Search the Community

The following piece was written by Ronald Hoggan who is a teacher at Queen Elizabeth High School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Polish one is: Kozlowska, Z.E. Results of Investigation on Children with Coeliakia Treated many Years with Gluten Free Diet Psychiatria Polska 1991; 25(2): 130-134. The German one is: Paul, et. al. EEG-befunde Zoeliaki-kranken Kindernin Abhaengigkeit von der Ernaehrung Zeitschrift der Klinische Medizin 1985; 40: 707-709. The first indicates that 71% of celiac children, when newly diagnosed, demonstrate EEG abnormalities. Now please note this caution: I HAVE NO TRAINING IN THE INTERPRETATION OF EEG READINGS. Nonetheless, when I compare the authors descriptions of the EEG abnormalities in celiac children, and the abnormalities in children who have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, there are some startling similarities. Paul, et. al. are paraphrased by Reichelt et. al. in THE EFFECT OF GLUTEN-FREE DIET ON GLYCOPROTEIN ATTACHED URINARY PEPTIDE EXCRETION Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine 1990; 5: 223-239. They say: In celiac children provocation with gluten after diet causes alarmingly high frequency of EEG changes that persist up to a year (Paul et al 1985). I would urge (those with ADD) to be very careful to avoid contamination in (their) diets, and I would ask you to consider some alternatives to stimulant therapy (Ritalin is a brand name of the most commonly used stimulant.). The concept of drugging a child to facilitate learning is upsetting to me, especially when there is cause to suspect that, on the Gluten-free diet, she may improve without intervention. I know that she is falling behind now, but if her experience is similar to mine, many of my ADD type symptoms did go away during the first year. I will also forward a part of report that was forwarded to me, that showed that vitamin B-6 supplementation was as beneficial to a group of children with attention deficits, as Ritalin was. Especially in celiac disease, where vitamin deficiencies are so common, that seems a viable alternative.

Celiac.com 12/21/2012 - Over the past several years, researchers have made substantial progress in understanding the causes of autism, which now afflicts about 1 in 88 children. However, very little news of this progress seems to have spread into popular consciousness, much of which continues to focus on the possible role of vaccines. Recent discoveries indicates that one-third or more cases of autism look to be a kind of inflammatory disease, which begins well before birth. In the August 25th issue of the New York Times, Moises Velasquez-Manhoff has very interesting article in which he discusses the widening view among researchers that autism is, in fact, an inflammatory disease. The article is long and comprehensive, and cites numerous studies, findings and experiments. Inflammation is the body's natural response to certain kinds of threats. In a normal body, the immune system uses inflammation in a very precise, targeted way, before returning to a normal state. In autistic individuals, inflammatory signals become the dominant condition, and there is no balancing anti-inflammatory response. A state of chronic inflammation becomes normal. And the more skewed toward inflammation, the more acute the autistic symptoms. This inflammatory deregulation adversely impacts the brains of autistic individuals. Velasquez-Manhoff also cites a number of studies that trace these inflammatory effects back to the inflammatory responses of the mother during pregnancy. Among the studies cited in the article is a population-wide study from Denmark spanning two decades of births, which indicates that infection during pregnancy increases the risk of autism in the child. The study found that hospitalization for a viral infection, like the flu, during the first trimester of pregnancy triples the odds of autism. Bacterial infection, including of the urinary tract, during the second trimester increases chances by 40 percent. Another large Danish study, which included nearly 700,000 births over a decade, found that a mother’s rheumatoid arthritis, a degenerative disease of the joints, elevated a child’s risk of autism by 80 percent. Rates of autism in children of mothers with celiac disease were 350 percent higher than normal. Genetic studies had similar findings. Variations in genes associated with regulating the immune system also increase the risk of autism, especially when they occur in the mother. A mother’s diagnosis of asthma or allergies during the second trimester of pregnancy increases her child’s risk of autism. So does metabolic syndrome, a disorder associated with insulin resistance, obesity and, crucially, low-grade inflammation. Yet, viral and bacterials infections themselves do not seem the cause of the autism epidemic. The epidemiology doesn’t support that conclusion. A far more likely culprit is maternal immune dysregulation. Basically, the mother’s attempt to repel invaders, her inflammatory response, seems to be at fault. Research by Paul Patterson, an expert in neuroimmunity at Caltech, supports this idea. In his research, he introduces inflammation in pregnant mice artificially, without a live infection. This causes behavioral problems in the young. In this model, autism results from collateral damage. It’s an unintended consequence of self-defense during pregnancy. Since infantile autism was first described by Leo Kanner in 1943, diagnoses have risen tenfold. During that same period, viral and bacterial infections generally declined. However, overall rates of inflammatory diseases have risen sharply since then. As a group, these diseases include asthma, now estimated to affect 1 in 10 children, rates that have at least doubled since 1980, along with autoimmune disorders, which now afflict 1 in 20. Recently, William Parker at Duke University has chimed in. Some years back, he began comparing wild sewer rats with clean lab rats. The bodies of wild rats tightly controlled inflammation, but those of the lab rats did not. Parker found that the bodies of the wild rats contained high levels of parasites. Parasites are noted for limiting inflammation. One lesson from these rodent experiments is that fixing the maternal dysregulation will most likely prevent autism. That theory is supported by Swiss researchers, who created a lineage of mice with a genetically reinforced anti-inflammatory signal. They then inflamed the pregnant mice. The babies emerged fine, with no behavioral problems. This suggests that if inflammation is controlled during pregnancy, it won’t interfere with fetal brain development. Interestingly, asthma researchers are coming to similar conclusions: preventing inflammation in pregnant women will likely prevent asthma. Dr. Parker has introduced a more aggressive approach. He suggests that by using specially developed worms to restore “domesticated” parasites doctors can correct immune dysregulation. To determine if this is feasible, a trial is under way at the Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The trial is using a medicalized parasite called Trichuris suis, known as a whipworm, to treat autistic adults. The whipworm is native to pigs, and was first used medically to treat inflammatory bowel disease. It has shown anecdotal benefit in autistic children. The article suggests that the future of treating immune dysregulation, and thus preventing diseases like autism and asthma, may lie in reintroducing parasites into the human body. Stay tuned for more updates on this truly fascinating science. Read the full article by Moises Velasquez-Manhoff in the New York Times.

Celiac.com 05/08/2009 - In 1996-1997, in an effort to test a hypothesis by scientist Karl Ludvig Reichelt, Norwegian researchers began a long-term study of 23 children aged 4 to 11 from the southwestern Norwegian town of Stavanger. All of the children suffered from hyperactive disorders including ADHD. All children showed abnormal levels of peptides in their urine. Dr. Reichelt believed that metabolic disorders impair the effective breakdown of certain proteins in children and thereby cause mental problem, such as hyperactive disorders. Related international research has established links between protein disorder and the conditions of autism and schizophrenia. A growing number of studies also hint that some cases of ADHD are tied to digestive disorders. Data from this Norwegian study supports the idea that ADHD may also arise from a digestive disorder. This study indicates that consumption of certain foods, such as milk and gluten, may contribute to ADHD in children who lack the enzyme that breaks down proteins like casein, a component of milk--which also helps in the formation of cheese. Interestingly, when children who lack this enzyme eat foods that require the enzyme to properly digest proteins like casein, their brains experience an opium-like effect, which might explain at least some of the spaciness and impaired attention these kids exhibit. According to Reichalt's theory, hyperactivity can be controlled by reducing the intake of foods that require the presence of this missing enzyme to properly break down the offending proteins. In the study, 22 of the 23 children were placed on strict milk-free and/or gluten-free diets. They were taken off milk products and other foods containing casein. All exhibited a rapid improvement in general well-being, including improved mental health and general behavior, improved attention-span and better learning abilities. After a year, 22 of the 23 families reported clear improvements in their child's behaviour and attention-span. When the kids were taken off their diets, their symptoms returned nearly immediately. Before changing their diets, most of the children were taking medications, like Ritalin, to treat their symptoms. After their diets were established, their medications were discontinued. By 2004, a number of the children had ceased their diets for various reasons and some have returned to medication. Still, six children remained milk-free and several had also cut out gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, barley and to some extent oats. Due in part to the small sample size, and limited amounts of data from comprehensive studies on the number of ADHD children who suffer from peptide-breakdown abnormalities, the study has been met with a certain resistance among the medical community, where most doctors still believe that the evidence best supports medications like Ritalin as the best way to treat the ADHD. Still, the results carry weight among the parents, and among the Norwegians, as hundreds of other Norwegian children with ADHD, mainly in and around Stavanger, have in recent years been put on milk-free and/or gluten-free diets to help control ADHD and related disorders. Agence France Presse 2008. Yahoo! News 2008

Celiac.com 04/11/2012 - Studies on the gluten-free and/or casein-free (Gluten-free Casein-free) dietary intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) suggest that some children may positively respond to implementation of the dietary intervention. Other studies support the idea of using various factors, including gastrointestinal (GI) abnormalities and immune function to classify children diagnosed with ASDs Medical researchers Christine M. Pennesi, and Laura Cousino recently examined the effectiveness of the gluten-free, casein-free diet for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. They are affiliated with the Department of Biobehavioral Health at the Pennsylvania State University in Pennsylvania, USA. For their study, Pennesi and Cousino presented a 90-question online survey to parents or primary caregivers of children diagnosed with ASD. The survey asked about the efficacy of the Gluten-free Casein-free diet. The survey included questions about the children's GI symptoms, food allergy diagnoses, and suspected food sensitivities, as well as the degree and length of their dietary regime. In all, they received 387 responses. Parents who reported GI symptoms, food allergy diagnoses, and suspected food sensitivities also reported greater improvement in ASD behaviors, physiological symptoms, and social behaviors, compared with parents who reported symptoms, diagnoses, or sensitivities in their children (P < 0.05). Parents who reported strict diet adherence, full gluten/casein elimination and infrequent diet errors during and outside of parental care, also reported improvement in ASD behaviors, physiological symptoms, and social behaviors, compared with parents who reported less strict adherence, incomplete gluten/casein elimination, and more frequent diet errors during and outside of parental care (P < 0.05). The full report appears in Nutritional Neuroscience. There, the authors write that findings suggest that diet adherence and GI and immune factors may help to differentiate diet responders from diet non-responders. They also suggest that the findings support the importance of further investigations into the various factors that influence efficacy of treatment in children with ASDs. Source: Nutritional Neuroscience