What Is Headache Or Emicrania?

E micrania is a headache resulting from stimulation of, or traction of, or pressure on any of the pain sensitive structures of the head characterized by pain felt anywhere in the head.

In addition to gluten sensitivity and nutritional deficiencies, there are many causes of headache including cardiac, cerebral, vascular, psychiatric, metabolic, and neurologic diseases. Recent studies have highlighted that obesity is significantly associated with headache and disability in adults. This rule also applies to children.¹

What Is Headache In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. Laino D, Vitaliti G, Parisi P,   et. al. Headache, migraine and obesity: an overview on plausible links. J Biol Regul Homeost Agents. 2016 Apr-Jun;30(2):333-8. [↩]

What Is Dementia?

D ementia is the term used to describe a group of symptoms that show significant deterioration of an individual’s intellectual and social abilities.

The deterioration in intellectual function is progressive and is characterized by memory and cognitive impairment involving deficits in reasoning, judgment, abstract thought, comprehension, learning, use of language, and task execution.

Some types of dementia can be reversed,  while most types of dementia are degenerative or nonreversible.

Q: What causes dementia?

A: There are  many differing causes of dementia.  Here are some causes according to nonreversible and reversible:

• Nonreversible dementia may not be turned back due to these conditions:

• Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of degenerative dementia caused by abnormal protein structures in certain areas of the brain. 
• Lewy body disease is a leading cause of dementia in elderly adults.
• Vascular dementia due to many small strokes.
• Medical conditions: Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, infections that can affect the brain, such as HIV/AIDS and Lyme disease, Parkinson’s disease, Pick’s disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy.

• Reversible dementia may be stopped or reversed if these conditions are found soon enough:

• Brain injury.
• Brain tumors.
• Chronic alcohol abuse.
• Changes in blood sugar, sodium, and calcium levels.
• Changes that can occur with celiac disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, and other metabolic disorders.
• Nutritional deficiencies.
• Use of certain medications, including cimetadine and some cholesterol-lowering medications.¹

What Is Dementia In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001748/ [↩]

What Is Cortical Calcifying Angiomatosis?

C ortical calcifying angiomatosis is a cortical vascular (brain blood vessel) abnormality that is characterized by calcification of blood vessels and is usually present in the parietal or occipital cortical and subcortical regions of the brain.¹

The brain has 2 sides or hemispheres. Each side has 4 lobes, making 8 lobes altogether: 2 frontal lobes behind the forehead, 2 temporal lobes at ear level, 2 occipital lobes make up the rear of the brain, and 2 parietal lobes located behind the frontal lobes and above the temporal lobes.

Q: How do calcifications of blood vessels appear?

A: Calcium deposits are jagged owing to natural crystal formation by calcium, which is a mineral.

What Is Cortical Calcifying Angiomatosis In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. Wills AJ. The neurology and neuropathology of celiac disease. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology. 2000:26:493-496. [↩]

What Are Brain Blood Flow Abnormalities?

B rain blood flow abnormalities, or cerebral perfusion abnormalities, such as spasm of blood vessels causing inadequate blood flow to the brain, are characterized by impaired brain function and thinking.

Q: What is cerebral perfusion?

A: Cerebral perfusion is the flow of blood in the brain. Blood supply to the brain comes from 4 major vessels: 2 carotid arteries and 2 vertebral arteries.

Cerebral perfusion abnormalities can be diagnosed using perfusion computed tomography (CT). CT scan is a technique that allows rapid qualitative and quantitative evaluation of cerebral perfusion by generating maps of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and mean transit time (MTT). The technique is based on the central volume principle (CBF = CBV/MTT) and requires the use of commercially available software employing complex deconvolution algorithms to produce the perfusion maps.

Perfusion CT has been found to be useful for noninvasive diagnosis of cerebral ischemia (diminished blood flow) and infarction (no blood flow) and for evaluation of vasospasm (intermittent blood flow through vessels).¹

What Are Brain Blood Flow Abnormalities In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. Hoeffner E, Case I, Jain R, et al. Cerebral Perfusion CT: Technique and Clinical Applications. June 2004 Radiology, 231, 632-644. [↩]

What Is Brain Atrophy?

B rain atrophy is a degenerative condition of the brain characterized by loss of brain tissue, causing the brain to shrink.

Q: How does loss of brain tissue affect the body?

A: Loss of brain tissue will result in dysfunction depending on the area of the brain that is affected.

For example, loss of brain tissue in the lower brain, or cerebellum, will impair muscle coordination in activities such as walking, while loss of brain tissue in the frontal lobes of the cerebrum will impair cognition such as thinking, judgment, analysis, mathematical ability, and memory.

What Is Brain Atrophy In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

What Are Tremors?

T remors are repetitive patterns of involuntary muscle contraction and relaxation originating from disorder in the basal ganglia of the brain. See image of hand tremor (to left) courtesy of Antonio Piedade.

Rythmic shaking may affect various parts of the body including hands, arms, legs, trunk, tongue, or vocal cords.¹

Causes include malnutrition, drug adverse effects especially antipsychotics, environmental toxins, and conditions such as Parkinson disease and thyroid disease, which causes toxic levels of thyroid hormone.

What Are Tremors In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tremor/detail_tremor.htm [↩]

What Is Chorea?

C horea is a movement disorder characterized by brief, jerky, purposeless or writhing involuntary movements of the distal limbs, head, and face that may occur during voluntary movement or at rest.

Chorea has a large number of causes, including metabolic, structural, pharmacologic, genetic, and autoimmune factors. Despite extensive investigations, many patients remain undiagnosed.¹

What Is Chorea In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. Walker RH. Further Evidence for Celiac Disease-associated Chorea. Tremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y). 2011;1. pii: tre-01-32-96-3. [↩]

What Is Progressive Myoclonic Ataxia?

P rogressive myoclonic ataxia is a movement disorder characterized by defective muscular coordination of a muscle group with its origin in the brain.

The pathology is in the cerebellum.¹

Myoclonus in a context of progressive ataxia suggests one clinical form of the Ramsay-Hunt syndrome (progressive myoclonic ataxia, PMA), whose most frequent causes are: celiac disease, mitochondriopathies, some spino-cerebellar degenerations, and some late metabolic disorders.²

What Is Progressive Myoclonic Ataxia In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. Bhatia KP, Brown P, Gregory R, et al. Progressive myoclonic ataxia associated with coeliac disease. The myoclonus is of cortical origin, but the pathology is in the cerebellum. Brain. Oct 1995;118(Pt 5):1087-93. [↩]
2. Borg M. Symptomatic myoclonus. Neurophysiol Clin. 2006 Sep-Dec;36(5-6):309-18. [↩]

Having too much hydrochloric acid in the stomach.

A buildup of bilirubin in the blood caused by the lack of a liver enzyme needed to break it down. See bilirubin.