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Subscriber Newsletter August 17, 2015

A Gluten Free Works Notification for Health Guide Subscribers Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Subscriber Newsletter Dear Subscriber:Welcome to the Gluten Free Works Health Guide Newsletter! Heart disease like… 

Hypertension, Reversible

Grade_1_hypertension[1]What Is Reversible Hypertension?

Reversible hypertension is a pressure disorder of arteries associated with increased systemic (body wide) blood vessel resistance to blood flow due to endothelial (cell) dysfunction of arterial blood vessels that can improve with nutritional treatment.

Hypertension itself is defined as a systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 140 mm Hg (mercury) or greater and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 90 mm Hg or greater.

Q: What is blood vessel (vascular) resistance to blood flow?

A: Vascular resistance to blood flow means the arteries carrying blood away from the heart cannot relax or dilate when needed to lower blood pressure but stay constricted, which in turn, keeps the pressure high.

Here’s an analogy: if you replace your garden hose having a one inch inside diameter with one that has a smaller half inch diameter and open the water valve as usual, the result would be water shooting out with more force.

What Is Reversible Hypertension In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Homocysteine, Elevated Blood Level (Hyperhomocysteinemia)

A 3-D model of homocysteine.
A 3-D model of homocysteine.

What Is Elevated Homocysteine?

Elevated homocysteine in blood, called hyperhomocysteinemia, indicates an abnormal blood level of this transient amino acid.

Q: How does the level of homocysteine become abnormal?

A: In metabolism, homocysteine is briefly formed in the breakdown of the amino acid methionine. It is normally converted to cystathione and then to the amino acid cysteine by means of an enzyme that requires vitamin B6.

In the reverse, conversion of homocysteine to methionine requires an enzyme dependent on adequate folic acid and vitamin B12 levels.

Insufficient methionine levels and/or inefficiency in this process results in elevated homocysteine plasma levels that are toxic to blood vessels.

Folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 are involved in the metabolic removal of homocysteine, but folic acid deficit occurs the most often.1

What Is Elevated Homocysteine In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Lim PO, Tzemos N, Farquharson CA, et al. Reversible hypertension following coeliac disease treatment: the role of moderate hyperhomocysteinaemia and vascular endothelial dysfunction. Journal of Human Hypertension. Jun 2002;16(6):411-5. [↩]

Subscriber Newsletter July 14, 2015

celiac disease gluten sensitivity treatmentThe management of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity is a gluten-free diet for life1 that meets the nutritional needs of the individual.This diet is highly effective for regaining health because it eliminates the cause of health problems originated by contact with gluten.

Treatment for celiac disease should begin only after a complete diagnostic evaluation including serology (blood test to detect antibodies) and biopsy of small intestine tissue. The institution of a gluten-free diet should result in prompt and often dramatic improvement.

Individual symptoms frequently require more than the gluten-free diet in order to resolve. The Health Guide lays out a 6 Step Plan for each symptom listed on the website that is individualized to that symptom or condition.

Complete healing of the intestines may take up to 5 years or even longer in some individuals, especially in the elderly. Recovery is more rapid and complete in children than in adults.2

There is no cure for celiac disease.  Since research is ongoing and much is yet unknown, it is prudent to treat any gluten sensitivity reaction as if it was celiac disease.

The following are six key elements in the management of individuals affected by celiac disease as advanced by the National Institutes of Health:

Sources:
  1. National Institutes of Health, “National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference Statement, Celiac Disease,” August 9, 2004;1-14. [↩]
  2. Murray, J., “The widening spectrum of celiac disease.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Mar 1999;69(3):354-365. [↩]

Bone Tissue: definition

Called osseous tissue. Bone is composed of specialized connective tissue (collagen) made up of living bone cells (osteocytes) that are embedded in a hard matrix (framework) of calcified substance. Bone matrix contains collagen fibers and… 

FoxP3+ T cells: definition

FoxP3+ T cells represent a major subset of regulatory T cells. They can be produced as natural or induced cells. FoxP3+ T cells are made in the thymus gland as natural FoxP3+ T cells and… 

T Lymphocytes or T Cells

Comparison of normoblast and megaloblastWhat Is Macrocytosis?

M acrocytosis is a blood cell disorder characterized by altered blood cell formation that results in abnormally large erythrocytes (red blood cells) circulating in the bloodstream.

The mean corpuscular volume (MCV), which is a measure of the size of red blood cells in the bloodstream, is greater than 100 fL as shown in a complete blood count (CBC) laboratory analysis report.

Macrocytosis produces macrocytic anemias that are classified as megaloblastic or non-megaloblastic:

  1. Megaloblastic anemias result from disorders of DNA synthesis of red blood cell precursors (megaloblasts) in bone marrow due to B vitamin deficiency demonstrated by macro-ovalocytes and hypersegmented neutrophils.1
  2. Non-megaloblastic anemias are or those caused primarily by alcoholism, liver disease and hypothyroidism.2

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

Sources:
  1. Kaferle J, Strzoda CE.Evaluation of macrocytosis. Am Fam Physician. 2009 Feb 1;79(3):203-8. [↩]
  2. Davenport J. Macrocytic anemia. Am Fam Physician. 1996 Jan;53(1):155-62. [↩]