Neurological Disorders

Brain Symptoms in Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity

Frontal lobe - Human brain in x-ray view

There are 36 Brain Disorders Cause by Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Disease listed in the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.

How they are caused and treatment are presented. The people who follow the steps provided in the Treatment Guide DO recover…which is SO AWESOME TO SEE!!! :)

It’s all right here. Everything you need to fix yourself and maintain your health, and your brain.

Read more. >>> Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide: Symptoms Affecting the Brain

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 »

Mental Health and Celiac Disease

If you’ve ever lived with undiagnosed Celiac Disease – chances are you’ve been to a psychologist at one time or another.  Perhaps your doctor told you that you had severe depression, bi-polar disorder, anxiety, or simply that it was “all in your head.” Believe me – I’ve been there, done that. I had even convinced myself as an undergrad in psychology, that with all the knowledge I was gaining, I would not only be able to fix my own problems, but that I’d some day be able to help everyone else fix their problems too. I would become so mentally tough that nothing could conquer me. The problem was -something was wrong … and it wasn’t really in my head. No amount of “positive thinking” could get me out of what I was going through. I didn’t want to be depressed – and yet I had depression. I didn’t want to feel anxiety, didn’t have any reason to be anxious – and yet, I had anxiety all the time. I knew who I was – but when I looked in the mirror, I wasn’t that person. Something else was going on- and it was beyond my control.

During my time as a psych student, I had begun to realize that what I was putting into my body had a direct effect on my mood, energy level, and overall happiness. I started paying close attention to what I was eating and how I would feel afterwards – which eventually led me to walk into my doctors office and ask for a blood test for Celiac Disease. When I finally got some answers – I thought, “Wow, no wonder I felt horrible at school all the time” because I would eat a Gordita or Mexican Pizza just about every day on the way to class at our campus Taco Bell. (Just for the record, Gluten + addicting Taco Bell cheese opiates = not a good combo ;) I began to truly understand that what I was putting into my body had a direct effect on my mind. (The GUT-BRAIN connection).  Read More »

Celiac Disease, on the Couch

stock-photo-3443895-depression-and-sorrow1-216x300[1]Kathleen (not her real name) came to counseling because of anxiety. After an intake, we identified several areas in her life that sounded like they were contributing to her difficulties. We started working with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a system that looks at the thought sequence you use, and where a distorted belief can be corrected and thereby relieve suffering.

After teaching her a series of formulas, she was able to apply the principles herself when not in the office with me. This is a very effective psychotherapy intervention, that is so useful that many insurance companies paying for counseling expect to see it as part of a treatment plan. But, it did not seem to offer Kathleen the relief I was expecting. So, we continued looking elsewhere in her life for the source and solution of her anxiety. If it wasn’t her thinking causing it, perhaps it was situational. Read More »

Three Ways Gluten Causes Mental Disorders

Gluten is implicated in dozens of mental disorders, directly and indirectly causing symptoms that affect the mind. Cleo Libonati, RN, BSN explains three ways gluten causes neurological problems.

The Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide includes over 30 mental disorders that stem from gluten sensitivity and/or celiac disease and gives you steps to correct them or limit their progression.

Who Needs a Gluten Test? Video by “Gluten Syndrome” Expert Dr. Rodney Ford Explains

Dr. Rodney Ford, pediatrician and author of The Gluten Syndrome, provides us with an excellent and easy-to-follow video that tells us how to know if we need a gluten test.

This short presentation explains which symptoms to look for and tells you the tests you need to to request to find out if gluten is making you sick.

Dr. Ford estimates up to one third of people with chronic diseases are being affected by gluten and sums up why people do not ask to be tested. “We are so used to being sick that we don’t know we’re sick.” People think they have always been this way, so they do not know to ask.

He then establishes a great litmus test to determine who should be tested – “People who are sick, tired or grumpy should be tested.”

Read More »

Can Untreated Celiac Disease Make Your Child Mentally Ill? Watch These Recovery Videos!

If you or someone you know has a child with a mental illness, behavioral problem or unexplained neurological issue, you must watch this video. It vividly illustrates how gluten and celiac disease can cause neurological illnesses and how removing gluten from the diet can improve or cure the child. [Note: The title says two videos because there were two videos originally, but Youtube removed them. A reader informed us about the one below. Originally posted May 2009.]

Eamon Murphy started exhibiting mental aberrations and problems eating at three months of age. By the time he was three, his parents were frantically trying to understand what had caused his developmental delay in walking and talking, and now his trances, seizure-like episodes and regression. After a determined effort by his mother and a series of extraordinarily lucky events, he was finally diagnosed with celiac disease…and Read More »

Celiac “Rage,” Personality Issues and Nutritional Deficiencies

[Editor’s Note: The following is a post I recently submitted to a listserv concerning attitude and nutritional deficiencies in celiac disease. I posted it in response to a heated exchange folks were having on the topic.]

Hi there,

The “rage” we see in posts from time to time is part and parcel with celiac disease. My business is celiac disease. I own Glutenfreeworks.com and edited the groundbreaking medical reference, Recognizing Celiac Disease.

I frequently see abnormal personalities in my travels, presentations, discussions and on listservs. I meet people with anxiety, depression, irritability, distrust and other unexplained “attitudes.” There is an explanation – and no they aren’t jerks, as much as people might want to call them that. Whether they are gluten-free or not, they are sick – malnourished in fact.

Nutrients play a huge part in our attitude.

Here is an example. While dropping off a shipment of Recognizing Celiac Disease books at the post office on Friday, a woman in line with thinning hair and poor skin color noticed my Gluten Free Works label. She asked what the packages were and I told her the packages contained books I was sending to customers.

She immediately launched into a tirade about how only biopsy-proven people have celiac disease and people are making money off celiac disease and how she should write a book because her daughters have celiac disease and she has read all the research and knows everything… Read More »

Migraine Headaches and Celiac Disease

According to WebMD, approximately 45 million Americans suffer from chronic headaches, and of them, 28 million suffer from migraines.(1) A migraine headache is a neurologic disorder characterized by reduced cerebral blood flow. They are marked by periodic, usually one-sided pulsing headaches with or without aura and light and noise sensitivity or nausea.(1)

A 2003 medical study testing migraine sufferers for celiac disease showed that 4.4% had the disorder.(2) That would equate to more than 1.2 million migraine sufferers in the US having celiac disease.  Read More »