I recently heard from a woman via The Gluten File who had narcolepsy that remitted completely on a gluten free diet. She is a medical librarian, and has written this hypothesis paper~ so, I thought I would share it here for anyone who might be interested to read it.



Narcolepsy, Parkinson's Disease, and Lewy Body Dementia:
An Autoimmune Hypothesis

http://www.lindborglabs.com/Hypothesis.html


Cara

Very very interesting. Thank you for the link.

M

So without my having to read each and every link at this time, which I will do, what are the common symptoms of Gluten Sensitivity or Celiac Disease?

How does Gluten Sensitivity or Celiac Disease relate to Parkinson's Disease?

It's not that I'm lazy, I just don't have time to read it right now.

GregD

There are some 250 symptoms associated with celiac disease/ gluten sensitivity, and can affect essentially any organ in the body~ skin, brain, nerves. So... hard to give a comprehensive list.

Here is one fairly comprehensive listing of symptoms.

The most commonly recognized symptoms are GI symptoms (diarrhea, constipation, gas, bloating, GI bleeding, malabsorption).

More common neurological symptoms include neuropathy, ataxia, seizures, cognitive decline, depression. It can also cause neuromuscular symptoms and movement disorders. You can have neurological symptoms with or without having GI symptoms.


From: Neurologic Manifestations of Gastrointestinal Disease by Mark B. Skeen, MD, Neurologic Clinics, Volume 20, Number 1, February 2002

"Neurologic disease associated with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease includes a wide range of manifestations:

Central nervous system (CNS) manifestations include dementia, cerebellar ataxia, myelopathy, encephalopathy, brain stem encephalitis, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy,chronic, progressive leukoencephalopathy, progressive myoclonic ataxia, seizures, isolated CNS vasculitis, and a syndrome of celiac disease with encephalopathy and bilateral occipital calcifications.”

“Several reports document the existence of peripheral neuropathy in association with celiac disease.”


How does it relate to Parkinson's Disease? I'm not sure I've seen any hard evidence, although I do see the question arise from time to time. The neurological symptoms of gluten sensitivity are diverse and just starting to be recognized... the connection might be one of potential misdiagnosis in some cases?

There is also the possible zonulin / BBB connection. Zonulin regulates the tight junctions of the intestinal barrier, and the blood brain barrier. It has been shown that those with celiac disease, diabetes, MS, and some other autoimmune diseases have higher levels of zonulin. It has also been shown that the ingestion of gluten actually leads to increased zonulin levels in all people....possibly leading to "leaky gut" and "leaky brain".

Affinity purification and partial characterization of the zonulin/zonula occludens toxin (Zot) receptor from human brain.
PMID: 10617135 Jan 2000

When the finely tuned trafficking of macromolecules is dysregulated in genetically susceptible individuals, both intestinal and extraintestinal autoimmune disorders can occur. This new paradigm subverts traditional theories underlying the development of autoimmunity, which are based on molecular mimicry and/or the bystander effect, and suggests that the autoimmune process can be arrested if the interplay between genes and environmental triggers is prevented by re-establishing intestinal barrier function.
Mechanisms of disease: the role of intestinal barrier function in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal autoimmune diseases. PMID: 16265432 Sept 2005


CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, we concluded that gliadin activates zonulin signaling irrespective of the genetic expression of autoimmunity, leading to increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules.
Gliadin, zonulin and gut permeability: Effects on celiac and non-celiac intestinal mucosa and intestinal cell lines. PMID: 16635908 April 2006

There is, however, growing evidence that the loss of the intestinal barrier function typical of celiac disease could be responsible of the onset of other autoimmune disease. This concept implies that the autoimmune response can be theoretically stopped and perhaps reversed if the interplay between autoimmune predisposing genes and trigger(s) is prevented or eliminated by a prompt diagnosis and treatment.
Systemic autoimmune disorders in celiac disease. PMID: 17053448 Nov 2006


Sorry... still gave you a lot to read~

Cara

I just stumbled upon this past post... Narcolepsy and Parkinson's connection?

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=25930

There are definite links between the two. Sorting them out will be a challenge.


http://jnnp.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/72/5/560
THE NEUROLOGY OF COELIAC DISEASE
In 1966 Cooke published a landmark paper on 16 patients with neurological disorders associated with adult CD.8 This was the first systematic review of the subject after the introduction of diagnostic criteria for CD. Ten of these patients had a severe progressive neuropathy. All patients had gait ataxia and some had limb ataxia. Neuropathological data from postmortem examinations showed extensive perivascular inflammatory changes affecting both the central and peripheral nervous systems. A striking feature was the loss of Purkinje cells with atrophy and gliosis of the cerebellum. All 16 patients had evidence of severe malabsorption as evidenced by anaemia and vitamin deficiencies as well as profound weight loss…..

…..A review of all such reports (with biopsy proved CD) from 1964 to date shows that ataxia and peripheral neuropathy are the commonest neurological manifestations seen in patients with established CD…

…Some studies looking at normal populations have shown that the prevalence of CD is much higher than previously thought13,14 (approximating to 1 in 100). Most of such patients have no gastrointestinal symptoms…..

…Systematic screening of 143 patients with so-called "idiopathic sporadic ataxia" showed that 41% had gluten sensitivity as defined by the presence of circulating antigliadin antibodies20 (IgG with or without IgA). The prevalence of antigliadin antibodies in 51 patients with familial ataxia did not differ from that found in normal healthy control subjects (13%). The mean age of onset of the ataxia was 54 but we have recently seen three patients with early onset (under 20 years of age) sporadic idiopathic ataxia and gluten sensitivity. Recently four patients have been described with CD presenting as gait disturbance and ataxia in infancy.21 Alhough the ataxia tends to be slowly progressive, in some cases it can take a very rapid course with the development of cerebellar atrophy within a year of the onset of the illness (fig 1Go). Ataxia and myoclonus is a much less common presentation (only four patients in these series). We have encountered two patients who in addition to ataxia had evidence of chorea but normal genetic testing for Huntington's disease. Gluten ataxia primarily affects the lower limbs and gait. Extrapyramidal or autonomic features are rarely apparent and these features distinguish it from the cerebellar variant of multisystem atrophy (MSA). Screening of patients with clinically probable MSA (cerebellar variant) for the presence of antigliadin antibodies showed the prevalence to be similar to the normal population. Brain MRI usually shows cerebellar atrophy; sometimes with evidence of white matter abnormalities. Up to 40% of patients also have a sensorimotor axonal peripheral neuropathy that can often be subclinical. In a few cases oligoclonal bands are present in the CSF….

….Peripheral neuropathy is the second commonest manifestation of gluten sensitivity. Prospective screening of 101 patients with idiopathic peripheral neuropathy has shown the prevalence of gluten sensitivity to be 40% (unpublished data). The commonest type of peripheral neuropathy we encountered is sensorimotor axonal (26) followed by mononeuropathy multiplex (15), pure motor neuropathy (10), small fibre neuropathy (four) and mixed axonal and demyelinating (two). The neuropathy is usually chronic and of gradual progression. Patients with a pure motor neuropathy may progress to involvement of sensory fibres…..

….Gluten sensitivity is best defined as a state of heightened immunological responsiveness in genetically susceptible people.15 This definition does not imply bowel involvement. That gluten sensitivity is regarded as principally a disease of the small bowel is a historical misconception.28 Gluten sensitivity can be primarily and at times exclusively a neurological disease.

I find it interesting that at the same time today I am reading about the possible connection between Parkinson's and Celiac Disease (gluten sensitivity) I also read about a forum at which doctor's were going to be discussing the fact that people from the Midwest are 5 times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than others. While most believe this to be the result of exposure to pesticides, those exposed to pesticides only have a 3 times greater chance of getting Parkinson's than others. What is grown in the Midwest and therefore probably a greater percentage of a Midwestern's diet? Wheat, barley, rye, and dairy?

I think it's a combination, pesticide exposure has been shown to degrade the blood brain barrier which would allow gluten sensitive people to develop PD. It would also allow a greater influx of chemicals which themselves target and destroy the basal ganglia.

I live in the Midwest (near Chicago) and know our air quality is always pretty bad.

I googled "health risks midwest US" and got a few hits... who knows what our environmental exposures are:

Mercury
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/courses/geog100/ENS-Mercury.htm

Radon?
http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/radon/rnus.html

Pesticides
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...3/ai_n13807334

Just brainstorming a little about what our 'midwest' risks might be~ not so much about how they might affect us.

In case y'all are bored, I thought I'd mention I wrote up my experience and posted it on my site.

http://www.lindborglabs.com/AboutHeid.htm