Gluten Intolerance Linked to Schizophrenia

Recently I find this article and I thought I share it with you, guys.



Gluten Intolerance Linked to Schizophrenia


Feb. 20, 2004 -- Intriguing early research suggests that people with a genetic intolerance to gluten may also be at increased risk for schizophrenia. Investigators say the link, if proven, could lead to new treatment options for a small subset of schizophrenic people.



Using a Danish health registry, researchers from John's Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health found people with the genetic digestive disorder known as celiac disease to be three times as likely as the general population to develop schizophrenia. Lead researcher William W. Eaton, PhD, says the next step is to determine if following a gluten-free diet makes a difference in the symptoms of schizophrenic people with celiac disease. He estimates that 3% of schizophrenic people could potentially benefit from such a diet.



Celiac disease is a lifelong (chronic) condition in which foods that contain gluten damage the small intestine. Gluten is a form of protein found in some grains (notably wheat, barley, and rye). The damage to the intestine makes it hard for the body to absorb nutrients, especially fat, calcium, iron, and folate, from food.



"We can now screen for celiac disease, so it is at least conceivable that we can locate the folks with schizophrenia for whom gluten withdrawal might work," he tells WebMD. "But we still have to do those studies."





http://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/news/20040219/gluten-intolerance-linked-to-schizophrenia

Here is another interesting article about the effect of gluten on the brain:

Gluten and the Brain

We believe that food allergy is a common cause of mental illness. Allergy to proteins from cow’s milk, hen’s eggs and wheat are the three most common problems.

One idea is that antibodies generated by food proteins or peptides can attack the brain. This immune mistake is generally known as molecular mimicry. A second idea is that gluten proteins or peptides generated from them during digestion can act directly on the brain. A third idea is that your brain is affected by immune responses in other parts of your body. All immune activity sends signals to the brain to change behavior and to recruit a range of defensive responses.

Disturbances to brain function vary from routine effects such as sleepiness, fogginess, and brief episodes of confusion to symptoms of major mental or neurological illness. For example, people with celiac disease suffer for many years before the diagnosis is made. They often state that they never feel well. Most of these patients will report episodes of fatigue with cognitive dysfunction; difficulty concentrating, mental "fogginess", recent memory dropouts. They complain of mood liability and are often tearful and irritable. They return to normal when they no longer eat problem foods.

We have recognized that Gluten-related diseases involve the absorption of complete proteins such as gliadin or its peptide-fragments. Anti-protein antibodies circulating in the blood and immune-complexes, combining antibody with food protein, provoke the release of mediators which may cause multiple disturbances in all body systems and tissue damage. These circulating problems influence brain function in a variety of undesirable ways.

A family history of "psychiatric problems" is more common in patients with celiac disease. Schizophrenia has been associated with gluten intolerance. The diagnosis, schizophrenia, describes a variety of differing individuals who belong to complex group of brain-disordered people often with a chronic or relapsing disease that leads to dementia. The schizophrenic process distorts sensing, feeling, remembering, deciding, and acting. It is unlikely that schizophrenia is a single disease with a single cause. The milder, but similar brain dysfunctions observed with gluten allergy suggests that food allergy may play a role in schizophrenia, with gluten proteins as a set of triggering antigens. Many years ago, Dohan advocated a gluten-schizophrenia link. He stated:

" Many diseases are caused by genetically-deficient utilization of specific food substances. Perhaps the best studied example is phenyketonuria... far more common disorders, for example, atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease, are strongly suspected of being due to genetically defective utilization of certain food constituents. " Similarly, considerable evidence indicates that the major cause of schizophrenia is the inborn inability to process certain digestion products of some food proteins, especially cereal grain glutens..."

Among Dr. Dohan's interesting ideas was a "Gluten tolerance test". Such a test has not yet been developed, but is the sort of evaluation method that NP advocates in general. A gluten tolerance test could be initiated with routine evaluations before and after ingestion of grain foods. More sophisticated versions would measure gluten proteins and derived peptides in the blood, and would track the path of these molecules into organs, especially the brain. Finally the impact of these molecules would be evaluated by monitoring the function of the target organ in real time. I have been eager to do real-time monitoring of brain activity in gluten-sensitive patients. These patients report changes in their energy, mood, cognitive abilities and emotions which no researcher to date has documented objectively. The problem of adverse brain effects of molecules derived from food is a major under-recognized phenomenon of nutrition and molecular pathophysiology. Research in the next 10-20 years will, I am convinced, reveal a great deal about the extent, mechanisms, and importance of this consequence of eating problematic foods to our mental status.

Recommendations: The Alpha Nutrition Program is gluten-free and is recommended as the diet revision strategy for anyone with diagnosed celiac disease, or any person with symptoms suggestive of gluten allergy.


http://www.nutramed.com/celiac/celiacbrain.htm