Autism - Can a GF/CF diet help?
..It
has been suggested that peptides from gluten and casein may have a role
in the origins of autism and that the physiology and psychology of
autism might be explained by excessive opioid activity linked to these
peptides.
Research has reported abnormal levels of peptides in the urine and cerebrospinal fluid of persons with autism.
If this is the case, diets free of gluten and /or casein should reduce the symptoms associated with autism.....
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15106205
Read more: http://coeliac.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=misc&thread=3036#ixzz1fBCSesLt
Top tennis player's GF diet
No one can match Novak Djokovic on the tennis
court. After smashing his way past Britain's Andy Murray in the
semi-finals, the Serbian outfought Spain's muscular Rafael Nadal 6-4,
6-4 to win the Rome Masters.
For Djokovic, the most in-form player in the
world, Sunday's match was his 39th straight victory in succession. This
year the 6ft 2in Belgradian has won seven titles and £3.3m. His success
is not just down to his agility, baseline aggression and strong serve,
however, but his diet.
Like an estimated 600,000
Britons, the muscular 23-year-old Serbian has coeliac disease, which
means he is intolerant to gluten found in many grains. Last month,
Djokovic subscribed his new-found success on the court to his
nutritionist, Igor Cetojevic, who has steered him away from wheat,
barley and rye.
17.05.11 The Independant
Control of health services to be decentralised
In an attempt to focus on patient outcomes and meet fiscal savings targets
the Government intends to reform the National Health Service (NHS) by localising
decision-making.
The Public Accounts Committee comments on proposals outlined in the Health
and Social Care Bill in 'National Health Service Landscape Review’ (HC 764) by
examining the Bill’s value for money risks and implications.
Summary
The new model proposed in the Bill intends to transform the NHS in England
into a highly devolved, market-based model in which local commissioners and
providers of health services are freed from central control, with an increased
say for local authorities, patients and the public.
However, whilst the reforms could complement the imperative of achieving £20
billion efficiency gains by 2014/15, the reorganisation presents an additional
challenge for the NHS.
The health reforms are still at an early stage and key questions have yet to
be addressed. It is vital that the Department creates robust accountability
structures so that Parliament and the public can properly follow the taxpayers'
pound and hold those responsible to account.
The Committee is concerned that the Department has not yet developed a high
quality risk management protocol for either the commissioning or providing
bodies. The Department acknowledges that some health trusts and some GP
practices have some way to go to achieve foundation trust status or become
commissioning consortia. The Department must have effective systems in place to
deal with failure so that whatever happens, the interests of both patients and
taxpayers are protected.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transfer of nutrition policy for England to the Department of Health and labelling policy to Defra.
In July, the Government announced proposals to transfer nutrition policy for England from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) into the Department of Health (DH) and labelling policy to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
... the transfer has taken place on 1 October 2010, and on that date the following nutrition policy functions transferred to DH:
· nutritional labelling and EU negotiations on this
· nutrition and health claims, dietetic food and food supplements
· calorie information in catering establishments
· reformulation to reduce salt, saturated fat and sugar levels in food and reducing portion size (including in catering)
· nutrition advice, surveys and nutrition research
· scientific advice and secretariat to Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN).
Labelling policy (other than labelling related to nutrition or food safety) has transferred to Defra completely.
Question: Are maltodextrin and dextrin gluten-free?
Answer: Maltodextrin, a common food additive, is a type of sugar that’s made by breaking down starch. (Despite its name, maltodextrin does not contain malt.) Whether maltodextrin is gluten-free depends on what kind of starch it came from. In the United States, maltodextrin is usually made from rice, corn, or potato. In Europe, maltodextrin is frequently made from wheat.
Dextrin, a common additive that’s made by heating starch, can come from corn, potato, arrowroot, wheat, rice or tapioca.
If either of these additives is an ingredient and you are not sure the product is gluten-free, the safest thing to do is call the manufacturer and ask them to tell you the source of the maltodextrin or dextrin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Short stature of coeliac disease children linked with pituitary abnormality
MedWire News: Poor growth in children with coeliac disease (CD) could relate to the pituitary gland, Italian study findings suggest.
Children newly diagnosed with CD were more likely to be positive for anti-pituitary antibodies (APA) than those without the disease.
Testing positive for APA correlated with restricted height, and the researchers speculate this is mediated by a reduction in insulin growth factor (IGF)-1.
The possible autoimmune involvement of the pituitary gland in patients with CD has only been demonstrated in a few patients on a gluten-free diet, say Maurizio Delvecchio, from IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza in San Giovanni Rotondo, and colleagues.
They recruited 119 patients aged up to 16 years who had CD and attended an inpatient clinic, and compared them with 98 gender- and age-matched control individuals.
APA, all of class IgG, were detected in 50 (42.0%) patients, 15 with high titre defined as detectable at a dilution of at least one in 16, and 35 with low titre detectable at less than one in eight dilution.
This compared with detectable low titre APA in just two controls, the authors report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
IGF-1 levels were significantly higher in patients negative for APA than in those with either a low or high titre. APA patients with a high titre were also shorter than in those testing APA negative.
Height was positively correlated with IGF-1 and negatively correlated with the age of individuals. IGF-1 was positively correlated with body mass index.
Alessio Fasano and Debra Counts, from the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, USA, comment in an editorial accompanying the study.
They write: “Given the strong association of CD with other autoimmune disease, including autoimmune endocrine disease, these authors’ findings show one possible etiology for the poor growth seen in children with CD.”
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2010
26 March 2010
·
DEPRESSION & CD/GLUTEN SENSITIVITY
Patients with depression are told they have a chemical imbalance.
If someone else in their family is also depressed, the “gene card” is played.
“Your depression is genetic”, they are told.
I have been in practice for over 20 years and I find the above data to be false.
Consistently we find patients who are suffering from depression and anxiety to be gluten sensitive.
How could a food cause depression? Let’s take a look.
After the digestive tract, the most commonly affected system to be affected by gluten is the nervous system.
It is thought that depression can be caused by gluten in one of two ways.
The first area addresses the inflammatory changes gluten can cause.
A gluten sensitive individual’s immune system responds to the protein gliadin.
Unfortunately, that protein is similar in structure to other proteins present in the body, including those of the brain and nerve cells.
A cross reactivity can occur whereby the immune system “confuses” proteins in the body for the protein gliadin. This is called cellular mimicry and the result is the body attacking it’s own tissues with inflammation resulting. When inflammation happens in the brain and nervous system, a variety of symptoms can occur, including depression.
Research shows us that patients with symptoms involving the nervous system suffer from digestive problems only 13% of the time. This is significant because mainstream medicine equates gluten sensitivity almost exclusively with digestive complaints.
In a study examining blood flow to the brain, 15 patients with untreated celiac disease were compared to 15 patients treated with a gluten-free diet for a year.
The findings were amazing. In the untreated group, 73% had abnormalities in brain circulation by testing while only 7% in the treated group showed any abnormalities. The patients with the brain circulation problems were frequently suffering from anxiety and depression as well.
In addition to circulation problems, other research looks at the association between gluten sensitivity and its interference with protein absorption.
Specifically the amino acid tryptophan can be deficient.
Tryptophan is a protein in the brain responsible for a feeling of well-being and relaxation.
A deficiency can be correlated to feelings of depression and anxiety.
Our society is too willing to accept a “chemical imbalance” as an explanation for their symptoms and instead of getting to the root cause of the condition, simply swallow a pill – a pill that in the case of anti-depressants has very dangerous and sometimes lethal side effects.
The frequency with which we are able to successfully taper patients off their anti-depressants is considered “unbelievable” to many mainstream doctors, yet we do it regularly.
How is that possible? We actually diagnose the root cause of the depression.
Frequently the culprit is gluten, and in such cases a gluten-free diet is the main path to recovery.
Of course you will realise that this is from an American, but it is still relevant-
Coeliac disease awareness is growing, but misinformation still abounds. Here are 15 coeliac disease facts every doctor, patient and member of the public should know. 1. 1 in 700 - The average prevalence of coeliac disease in the United States in 1950. (Mayo)
2. 1 in 100 – The average worldwide prevalence of coeliac disease across all races today. (NIH) The average prevalence of coeliac disease in the United States today. (Mayo)
3. $8,500 - The average annual estimated healthcare cost of each person with untreated celiac disease in the United States. (Cigna/Columbia Coeliac Disease Center study)
4. 40+ - The number of countries with celiac disease support groups.
5. $1.56 billion – The gluten-free food industry sales in 2008. (Foodwatcher)
6. 3-12.3% – The prevalence of coeliac disease among adults with Type 1 Diabetes.
7. 24% - The prevalence of asthma among children with celiac disease.
8. 200 to 300% – The increased chance of developing cancer in people with untreated coeliac disease.
9. 800 to 900% - The increased likelihood of miscarriage for a woman with untreated coeliac disease.
10. 300+ - The number of signs, symptoms, associated disorders and complications that can directly or indirectly stem from ceoliac disease. (Recognizing Coeliac Disease)
11. Coeliac Disease is the most commonly misdiagnosed genetic auto-immune disease in the world.
12. Any Age – Coeliac disease is not a childhood disease as previously thought. Symptoms can present at any age following the introduction of dietary gluten.
13. No Cure - The only treatment for coeliac disease is the gluten-free diet (No Wheat, Barley, Rye or Oats). Once gluten is removed, healing and recovery occurs. You cannot grow out of coeliac disease.
14. All or Nothing - Coeliac disease is a pass/fail prognosis. One either has it or they do not. That said, test results can change. A person can test negative one one day and positive weeks, months or years later. Once positive, the diagnosis is lifelong.
15. Treating Coeliac Disease Requires Treating Nutrient Deficiencies – Treating coeliac disease requires removing gluten from the diet as well as identifying and correcting nutrient deficiencies. Self-management in the identification of symptoms due to nutrient deficiencies is crucial to long-term health as nutrient deficiencies can persist or arise in the future.
Read More (Philadelphia Gluten Free Examiner)
Coeliac disease widespread misdiagnosis
60% of people with coeliac disease have been previously misdiagnosed with IBS, according to charity
27th July 2010 – The charity Coeliac UK says there’s widespread misdiagnosis of the condition. It carried out a survey of more than 1,600 of its members and found that nearly 60% of them had previously been incorrectly diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) instead of being tested and diagnosed with coeliac disease.
The charity says one in 100 people in the UK have coeliac disease, an auto-immune condition caused by gluten intolerance. Left untreated by the diet it can lead to osteoporosis, infertility and bowel cancer.
The survey
The survey also found that nearly 60% of people had also been diagnosed with anaemia without being tested for the cause.
Other conditions that had been diagnosed instead of Coeliac disease included anxiety and depression, ‘holiday tummy’, gastroenteritis, gallstones, duodenal ulcer, ME (or chronic fatigue syndrome), appendicitis and hypochondria.
The survey also asked for how long they had visited their GP with coeliac symptoms before they were diagnosed. For 23%, it took 11 years or more to be correctly diagnosed. For a further 11%, it took 20 years.
32% of those surveyed thought GPs’ knowledge about coeliac disease was poor or very poor.
Guidelines
Coeliac UK launched its survey in 2009 just as the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance on coeliac disease.
Sarah Sleet, Chief Executive of Coeliac UK says in a news release: “It is too early to tell if the NICE guidelines are improving diagnosis rates but as a charity we are receiving around 1,000 new member requests a month from people who have just been diagnosed. But with around 500,000 people currently undiagnosed in the UK there is still a long way to go and it will be another 30 years at the current rate of progress before we crack the problem.”
“The NICE guideline is an important first step but we need a sea change in practice among GPs.”
SOURCES:
Coeliac UK news release.
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