde.
In an aqueous environment, however, where acetaldehyde and water are mixed, acetaldehyde can hydrogen-bond with water. This suggests that under physiological conditions, even though its boiling point is significantly lower than body temperature, most of the yeast-emitted acetaldehyde will remain in solution and be available for unfavorable reactions with other molecules.
Trace amounts of acetaldehyde in the breath are detectable and considered to be biomarkers for cancer [2]. Aldehydes often have a fragrant aroma and are used in the perfume industry where continuous exposure can lead to skin diseases [3]. Are aldehydes what dogs can smell when they have been trained to identify patients with lung and breast cancers [4]? Studies have shown that acetaldehyde may be released by lung cancer cells themselves [5] suggesting that a chain reaction may be established from yeast-released acetaldehyde-mediated cancer initiation via DNA damage [6], prostaglandin interference, and DNA repair suppression through to cancerous cells emitting additional carcinogenic acetaldehyde.
• See "Acetaldehyde + Cancer" http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1951252
Water itself in close proximity to acetaldehyde may catalyze its hydration [7] to 1,1-ethanediol where the two molecules are now covalently bonded rather than just hydrogen-bonded.
This is the objective of the acetaldehyde hydration visualization described previously:
• See "Acetaldehyde Hydration Visualization" http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1980446
Hydrated acetaldehyde may spontaneously split back into the reactive aldehyde and water so that this form is not truly a "scavenged" (i.e. permanently neutralized) form for acetaldehyde.
Carbonic anhydrases [8] are zinc metalloenzymes that catalyze the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide to form the bicarbonate ion and protons via the reaction:
CO2 + H2O <=> H2CO3 <=> HCO3(-) + H(+)
This reaction is the mainstay, not only for the formation of gastric acid in the stomach, but also for the buffering of pH in body fluids where a slightly alkaline environment is suitable for life processes.
This enzyme can also accept acetaldehyde as a substrate for hydration [9]. When carbonic anhydrase is deliberately inhibited, patients experience malaise, fatigue, weight loss, depression, anorexia, and loss of libido with accompanying acidosis [10]. If yeast-released acetaldehyde is competing for access to carbonic anhydrase enzymes in the body, then this may create conditions similar to overt enzyme inhibition with metabolic acidosis the result. A lower pH favors the budding form of the yeast [11] dependent upon the availability of glucose [12].
The concentration of hydrogen cations (protons) in body fluids, something that determines its level of acidity, must be tightly regulated, otherwise H+ can bind to negatively charged protein centers in structures including, but not limited to, enzymes with functional and structural impairment the consequence. Acidic damage and heavy metal cation damage bear a remarkable resemblance to the deleterious effects inflicted by the polar nature of the acetaldehyde molecule.
When equilibrium balancing processes in the body are stretched too far, resulting in metabolic acidosis for instance, often they are too far out of kilter to realign even after the stressors have been removed. In this case OPK (Orthomolecular Psychokinesiology) techniques may be useful, not only in detecting such conditions, but also in giving the body the energetic boost it needs to re-establish the proper homeostasis. In the case of metabolic acidosis, homeopathic visualizations of natrum carbonicum and fluoricum acidum can be used in a teeter-totter fashion along with kinesiology hand grip biofeedback to correct acidosis [13].
[1] Nadykto AB et al., "Uptake of neutral polar vapor molecules by charged clusters/particles: Enhancement due to dipole-charge interaction", JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, 4717, 7 PP., 2003
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2003/2003JD003664.shtml
[2] Spanel P et al., "Quantification of trace levels of the potential cancer biomarkers formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and propanol in breath by SIFT-MS", 2008 J. Breath Res. 2/4
http://iopscience.iop.org/1752-7163/2/4/046003
[3] Schubert H, "Skin diseases in workers at a perfume factory", Contact Dermatitis, Vol 55 Issue 2, pages 81–83, August 2006
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0105-1873.2006.00881.x/abstract
[4] McCulloch M et al., "Diagnostic accuracy of canine scent detection in early- and late-stage lung and breast cancers.", Integr Cancer Ther. 2006 Mar;5(1):30-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16484712
[5] Smith D et al., "Quantification of acetaldehyde released by lung cancer cells in vitro using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry.", Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2003;17(8):845-50.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12672140
[6] Matsuda T et al., "Increased DNA damage in ALDH2-deficient alcoholics.", Chem Res Toxicol. 2006 Oct;19(10):1374-8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17040107
[7] Kurz JL et al., "The Hydration of Acetaldehyde. II. Transition-State Characterization", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1967, 89 (14), pp 3528–3537
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja00990a600
[8] Breton S, "The cellular physiology of carbonic anhydrases." JOP. 2001 Jul;2(4 Suppl):159-64.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11875253
[9] Pocker Y et al., "The Catalytic Versatility of Carbonic Anhydrase from Erythrocytes. The Enzyme-Catalyzed Hydration of Acetaldehyde.", J. Am. Chem Soc., 1965, 87 (8), pp 1809–1811
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja01086a045
[10] Epstein DL et al., "Carbonic anhydrase inhibitor side effects. Serum chemical analysis.", Arch Ophthalmol. 1977 Aug;95(8):1378-82.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/889513
[11] Buffo J et al., "A characterization of pH-regulated dimorphism in Candida albicans.", Mycopathologia. 1984 Mar 15;85(1-2):21-30.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6374461
[12] Pollack JH et al.,"The role of glucose in the pH regulation of germ-tube formation in Candida albicans.", J Gen Microbiol. 1987 Feb;133(2):415-24.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3309155
[13] "Homeopathy Without The Pellets" in "Astrophysiology… and Yeast", 2011.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/74090699
http://www.epubbud.com/book.php?g=7JQU45V8