A sore of the skin or mucous membranes marked by inflammation, necrosis, and sloughing of damaged tissue.((Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. 19th Edition. F.A Davis Company. Philadelphia, PA))

What Is Migraine?

M igraine is a neurologic disorder characterized by reduced cerebral blood flow that causes a severe headache. The pain is usually on one side of the head, pulsates, and is aggravated by bodily exertion that increases blood pressure.

The type of migraine can be classic with an aura or non-classic without an aura.

Classic migraine begins with an aura that develops over minutes and may last up to an hour before, during, or after the headache. Some people can tell when they are about to have a migraine because they see flashing lights or zigzag lines or they temporarily lose their vision.

Q: What does the aura signify?

A: According to the International Headache Society, an aura signifies an area of brain dysfunction. An aura is different from a trigger. A trigger brings on a migraine while an aura is a response to decreased blood flow.

A study investigating what triggers a migraine found these statistics in 1027 participants of whom 75.9% reported triggers (40.4% infrequently, 26.7% frequently and 8.8% very frequently).

The trigger frequencies were stress (79.7%), hormones in women (65.1%), not eating (57.3%), weather (53.2%), sleep disturbance (49.8%), perfume or odour (43.7%), neck pain (38.4%), light(s) (38.1%), alcohol (37.8%), smoke (35.7%), sleeping late (32.0%), heat (30.3%), food (26.9%), exercise (22.1%) and sexual activity (5.2%).¹

Migraine affects about 12% of the U.S. general popululation. It is three times more common in women than in men.

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

Sources:

1. Kelman L. The triggers or precipitants of the acute migraine attack. Cephalalgia. 2007 May;27(5):394-402. Epub 2007 Mar 30. [↩]

What Is Pneumoccocal Septicemia?

P neumococcal septicemia (sepsis) is a life-threatening syndrome characterized by a cascade of systemic (body-wide) inflammatory responses to lung infection caused by bacterial infection spread to the bloodstream.

It is fatal in about 40% of cases, showing inadequate blood flow to internal organs. About 400,000 people die of sepsis each year in the United States.

Q: What is a pneumococcus?

A: A pneumococcus is an oval shaped , encapsulated, non-spore forming, gram positive bacterium of the genus Streptococcus. These bacteria usually occur in pairs.¹

Infection can be prevented with pneumococcal vaccination.

What Is Pneumococcal Septicemia In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. Taber’s Encyclopedic Medical Dictionary. 10th ed., Phila. [↩]

What Is Loss of Smell?

L oss of smell is a disorder that is characterized by impaired olfactory sense, or olfaction.

Partial or complete loss of smell can result from malnutrition, chronic rhinitis, polyps, chronic sinusitis, medications, old age, head trauma, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Q: How do we smell things?

A: The sense of smell is complex. It involves specialized olfactory cells that are chemoreceptors, that is, they detect odor molecules in the air we breathe in through our nose and transmit the information to the olfactory area of our brain, called the olfactory cortex, by way of the olfactory tract.   Olfactory cells are located in the top of the nasal cavity.

The ability to smell strongly contributes to the ability to taste, so that individuals with loss of smell have great difficulty in perceiving the taste of food. The result is loss of the appetite for and pleasure from food.

What Is Loss of Smell In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

What Is Infertility In Females?

I nfertility in females is characterized by failure to conceive after one year of intercourse.

This condition can be frustrating and emotionally upsetting to the parents trying to conceive.

What Is Infertility In Females In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

What Is Down Syndrome?

D own Syndrome is a congenital disorder (present at birth) characterized by consequence of having an extra chromosome 21 or 22.  Down syndrome is typically caused by what is called nondisjunction.

Q: What is nondisjunction?

A: Nondisjunction happens when a pair of chromosomes fails to separate during egg (or sperm) formation. When that egg unites with a normal sperm to form an embryo, that embryo ends up with three copies of chromosome 21 instead of the normal two. The extra chromosome is then copied in every cell of the baby’s body.¹

What Is Down Syndrome In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/whataregd/down/ [↩]

What Is Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis?

J uvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a rheumatic disorder characterized by chronic, inflammatory disease of large and small synovial joints and other organs in children under age 16 years. Growth and development may be impaired in these children.¹

Q: Which joints are affected in juvenile idiopathic arthritis?

A: In juvenile idiopathic arthritis the joints that are affected are variable and so are the manifestations.

According to the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR) classification system, there are seven different subtypes of  juvenile idiopathic arthritis. 

The main treatment to reduce inflammation and relieve pain is with non-steroidal inflammatories such as Ibuprofen.

What Is Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:

1. Stagi S, Giani T, Simonini G, Falcini F. Thyroid function, autoimmune thyroiditis and coeliac disease in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Rheumatology. Apr 2005;44(4):517-20. [↩]

The ability to control the timing of urination or a bowel movement.

Uncoordinated contractions down the length of the esophagus that may cause pain or trouble swallowing.

abbreviation for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay which is a type of blood test usually used to measure antibodies.