One hundred and ninety-seven persons, including fifty-three with a neurological disorder of unknown origin were studied for gluten sensitivity They were tested for anti-gliadin antibodies––gliadin being a fractional part of gluten which in turn is a part of wheat. Fifty-six percent of the fifty-three people with a neurological disorder of unknown origin showed an antibody response to the gliadin. When the 56 percent were retested with duodenal biopsies––the definitive diagnostic test for celiac disease/gluten sensitivity–– there was evidence of celiac lesions in 35 percent, and non-specific duodenitis in 38 percent. Only 26 percent had no lesions. In other words 74 percent were wheat sensitive.
Whether it is actually the wheat gluten that aggravates the neurological disorder or the uptake of gut toxins and/or protein fragments from increased intestinal permeability is unknown. The question is, what other mental disorders may be affected by diet through gluten sensitivity? This could have potential impact on mental disorders throughout North America, which has always been a wheat dependent society.
Clinical Pearls News April 1996