Autism

Autism is a disorder that causes young children to not develop normal social relationships, and can begin from the age of two. An autistic child also behaves in compulsive and ritualistic ways, and often communicates in an abnormal manner.

High levels of antibodies to gluten and casein (a protein in milk products), have consistently been found in autistic children. Compelling research reveals that a gluten-free and casein-free diet can dramatically reduces the symptoms of autism.

A specialist in autism and schizophrenia from the University of Oslo in Norway, Karl-Ludwig Reichelt, M.D. – a paediatric researcher there, purports autistic children do not produce enough peptidases. Peptidases are enzymes that break down the peptides (amino acid chains) of casein and gluten. Consequentially, the partially digested peptides from casein and gluten enter the bloodstream through a compromised gut wall, then migrate to the brain, where they affect the individual’s cognition and behaviour. However, there are also other factors involved in the development of autism. For example, vaccinations and mercury toxicity have been involved, perhaps compromising gut integrity which allows casein and gluten peptides to pass into the bloodstream, attacking the central nervous system.

To investigate just how effective a gluten-free and casein-free diet is, a study by Reichelt in 1995 placed 15 autistic children on this diet for four years. Each autistic child, exhibited improved cognitive skills, social behaviour, and communication abilities – except on occasions when they ate foods containing gluten and casein. J. Robert Cade M.D., from the University of Florida, Gainesville, has also conducted similar research. One of his studies, found that 81 percent of autistic children he treated with a gluten-free, casein-free diet displayed improvements in their behaviour.

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Neurological Diseases Part 2

One of the first symptoms of gluten sensitivity and neurological disorders, are unexplained, frequent headaches.

The M.D. of the Royal Hallmashire Hospital in Sheffield, England – Marios Hadjivassiliou, studied four male and six female patients suffering from headaches and gluten sensitivity – some of which also had unsteadiness or ataxia. The patients had MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) performed on them, with the each patient showing abnormal results, with white matter appear on the scan – characteristic of cerebral inflammation.

Nine patients were introduced to a gluten-free diet, which resulted in seven of those patients being completely relieved from their headaches, and partial relief in the other two.

It is still unknown how gluten sensitivity causes damage in neurological and cerebral disorders.

A possibility is that it is caused by nutrient deficiencies such as folic acid, vitamin B₁₂, and vitamin B₆ deficiencies. Another possibility is immune reactions to gluten or some direct toxic effect of the gliadin.

Regardless of the inner workings of gluten sensitivity, it is apparent that if a gluten-sensitive person continues to eat gluten, their condition will worsen.

For the most therapeutic results gluten-free diets are best implemented in the early stages of gluten-sensitivity, before too much damage is done.

In advanced neurological conditions gluten-free diets aren’t as successful so it is crucial gluten sensitivity is detected early.

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Dermatitis Herpetiformis

A well known gluten-sensitive skin disease is dermatitis herpetiformis. It’s easily identifiable by blisters and red bumps, as well as itching, stinging, or burning in the intestine.

Dermatitis herpetiformis has been associated with celiac disease for a long time now, however, 20-25% of people diagnosed with dermatitis herpetiformis do not develop intestinal lesions – hence they aren’t diagnosed with celiac disease.

But the symptoms of dermatitis herpetiformis, such as rashes, can be cleared by eating a gluten-free diet.

If the gluten-free diet is not maintained however, the rash will reappear once again.

People with dermatitis herpetiformis are also prone to autoimmune diseases and intestinal lymphoma more so than someone without the disease.

My advice for those living with dermatitis herpetiformis would be to maintain a healthy, gluten-free diet.

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Microscopic Colitis

Over the next few weeks I will be writing about other conditions that are associated with gluten sensitivity.

Colitis and Other Gastrointestinal Complaints are associated with gluten sensitivity – making it crucial to understand how to avoid this, in order to live a healthy life.
Colitis occurs when the colon is inflamed and usually causes chronic diarrhoea and cramping. This often develops from a variety of factors – one of which is gluten sensitivity. A common disease that can cause diarrhoea and cramping is microscopic colitis and is strongly linked to gluten sensitivity. Microscopic colitis is also often diagnosed as collagenous colitis.
Microscopic colitis relates to celiac disease as the damage done in the small intestine caused by celiac disease is almost identical to the damage done in the large intestine caused by microscopic colitis.

The difference between the two conditions is microscopic colitis is a secondary gluten sensitive condition – i.e. it may develop from something other than gluten sensitivity. For example microscopic colitis often develops from an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in the colon, then once it has developed the immune system reacts to the gluten – making the situation far worse.

Therefore, the best solution to this is to implement a gluten free diet, while also taking supplements to correct the imbalance of bad bacteria.

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Keeping your trolley free of gluten is not always the simplest of errands. Previously we’ve discussed Gluten Safe grains (see my previous article “Inside The Gluten Free Kitchen”) but supermarkets are a maze of gluten products. Use this article to help you make the right choices in the supermarket:

Fruit:

All fresh fruit is gluten free. Buy and enjoy whatever is in season. Fresh fruits are a great source of vitamins and nutrients.  Plain frozen, tinned and dried fruits will not contain gluten.

Juices:

Juices are mostly gluten free. Classic flavours and mixes are fine.  However the latest craze is ‘Super Juices’ and these may contain gluten. These so-called ‘Super Juices’ often contain wheat and/or barley grass.

Vegetables and Salads:

As with fruit, fresh vegetables are gluten free. Just be careful of premixed vegetable or salad packs that come with sauce packets. The sauce packets will often contain gluten.

*Tip when buying pre-made salads, avoid salads made mostly of ice-berg lettuce. Iceberg has the fewest nutrients of all types of lettuce. The darker the lettuce the more nutritious value it has.

Tinned or frozen packets of plain vegetables will be gluten free but will be less nutritious.

Dairy Products:

Milk, cream, yoghurt, sour cream and cheese are naturally gluten free.  However, if you’re considering purchasing processed cheese or yoghurt that has added flavouring always check the label cautiously (as gluten might have been added).

Eggs:

Not only are eggs an amazing source of protein, they are also gluten free.

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Food labeling in Australia and New Zealand is governed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). In regards to gluten free labeling, the FSANZ has two standards – gluten free labels and low gluten labels. For a product to be labeled ‘gluten free’ it must not contain any detectable gluten and not include oats or malt. Food labeled ‘low gluten’ must not contain more than 0.02 per cent gluten.

In Europe, their gluten free labeling laws are a lot stricter – with any food containing gluten having to be clearly labeled. It must be within either the ingredients list or the nutritional information panel. This is not the case in Australia and New Zealand. Therefore, it is highly advisable to ensure you carefully read all food labels if you are gluten sensitive or gluten intolerant.

This careful examination of product labels should not only be conducted on food labels, but also prescriptions, and cosmetics – such as shampoo, lotions, lipsticks etc. The best way to ensure the medications you’re taking are gluten free is to talk to your pharmacist and check with them, as many medications have coatings that contain gluten.

You may be wondering how having gluten in cosmetic products could be a problem, as obviously you do not eat any cosmetic products. But if have Celiac Disease and develop a skin disorder such as dermatitis herpetiformis, acne, psoriasis, eczema, or any other kind of dermatitis, it could be a problem. With any of these skin disorders, gluten can be absorbed through the open lesions, so you should read labels to check for gluten if you’re prone to a skin disorder. However, having said this, there hasn’t yet been any research done on the effect of gluten absorbed through the skin. But if you do have dermatitis herpetiformis, I recommend you use gluten free cosmetics and shampoos to be safe.

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If you’ve recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease such as gluten sensitivity, these are the basic treatments that are most likely to occur.

The first step doctors will take is to identify targeted nutritional needs.
All doctors will perform check-ups, using various methods but they’ll all achieve the end result of gaining a comprehensive understanding of your nutritional deficiencies.   

The Gluten Free Diet:

Many doctors will prescribe a gluten free diet to you even if you haven’t had a blood test confirming you have a gluten sensitivity, if you’ve been unsuccessful with other treatments. Doctors will usually keep you on a gluten free diet for at least three months, so they are able to see the results effectively.

The Casein Free Diet:

Doctors will often prescribe a casein free diet for patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders like Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

The Paleolithic Diet:

If a doctor puts a patient on a gluten free diet, they’ll also often put the patient on a Paleolithic diet as it will also help treat an autoimmune disease. The Paleolithic diet consists of replacing grains from the diet with fresh, natural foods. The foundations of this diet are that our ancestors had a diet that was close to a Paleolithic diet rather than the high carbohydrate, processed foods many people consume today.

Dietary Supplementation:

Most doctors will prescribe dietary supplements either orally or intravenously to you, in order to help you restore your health a lot faster.

Detoxification:

On top of prescribing dietary supplements to you, doctors will also usually prescribe you supplements that are specifically designed to help remove toxins from the body.

The treatments may sound difficult as you might see it as a severe change, but the results will far outweigh the food sacrifices you’ll make as you’ll feel healthy, happy and energetic.

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Nine-year-old MJ began experiencing severe stomach aches, bloating and cramping every time she ate her favourite foods, such as cheese on toast and watermelon. Her stomach pains were so intense she retreated to her bed to sleep and refused to eat those foods again. After six months of stomach aches, MJ’s mother took her to a paediatritican to see what was going on. MJ told the paediatrician she was experiencing stomach aches, weight loss, dark circles under her eyes and suffering from a skin rash.

The immediate concern of the paediatrician was the weight loss, so he only focused on this symptom and ordered blood tests to figure out what was going on. He then told MJ to drink milk-based weight gain drinks to regain the weight she’d lost.

After only two days of drinking these drinks, MJ become so ill she had to be admitted to hospital because her stomach aches were so bad. The doctors at the hospital ordered more blood tests, which showed her to be diabetic. As it turns out, the hospital mixed up her lab results with another patient’s and realised their mistake two days later. They then discharged her without a diagnosis for her stomach aches.

A month later, her paediatrician ordered a blood test to check for celiac disease (which should’ve been done a lot earlier), but the results came back negative. So three weeks later he ordered an endoscopic exam for celiac disease as her health was still not improving. But the test also came back negative, showing no flattened villi.

So the paediatrician ordered yet another blood test for celiac disease and this one showed slightly elevated anti-gliadin IgA antibodies; with a level of 18.2. A patient who is not gluten sensitive would have a result of less than 10. But despite the anti-gliadin IgA antibodies falling outside the normal range, the paediatrician insisted still, that she was not suffering from celiac disease and he ignored the results, and suggested MJ just needed psychological counseling so she would learn how to eat properly.

MJ’s mother was not convinced the problem was only psychological, so took MJ to see Dr. Wedman-St. Louis not long after MJ’s last blood test. Dr. Wedman-St. Louis is a nutritionist, also providing individual counseling to patients. By recommendation of Dr. Wedman-St. Louis, MJ got a IgG food antibody profile that showed either a severe or moderate reactivity to almost every food MJ had been refusing to eat. MJ’s results showed a severe reactivity to casein, milk, egg, wheat and peanuts, as well as a moderate reactivity to soya, rye and barley.

Based on MJ’s test results, Dr. Wedman-St. Louis began MJ on a gluten free and dairy free diet (that also eliminates casein). The doctor also recommended MJ avoid eggs as well. Once MJ had implemented the diet prescribed by Dr. Wedman-St.Louis, she had regained weight, and became a happy, normal, active girl who no longer suffered stomach pains or bloating. On top of this, her skin rash cleared and the dark circles under her eyes disappeared.

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In 2004 a research study was published examining the link between gluten sensitivity and severe headaches.

The research was focused around “soft” neurologic conditions such as headaches in young adults and children. Headaches were the most commonly found neurologic disorder in the 111 patients with celiac disease. Out of the patients in the study; 64.5% with headaches had late onset symptoms of celiac disease or were gluten sensitive, and 35.5% had the early infantile form of celiac disease.

The study broke down the type of headaches the study participants experienced:

• Migraine 45.1%
• Non-specific 35.5%
• Tension-psychogenic 19.4%

Sixteen study participants were put onto a gluten free diet which relieved them of there symptoms.

Imagine the results if all patients who showed gluten sensitivity (not only the ones diagnosed with celiac disease) had been placed on a gluten free diet.

Another study conducted in 2001 followed 10 patients who suffered severe headaches and who all had MRI tests suggesting inflammation of the central nervous system, were each found to be gluten sensitive. These patients were told to start a gluten-free diet and all but one patient found relief. Seven out of the 10 patients recovered completely from their headaches, while 2 experienced partial improvement. The one patient who continued to suffer from headaches? Well he refused to try the gluten-free diet.

The next case from the study illustrates the power of a gluten-free diet.

A 50 year old man whose medical history did not show a disposition towards migraines experienced unexplained headaches for 4 years. When his headaches increased in severity and frequency, he agreed to take a blood test, which showed that he had anti-gliadin antibodies.

When he started on a gluten-free diet, his balance improved and his headaches disappeared completely. But 2 years later his symptoms had returned. When questioned, the man confessed he had stopped following a gluten-free diet. Another blood test was taken and this confirmed the return of anti-gliadin antibodies.

The results convinced the man that gluten was the reason for his headaches. He took up his gluten-free diet and has remained headache free to this day.

If this isn’t enough evidence to show that gluten can be the reason for headaches consider the following case.

One patient said that he had suffered from migraine headaches for more than 10 years. Neurologists that were consulted could find no cure, and the migraines continued to intensify so much that he had to take early retirement. By 2002 his 3 headaches a week had increased to an almost non stop headache, during one particular month he was headache free for only 3 days. Migraine medications did not work to help the patient’s pain.

The patient’s family doctor then suggested a gluten-free diet. The headaches slowly became less frequent and after several months he was 98% headache free.

Gluten-free wins again.

When parents discover they have an autistic child they often take drastic measures including drugs to control or offset their child’s autistic patterns. The Autism Research Institute (ARI) in the US, collected information provided by more then 23,700 parents who completed the questionnaire. ARI wanted to find out which remedies were the most effective in treating autism.

They found that one of the most effective treatments was following a special diet: removing gluten and casein from the autistic child’s diet, with 65% of parents reporting that their child got better.

Parents themselves report excellent results from a gluten-free, casein-free diet (Casein is the major protein in milk).

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The most common type of anaemia is Iron Deficiency Anaemia. Iron is an important part of haemoglobin which is the oxygen-carrying pigment in the blood.

Your blood usually gets iron from the food you eat and by reusing the iron in old blood cells. When your blood is not gathering enough iron from you food you become anaemic, symptoms of anaemia include being easily tired, fatigued, or prone to other illnesses.

Well before the sensitive blood tests that we have today, that detect gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease, some doctors realised that iron deficiency anaemia could be caused by coeliac disease. A case from 1994 demonstrates this.

A 40 year old woman ha suffered from iron deficiency anaemia for 2 years without her doctors being able to determine the cause. Multiple endoscopic examinations had not revealed any abnormalities of her gastrointestinal system. Iron supplements had no effect, and eventually her doctor performed a biopsy revealing she had coeliac disease. She started a strict gluten free diet and her bloods iron levels increased. Her anaemia went away.

Researchers reported in 2001 that coeliac disease was diagnosed in 13.7% (26 out of 190) of people who had iron deficiency anaemia. These individuals were put on a gluten free diet, to determine there progress they were tested at 6, 12 and 24 months after going on the diet.

After 6 months on the gluten free diet, 77.8% of the patients had recovered from anaemia; only 27.8% had reversed their iron deficiency. After 12 months all but one patient recovered from anaemia and 50% had recovered from iron deficiency. After 24 months only one individual was still anaemic.

These results lead the researchers to conclude that screening for coeliac disease should be done in adults with iron deficiency anaemia. Adhering to a gluten free diet allows the intestine to heal, and as a result the anaemia goes away after 6-12 months.

A more recent study published in 2004 discovered a different rate of coeliac disease, 2.8% of 105 people with iron deficiency anaemia then the first study. The authors make a similar conclusion, that the ability to treat coeliac disease is why it should be a suspected cause of unexplained iron deficiency anaemia.

So, are you are tired and possibly achy all the time, and can’t figure out why? Go gluten free and see what happens.

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