Category Archives: Disease

Diseases linked to celiac and gluten intolerance.

Deadly Flu and Gluten?

Disease, , , , , , , , , , , ,

When you hear of people dying or suffering the need of amputation (can’t locate the article that prompted this blog) from a terrible case of the #flu, I would wonder what shape their immune system was in. The same goes for #heart issues or most any serious health issue or lingering symptom.

If you have undetected and/or unaddressed celiac or gluten intolerance which can lead to all sorts of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, your immune system can be shot to pieces. Lacking the proper nutrition to keep your body strong and healthy, no doubt, can have a negative effect on how well you handle and fight off the flu.

Not only do you need to be consuming a healthy diet. You need to be “absorbing” those nutrients for the body to function optimally. Mal-absorption is a key issue among those who are intolerant to gluten, especially if they have full-blown celiac disease.

If you are weighed down with the flu or have most any chronic symptom or disease you might want to consider whether or not you could be gluten intolerant. Most people think it’s not their problem, but keep in mind that your symptoms and ailments are caused by something and according to numerous holistic practitioners gluten is at the top of the list of triggers.

If you are a sickly person, always getting the flu, colds, or a sore throat has your doctor ever offered testing for celiac or gluten issues? Too many mainstream doctors still think symptoms for celiac are related only to the gastrointestinal track. Not so! And if s/he has tested you (doubtful unless you are dealing with a functional medicine doctor who looks for the cause) was the result negative? There are too many false negatives with the typical tTg blood test given for celiac disease.

Just recently I spoke with a gentleman who had celiac disease. Both of his kids were tested, but were negative. I explained that they may not have had enough testing to detect a gluten issue and it would be a good idea to follow up with the stool testing.

My award-winning book, #ToxicStaple spells out blood testing and fecal (stool) testing that will likely get you an answer if gluten intolerant in Chapters 16 and 17. Too many doctors are not aware of other tests that are all FDA approved.

Is Hepatopulmonary Syndrome (HPS) Linked to Gluten? Do you have shortness of breath or a low level of oxygen? What shape is your liver in?

Disease, Toxic Staple, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

While looking for something else I ran across a website on hepatopulmonary syndrome. Hepato has to do with your liver, and pulmonary has to do with your lungs. When your liver is compromised your lungs may also become damaged and not function up to capacity causing shortness of breath and lower oxygen levels in your blood, among other issues.

It appears the only “cure” for HPS is a liver transplant.

In steps gluten. A number of lung and liver diseases are linked to celiac disease and gluten toxicity. Many of them will reverse or resolve when gluten is removed from the diet. Neither of the sites I peeked at mentioned a word about gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

“At a gluten-related conference I heard the story of a man who needed a liver transplant who was diagnosed with CD. When his doctors put him on a GFD his liver began to mend; ultimately, he no longer needed the transplant. This story was undocumented, but there is a formal study proclaiming that patients with critical liver dysfunction who adopt a strict GFD may preclude liver failure, even when a liver transplant is being contemplated. Of the four patients in this study who had acute liver disease, ‘hepatic dysfunction reversed in all cases when a gluten-free diet was adopted.’ (1) Seems to me this should be headline news, but I wonder how many folks with severe or even mild liver ailments have ever heard the words gluten or celiac disease uttered by their doctors.” (2)

“Some of the liver diseases associated with CD are autoimmune hepatitis, nonspecific reactive hepatitis (‘the most common’), primary biliary cirrhosis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis.(3) Liver disease can occur in people of any age, including children. A 2009 Swedish study of children with CD concluded that ‘severe hepatic damage or failure’ could evolve and that children with CD should be assessed for ‘liver function and vice versa, children with severe liver damage should be investigated for untreated celiac disease.’(4) The link is obvious! Nearly 40 percent of children and adults with ‘fatty liver transaminitis or hepatitis’ who have barely any symptoms have liver issues that improve or resolve themselves on a GFD.”(5)(6)

Many lung diseases and ailments are linked to gluten. The research is sparse, but there is some linked to various ailmets that cleared up with my storytellers in Toxic Staple. A woman was told she had lung cancer with a short time to live. It turned out to be sarcoidosis which cleared up with a gluten-free lifestyle…even the pain from the scar tissue disappeared; asthma and reactive-airway disappeared on the GFD; a chronic dry cough vanished on the GFD; lung function crashed and returned (see Holly’s story on page 135).

Research exists on idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis and fibrosing lung disease as linked to gluten. Some patients with dermatomyosistis (DM) may have lung cancer among other cancers and it is recommended that those with DM be screened for celiac disease.

If you should have unrecognized and therefore untreated celiac disease or gluten intolerance and your body is not absorbing vital nutrients needed for optimal health how can you expect to have healthy lungs, liver, blood or even a healthy brain?

If you have most any serious disease, especially autoimmune, or any chronic symptom, I urge you to get educated and get tested. I spell it out in Toxic Staple as only an irritated grandmother could. You can make a copy of the testing, both blood and stool to discuss with your doctor. It is life-enhancing information.

See Disclaimer: http://toxicstaple.com/disclaimer/

 Your future health may depend on addressing gluten. To order your personalized copy now visit: http://toxicstaple.com/buy-the-book/ or visit https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Staple-Gluten-Wrecking-Health/dp/0989239217 or check in at your favorite book store.

http://hpscare.com/for-patients/ This site provoked my interest in writing this blog.

  1. Kaukinen, K. et al., “Celiac Disease in Patients with Severe Liver Disease: Gluten-free Diet May Reverse Hepatic Failure.” Gastroenterology 122, no. 4 (2002): 881–88.
  2. Quote from Toxic Staple
  3. Barbero Villares, A. et al.,. [Hepatic Involvement in Celiac Disease.] [In Spanish.] Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 31, no. 1 (2008): 25–28.
  4. Casswall, T. H., et al., “Severe Liver Damage Associated with Celiac Disease: Findings in Six Toddler-aged Girls.” European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 21, no. 4 (2009): 452–59.
  5. Duggan, J. M. “Coeliac Disease: The Great Imitator.” Medical Journal of Australia 180, no. 10 (2004): 524–26.
  6. Quote from Toxic Staple

JUVENILE ARTHRITIS: Why Do Nearly 300,000 Children Need To Suffer From This Terrible Autoimmune Disease?

Arthritis, Disease, , , , , , , , ,

It’s because mainstream medicine has their head buried in the sand of “unawareness” (to be kind).

The bottom line of a Medscape article on New Guidelines and Recommendations pertaining to juvenile arthritis is that early exposure to antibiotics in childhood greatly increases the risk of developing juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), an autoimmune disease. It didn’t seem to matter what type of antibiotic was used. *

Antibiotics are known to wipe out the good bacteria along with the bad, and thus can contribute to an ill-functioning gut. Antibiotics seem to be handed out like candy for just about every childhood ailment.

It’s only been in the last few years that the importance of the gut biome, the condition of your gut, has been seriously recognized by a handful of forward-thinking doctors as being linked to autoimmune disease. You’ve probably heard that 70-80% of the immune system lies within the gut. So if you have a healthy gastrointestinal system you’re probably in pretty good shape, and contrary to that, if you suffer from most any chronic intestinal (or most any other) symptom/ailment you may very well have a “leaky gut.” Keep in mind that you can have full-blown celiac disease and have “no symptoms.”

Dr. Tom O’Bryan, a leading authority on gluten intolerance and celiac disease has stated in his “Betrayal Series” that if you have a healthy gut, you’ll never develop autoimmune disease. Other in-the-know doctors agree with this statement, but the group is miniscule.

Celiac disease is the only autoimmune disease with a known cause: gluten. Why is it that many autoimmune diseases get better or resolve (see stories in my book) on a gluten-free diet? Could gluten be a root cause of all autoimmune disease? Time will tell, but I expect so. Please see the long list of autoimmune diseases in my Table of Contents at http://toxicstaple.com/about-toxic-staple/ that are linked to gluten by major research. There are over 80 autoimmune diseases recognized, but probably another 50-100 awaiting clarification.

When are we going to see studies on JIA (and RA and OA) and gluten? There are 1,000s of studies on celiac and gluten intolerance, but few on the link to arthritis. Yet you will find thousands of studies on drugs to “treat” and “control” arthritis and numerous other autoimmune diseases. Many folks have told me their own rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or osteoarthritis (OA) was 95% better after eliminating gluten and allowing their gut to heal. You realize there would be a huge loss of business if everyone with arthritis jumped on a gluten-free diet.

Please, if you know of anyone (especially a child) with arthritis, kindly urge they get tested for celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Too often not enough testing is given to detect a problem so I spell it out in my book, Toxic Staple. To learn more please visit www.toxicstaple.com and always work with your doctor. You can even copy some pages from the book to share.

Disclaimer: http://toxicstaple.com/disclaimer/

Get your copy of Toxic Staple here: https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Staple-Gluten-Wrecking-Health/dp/0989239217 …or visit: http://toxicstaple.com/buy-the-book/ …or check Home page on the right for an e-book .

*New Guidelines and Recommendations from Medscape, Feb. Edition, p. 20, click on Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. http://reference.medscape.com/features/slideshow/guidelines/2017/february?src=wnl_edit_tpal&uac=156633BG:

Essential update: Children exposed to antibiotics may be at greater risk for juvenile arthritis. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1007276-overview

 

 

 

Parkinson’s Disease and The Gut

Neurological Disease, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Recent research on Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and the gut biome suggests researchers may have been barking up the wrong tree. PD appears to be associated with dysbiosis or the ill health of your gut microbiome, not just the brain as was once thought.

PD has a “strong environmental component.”(1) Does this mean that what we breathe, drink, and eat can seriously affect our health depending on what genes we have? That’s the new line of thinking called epigenetics.

The article mentions exposure to pesticides, but does not mention a word about gluten, and of course there are numerous other toxins in our environment.

Gluten can be the root cause to over 300 symptoms and disorders/diseases that are well substantiated by over 19,000 world studies. Among them are anxiety, mood disorders, depression, headaches/migraines, schizophrenia, autism, ADHD, tics, muscular issues, and many more neurological issues that can be linked to celiac disease, a malabsorption issue. Many of these neuro-disorders can disappear or get miles better once the trigger, gluten, and perhaps dairy and other proteins are detected and removed from the diet and the gut has a chance to heal.

It’s interesting to note that PD patients may also have constipation (a common symptom of celiac) and other gut symptoms years before the PD symptoms first appear.

Although “they” say there is “no cure” and no “preventative” measures perhaps researchers have not looked hard enough at gluten intolerance and celiac disease and thorough enough testing to detect intolerance.

It would be intriguing to know how many newly diagnosed PD, ALS, or Alzheimer’s patients tested positive for gluten intolerance/celiac disease if given the extent of testing presented in my book, Toxic Staple. Too many patients are only given one test; it’s not enough in most cases.

To discover more research on PD and neurological issues related to gluten read Chapter 9: Neurological Dilemmas: The Mind-blowing Hazards of Gluten (the longest chapter in the book).

Order your copy of Toxic Staple here: https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Staple-Gluten-Wrecking-Health/dp/0989239217 or http://www.toxicstaple.com

(1)Timothy R. Sampson et al. Gut Microbiota Regulate Motor Deficits and Neuroinflammation in a Model of Parkinson’s Disease. Cell, December 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.018 http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(16)31590-2

Cell Press. “Gut microbes promote motor deficits in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 December 2016. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161201122159.htm .