RE: celiac vs. gluten sensitivity

[Guest guest]

How can one tell if one has celiacs disease or is merely gluten sensitive?

Is a biopsy necessary?

I am thinking back to my last pregnancy when eating gluten grains made me

terribly nauseous. A plate of spaghetti made me throw up (only time i threw

up in two pregnancies). After the pregnancy that went away. I don't

understand why pregnancy heightened the response.

I'm finally getting around to investigating this issue and am wondering how

(if) my own niggling health symptoms fit in to gluten consumption. I'm also

starting to wonder if my dad's early onset of alzheimer's (something i

DESPERATELY want to avoid) could be gluten related.

Elaine

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/18/04 2:42:16 AM, itchyink@... writes:

>

> I am thinking back to my last pregnancy when eating gluten grains made me

> terribly nauseous. A plate of spaghetti made me throw up (only time i threw

> up in two pregnancies). After the pregnancy that went away. I don't

> understand why pregnancy heightened the response.

>

Pregnancy can *bring* out celiac from what I've ben reading even though it

was always there in the first place.

Elainie

>

>

[Guest guest]

>How can one tell if one has celiacs disease or is merely gluten sensitive?

>Is a biopsy necessary?

" Celiac " is defined as having a certain degree of damage to the villi in

the upper intestine. However, once a person goes on a GF diet, the

damage heals. So if you are gluten sensitive AND have villi damage,

you are " celiac " but once the damage heals you aren't diagnosable

anymore. The researchers now are thinking that celiac is just a subset

of gluten sensitivity ... at this point it's sort of a nonsensical division.

Celiac is ONE disease associated with IgA gluten intolerance ... but

there are 196 OTHER diseases that are also linked to gluten intolerance.

>I am thinking back to my last pregnancy when eating gluten grains made me

>terribly nauseous. A plate of spaghetti made me throw up (only time i threw

>up in two pregnancies). After the pregnancy that went away. I don't

>understand why pregnancy heightened the response.

I don't know either, but my symptoms really started during pregnancy.

The gut does change during pregnancy ... the food moves slower,

for one thing, maybe that makes it more irritating.

>I'm finally getting around to investigating this issue and am wondering how

>(if) my own niggling health symptoms fit in to gluten consumption. I'm also

>starting to wonder if my dad's early onset of alzheimer's (something i

>DESPERATELY want to avoid) could be gluten related.

Alzheimer's isn't mentioned in the list of 196 related diseases in Dangerous

Grains,

but I have heard there may be some link (below). Gluten sensitivity is related

to all kinds

of brain problems (Schizophrenia, depression, epilepsy, forgetfulness, ADD) so

it wouldn't surprise me. You should read Dangerous Grains, it will answer most

of what you want to know, I think.

-- Glutenator Jean

http://www.hghacademy.com/antiaging-9/19.htm

.. Recent research has demonstrated a high prevalence of antigliadin antibodies

(IgG, IgA or both) in patients with neurological dysfunction of obscure etiology

(57 percent versus 5 percent in neurological controls and 12 percent in normal

controls). There was a nearly tenfold increase in neurological dysfunction or

dementia in gluten-sensitive individuals compared to those not gluten-sensitive.

Detection was made more elusive by the fact that only 35 percent of patients who

developed neurological problems had histological evidence of celiac disease.

Two-thirds had no clinical signs of celiac disease. The following is an actual

case study of a patient with Alzheimer's Disease treated at our center. E.K.

began developing memory lapses at the age of 73. She became increasingly

forgetful, crying every morning, believing her dead parents were alive, began

getting lost while going out alone, hiding her possessions, accusing her family

of wanting to steal her things. Over a course of three years she developed

profound memory loss and began to forget who her immediate family were. A

neurologist rendered a diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia. Blood tests performed

by her neurologist revealed a normal SMAC and CBC. A serum B12 was 280,

considered in the normal range. She was started on Tacrine, with minimal

response. When first seen at our center at the age of 76, EK. Could state her

name but did not know where she was ofr the date. Physical exam was otherwise

unremarkable, but she was uncooperative and suspicious. Homocysteine was found

to be elevated at 16.8 (optimal <10) and methylmalonic acid (a sensitive measure

of B12 status) was found to be elevated at 455 (normal 73-271 nm/L). Antigliadin

IgA (but not IgG) was positive at 1:40. Serum DHEA sulfate was noted to be low

at 17. (Age-appropriate norm >25). The patient was given a series of B12 shots 3

times weekly for two weeks, then started on monthly injections. She was started

on a gluten-free diet. She was placed on a combined regimen of nutritional

supplements which were faithfully administered to her by her son who lived with

her, as follows: Multivitamin Vit E 800 IU Folate 5mg B6 25mg Vit C 4 gms

Inositol 12 gms DHEA 25 mg Thiamine 400mg Alpha-lipoic acid 2000 mg

Acetyl-L-carnitine 1000mg DHA (Docosohexaenoic acid) 1000 mg Ginkgo biloba

extract 320 mg CoEnzyme Q10 200 mg NADH 10mg N-acetylcysteine 200mg

Phosphatidylserine 300 mg The patient underwent gradual improvement in memory,

mood and functional status. An early observation by her family was that she

became relatively calmer and day/night reversal of her sleep pattern abated. She

no longer could not be left alone, which had in the past prompted panic and

calling out of windows that she needed help. Spells of anger, paranoia and

obstinacy became less frequent. The patient's ability to name objects returned,

and her ability to dress, bathe and eat with minimal assistance returned. After

two years, her improvements were so significant that her neurologist noted the

following on an insurance report: " Patient seems to have recovered significant

memory over the last 2 years from natural process/or the employment of vitamin

supplementsin collaboration with family members. Improvement has been seen

especially in areas of ADL (Activities of Daily Living), i.e. independence in

self dressing, eating and light cooking. There is absolutely no issues [sic]

about continence. There is no evidence of alteration of sleep-wake cycle, mood

changes, agitation, wandering or other affective or personality disorders. She

has reached a stable plateau in her neurological state with no evidence of

progressive deterioration. I would presently classify her as having minimal

dementia in the the order of Age Related Memory Loss. " Discussion: This is an

example of the potential of multifaceted nutritional intervention in the face of

a seemingly intractable progressive neurological disease.

>Elaine

>

>

[Guest guest]

>I'm finally getting around to investigating this issue and am wondering how

>(if) my own niggling health symptoms fit in to gluten consumption. I'm also

>starting to wonder if my dad's early onset of alzheimer's (something i

>DESPERATELY want to avoid) could be gluten related.

FWIW, Alzheimers is one of the main diseases Hal Huggins connects to mercury

poisoning.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

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