1. Validate your emotional experience. Don’t tell youself that you shouldn’t feel the way you do or that how you feel is stupid. Talking negatively to yourself will only increase your anxiety because negative self talk is not effective in changing emotions. Say to yourself, “It’s okay that I’m nervous. It makes sense. Despite that, I can do this!” Approaching, not avoiding is what helps us deal with intense negative emotions. It helps us learn that despite their presence, they are Read More »
“An estimated 40 million adult Americans suffer from anxiety disorder.” (1) These 40 million people total 18.1 percent of the United States that are at least 18 or over. (2)
According to “Recognizing Celiac Disease” anxiety is common in people with celiac disease and may be the only manifestation. Celiac disease patients showed high levels of state anxiety in a significantly higher percentage compared to controls – 71.4% vs. 23.7%.(3)
Chronic maladaptive anxiety is characterized by vague uneasiness or unpleasant feeling of apprehension and dysfunction. It is marked by anticipation of danger and interference with normal functioning, ranging from mild qualms and easy startling to occasional panic, often with headaches and fatigue. Deficiency of amino acids and vitamins implicate reduction of synthesis of neurotransmitters in the central nervous system and could be linked to immunological disregulation in celiac disease patients. Anxiety itself causes depletion of vitamins and minerals. Deficient nutrients could be B vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, tryptophan.(3)
A medical study evaluating bloodflow in the brain showed evidence of significant blood flow alteration in the brains of people with celiac disease who had only anxiety or depression neurological symptoms and were not on a gluten-free diet. Single photon computed tomography (SPECT) scan showed at least one hypoperfused brain region in 73% of untreated celiac disease patients compared to 7% of patients on a gluten-free diet and none in controls.(3)
Therefore, bloodflow in the brain and nutritional deficiencies play a large part in anxiety. If nutritional deficiencies are the source of the problem, then medications will be less effective requiring increasingly strong doses because the body and brain do not have what they need to utilize them.
The good news is that studies showed state anxiety improves and can usually disappear in people with celiac disease after withdrawal of gluten from the diet and improvement of nutrient status.
Consider celiac disease if you or someone you know has anxiety.
Related medical studies are referenced in “Recognizing Celiac Disease, by Cleo Libonati, RN, BSN.”
Celiac disease is a multi-system, hereditary, chronic, auto-immune disease estimated to affect 1% of the human population (3 million in the US) that is caused by the ingestion of wheat, barley, rye and oats. It is treated by removing these items from the diet. Signs, symptoms, associated disorders and complications can affect any part of the body and removal of the offending foods can result in complete recovery.
“Recognizing Celiac Disease” is a reader-friendly reference manual written for both medical professionals and the general public that specifically answers the call from the National Institutes of Health for “better education of physicians, dietitians, nurses and other healthcare providers.” It has been endorsed by top medical professionals and professors at Harvard, Columbia, Jefferson and Temple Medical Schools as well as the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness and the Celiac Sprue Association – USA. “Recognizing Celiac Disease” is being hailed as the complete guide to recognizing, diagnosing and managing celiac disease and a must-have for physicians, dietitians, nutritionists, nurses, patients and anyone with an interest in this complex disorder.
Editor’s Note: Recognizing Celiac Disease has been expanded upon and converted into an online resource, The Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.
Click here for more information.
Sources:
(1) ADAA Brief Overview. ww.adaa.org/GettingHelp/Briefoverview.asp
(2) Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety
(3) Libonati, Cleo. Recognizing Celiac Disease, Gluten Free Works Publishing, 2007.
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Author Information: John Libonati, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher, Glutenfreeworks.com.
Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.
Editor & Publisher, Recognizing Celiac Disease.
John can be reached by e-mail here.
I was sitting in the waiting room at the Honda dealer last Friday and a middle aged woman next to me mentioned she had celiac disease after hearing me turn down a complimentary pastry. We got to talking and it turns out she was diagnosed 17 years ago.
She started asking questions once she found out what I do. She said she cooks 100% gluten-free, but is sometimes anemic and used to get vitamin B12 injections which made her feel great. I asked how often she ate out. Twice per week.
I asked to see her fingernails. They looked like the image here, spoon shaped and upturned.
Looking up her nail symptoms on our Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide on my phone, I told her it was koilonychia, from iron deficiency. She said they had always looked that way as far back as she could remember.
Neither her gastroenterologist, nor her endocrinologist picked up on it. After telling me she was on Prevacid and Gaviscon, I told her why her hair was thin and how the acid reflux drugs she had been taking were impairing her nutrient absorption. She thought she had high acid.
I told her my opinion based on her history and symptoms was low acid. Her doctors knew none of this, but it was all in our Treatment Guide. Doctors don’t know and Google is unreliable. The Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide will help you. It can be as simple as looking at your nails.
Psoriasis on back, Courtesy Wikimedia
“Psoriasis: 7 New Genetic Clues”
Newly Discovered Genetic Variations May Make Psoriasis More Likely, Study Shows
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDApril 3, 2008 — Scientists have discovered seven genetic variations linked to psoriasis. Read More »
Lately, 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 »
In 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 »
Editors’ note: This case report illustrates that a person can live a long time reporting apparent good health and be completely unaware that they have symptoms of celiac disease. In this case, hematomas, (which are swollen black and blue marks caused by a break in the wall of a blood vessel), that developed on his legs caused the patient to seek medical attention. The ability of his blood to clot was severely impaired and yet there was no other manifestation of hemorrhage. Discover more about bruising and hundreds of other health issues and how to treat them at the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.
[Editor’s Note: The post below is a response to a young woman with cataracts and celiac disease. Cataracts are directly related to nutrient deficiencies of vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, protein, vitamin C and possibly vitamin B2 in celiac disease. -Updated 6/13/2016 from Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide: Cataracts]
Hello,
I am 20 years old, have celiac disease and cataracts. The optometrist told me it is because I have fair skin and light eyes and have had too much sun exposure. I grew up in Mobile, AL and spent everyday I could at the beach so this could be true. It is very interesting that you brought up this topic though. It never crossed my mind that these two could have anything to do with each other.
-L
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Hi L,
Many eye problems are found in celiac disease. Cataracts are directly related to nutrient deficiencies. “Cataract formation, a feature of vitamin A deficiency and long standing hypocalcemia, is characterized by clouding of the lens of the eye. In celiac disease, it results from malabsorption of vitamin A and calcium. Vitamin B2 may be involved. GFD (gluten-free diet) is preventive and limits further changes.” (Recognizing Celiac Disease, p. 213) That said, we know that malnutrition can persist on a GFD due to unintentional gluten ingestion, poor diet, etc. Ask your physician to take levels of vitamin A, B2 and calcium to make sure you are absorbing adequate amounts.
-John
Learn more about cataracts in celiac disease and how to prevent them and limit further damage in the Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide: Cataracts.
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Author Information: John Libonati, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher, Glutenfreeworks.com.
Editor & Publisher, Recognizing Celiac Disease.
Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.
John can be reached by e-mail here.
Muscle weakness is the lack of muscle strength to perform physical work that we should be able to do, such as lifting objects, climbing steps or simply walking or getting up from a chair. Muscle weakness is different from muscle fatigue, which is the lack of energy to continue physical work once begun. Muscle weakness is also different from lassitude, or chronic fatigue, which is the feeling of tiredness or exhaustion but without loss of muscle strength.
Muscle weakness is common in celiac disease. It may stem from one or more nutrient deficiencies, associated disorders or complications. This article addresses only nutritional causes of muscle weakness resulting from malabsorption and/or loss of minerals from diarrhea or vomiting. Read More »
In 2007, Gluten Free Works published “Recognizing Celiac Disease,” the first work to present over 300 signs, symptoms, associated disorders and complications gathered from documented medical research from around the world.
The book proved that researchers were finding hundreds of health problems associated with celiac disease and gluten.
This list is now being used by celiac disease centers, national celiac organizations and health organizations to help identify at risk patients and determine whether patient symptoms are consistent with celiac disease.
But how can one disorder cause so many problems?
Here’s a look at one way…nutritional deficiencies. Read More »
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