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.
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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.
- 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.
- Quote from Toxic Staple
- Barbero Villares, A. et al.,. [Hepatic Involvement in Celiac Disease.] [In Spanish.] Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 31, no. 1 (2008): 25–28.
- 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.
- Duggan, J. M. “Coeliac Disease: The Great Imitator.” Medical Journal of Australia 180, no. 10 (2004): 524–26.
- Quote from Toxic Staple