Research

MEDICAL RESEARCH: Vitamin D Necessary for Preserving Cognitive Function

Editor’s note: Promising research published January 8, 2007 shows that adequate levels of vitamin D in the elderly are important to maintain cognitive function or thinking skills that include use of language, awareness, social skills, math ability, memory, reasoning, judgment, intellect, learning, and imagination. This study is called a retrospective review because the researchers did not actually examine anyone. Instead they reviewed data from records of 32 older adults who had been examined for memory Read More »

Celiac Expert Answers – Could a Gluten-Free Diet Lead to Other Diseases? Video!

Weight loss, fad, miracle cure…there is an enormous amount of misinformation concerning the gluten-free diet in the news, on the internet and even in the medical community.

One of the worst ideas being perpetuated is that following a gluten-free diet can somehow be bad for you.

Dr. Stefano Guandalini, Founder and Medical Director of Columbia University’s Celiac Disease Center, answers the important question – Could following a gluten-free diet lead to other diseases?

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New Study Finds Link between Celiac Disease and Obesity in Patients

gluten overweight weight gainLately, it seems like more and more celebrities and professional athletes are openly talking about going gluten free. Whether it’s due to a diagnosis of celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity, or simply because they want to get healthy, many of them have noted a weight loss as part of the benefits they’ve been seeing. Then why is it, that so many doctors and specialists will dismiss a diagnosis of celiac disease in a patient simply because the patient is not underweight?

In a recent article by Sonia Kupfer, MD, the belief that people with un-diagnosed celiac disease are all underweight is revealed to  Read More »

Study Finds Gluten Causes Digestive Symptoms and Fatigue in People Without Celiac Disease

irritable bowel glutenIn the first double blind randomized placebo-controlled study of gluten and symptoms in people without celiac disease, researchers from Australia have confirmed that gluten is a trigger of digestive symptoms and fatigue. They concede that “non-celiac gluten intolerance” may exist.

 

The researchers challenged and re-challenged people with IBS in whom celiac disease had been excluded whose symptoms were controlled on a gluten-free diet. These individuals were randomized to gluten-free diet with daily supplements of muffins and bread with a standard amount of gluten added or not added. Both the patients and the Read More »

Don’t be a Statistic. Medical Mistakes are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the United States.

13502036_10154102429271815_7497922383029815833_n[1]A recent Johns Hopkins study found medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the United States, killing between 200,000 and 400,000 per year.

The study does not even consider misdiagnoses, or how many people suffer injuries without dying. We frequently see people who are medicated for what doctors think are diseases, but are actually symptoms with underlying causes. This is why we created the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide – to improve proper diagnosis and treatment – so you and your doctor could connect the dots between hundreds of symptoms and their causes, causes like nutrient deficiencies that doctors do not recognize.

“Medical mistakes — from surgical disasters to accidental drug overdoses — are the No. 3 cause of death in the U.S., behind cancer and heart disease, two experts argued Wednesday.

They said a careful count of all deaths from preventable medical errors shows between 200,000 and 400,000 people a year die in the U.S. from these mistakes. The only way to get the country to do something about them is to start counting them, Dr. Martin Makary and Michael Daniel of Johns Hopkins University medical school argued.

“We spend a lot of money on cancer and heart disease but we have not even recognized that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the United States,” Makary told NBC News.

“We have not as a country recognized the endemic problem of people dying from the care that they receive rather than the illness or injury for which they seek care.” Read the rest of the story at NBC News. The case report is available at the New England Journal of MedicineRead More »

MEDICAL RESEARCH: “Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG enhances gastric ulcer healing in rats.”

Editors’ note: This animal study investigating the effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus, a strain of probiotic bacteria, on ulcers of the stomach lining of rats demonstrated that bacteria placed directly into the stomach significantly and according to dose reduced gastric ulcer size.  If the results of this animal research are reproduced in humans, it would demonstrate that probiotics may hasten recovery for people suffering from stomach ulcers.  The bacteria did not affect the function of normal gastric mucosa but normalized those with abnormal changes during ulceration.

“Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG enhances gastric ulcer healing in rats.”

Lam EK, et. al.

Department of Pharmacology, The University of Hong Kong, China.

European Journal of Pharmacology. 2007 Jun 22;565(1-3):171-9.

Background: Probiotics are widely used as functional foods which have been advocated for the maintenance of gastrointestinal microflora equilibrium and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. However, studying the role of probiotics in peptic ulcer disease is limited. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of a probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG on gastric ulcer and to elucidate the mechanisms involved.

Methods: Gastric kissing ulcers were induced in rats by acetic acid (60% v/v). L. rhamnosus GG was given intragastrically (directly into the stomach) at 10(8) cfu/day or 10(9) cfu/day for three consecutive days after ulcer induction. L. rhamnosus GG successfully colonized in the gastric mucosa especially at the ulcer margin. It also significantly and dose-dependently reduced gastric ulcer area.

Results: L. rhamnosus GG successfully colonized in the gastric mucosa especially at the ulcer margin. It also significantly and dose-dependently reduced gastric ulcer area. Cell apoptosis to cell proliferation ratio was strongly decreased and accompanied by significant up-regulation of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein expression at the ulcer margin. Angiogenesis was also significantly stimulated together with the induction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. Furthermore, L. rhamnosus GG up-regulated the phosphorylation level of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF receptor) without altering the total EGF receptor expression.

Conclusions: These findings suggested that L. rhamnosus GG enhanced gastric ulcer healing via the attenuation of cell apoptosis to cell proliferation ratio and increase in angiogenesis. Regulators of these processes such as ODC, Bcl-2, VEGF and EGF receptor are likely to be involved in the healing action of L. rhamnosus GG for gastric ulcer.

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Author Information: Cleo Libonati, RN, BSN
Cleo Libonati is president/CEO and co-Founder of Gluten Free Works, Inc. She is the author of Recognizing Celiac Disease and the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.

Study Finds 1 in 5 Children With Celiac Disease Sustain Intestinal Damage Even on a Gluten-Free Diet

baby-sleeping

In a new medical study, researchers from MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) were surprised to discover that nearly one in five children with celiac disease sustained persistent intestinal damage, despite strict adherence to a gluten-free diet.1

Consistent With Results Seen In Adults

These findings are consistent with research in adults, which showed that more than 33 percent of adult patients on a gluten-free diet have persistent intestinal damage, despite a reduction of symptoms or the results of blood tests.

It Was Assumed That Intestinal Lining Healed In Children

Current guidelines for pediatric celiac disease patients recommend a single biopsy at diagnosis and follow-up blood testing to monitor recovery of the intestinal mucosa. It was assumed that intestinal mucosa (lining) healed in children after adopting a strict gluten-free diet and that the blood tests would accurately reflect whether healing was occurring or not. It appears this assumption was incorrect.

Read More »Sources:
  1. http://www.news-medical.net/news/20161130/Study-finds-1-in-5-pediatric-celiac-disease-patients-on-gluten-free-diet-sustain-persistent-intestinal-damage.aspx []

Swiss Researchers Find Zinc Prevents and Cures Acid Reflux Better Than Drugs

acid reflux remedy zinc

Sores from acid reflux

Researchers in Switzerland have made the welcome discovery that the essential nutrient zinc effectively inhibits gastric acid secretion in humans.

The researchers were investigating whether zinc could lead to a rapid and sustained increase of stomach pH (more alkaline) in both animals and humans and provide a rapid acid suppression therapy. They demonstrated that zinc offers a new and prolonged therapy for Read More »

How a Book About Celiac Disease Became an Online Treatment Resource for the Gluten Free World.

Gluten Free Works co-founders, John Libonati and Cleo J. Libonati, RN, BSN published the groundbreaking medical reference, Recognizing Celiac Disease, in 2007.

Endorsed by physicians and professors at Harvard, Columbia, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Jefferson Medical College and other esteemed medical institutions, Recognizing Celiac Disease was the first book to gather medical research from around the world and present over 300 signs and symptoms of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

Today, that work has been converted into the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide, a one-of-a-kind self-help resource for the newly diagnosed and people who are gluten-free, but still suffering symptoms.

John and Cleo discuss how the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide grew out of Recognizing Celiac Disease and their experience lecturing to support groups and medical organizations across the United States.

Find out more about the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide here.

Treatment Guide How to Search for Your Symptoms

Hello! We have some exciting news for you!

We have been busy putting the finishing touches on our Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.

This important resource is the natural follow up to our groundbreaking printed medical reference, Recognizing Celiac Disease.

Recognizing Celiac Disease introduced the world to over 300 signs, symptoms, associated disorders and complications that stem from celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

The Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide takes it a step further and shows you how to recognize your symptoms, how they are related to each other, but most importantly, how to treat each symptom individually. (Note: The Treatment Guide is priced at $29.99.)

Here is a quick video that shows you the various ways you can find your symptoms using the Treatment Guide.

There has been a lot of really exciting new medical research recently and we can’t wait to get it to you. Stay tuned!