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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

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?

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 

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

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.

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 [↩]

MEDICAL RESEARCH: “Copper Deficiency in Infants with Active Celiac Disease.”

Editor’s note: In this case report of infants with severe malabsorption from celiac disease, the treating physicians found copper deficiencies based on blood studies that showed severe low copper levels and white blood cell count.  Treatment required copper supplementation in addition to the gluten-free diet.  Normally, in the last few months of gestation, an infant  stores a large amount of copper in their liver.  This storage must last about 6 months because infants must derive their nourishment from copper-poor milk.  This case report shows dramatically the terrible effect of malabsorption coupled with a naturally occurring huge demand for copper that could not be satisfied through digestion.

Does the severity of celiac disease symptoms correspond with degree of villous atrophy?

Editor’s note: The study below, investigating whether the degree of villous atrophy (intestinal damage) correlates with the symptoms that are presented, found they do not. Therefore, more research is needed to find out why symptoms do not correlate with the degree of intestinal damage.

The pathologic range of villous atrophy seen on small intestinal biopsies ranges from severe (total villous atrophy and subtotal villous atrophy) to milder, partial villous atrophy.

Shocking Facts About Celiac Disease

celiac awareness month
Photo credit: Celiac Disease Awareness Month

May is National Celiac Disease Awareness Month, so it seems appropriate to share some medical facts about this autoimmune disease that just might shock you.

These facts come from Dr. Tom O’Bryan who is is a nationally recognized speaker and workshop leader specializing in gluten sensitivity and celiac disease.  Dr. O’Bryan’s specialty is in teaching the many manifestations of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease as they occur inside and outside of the

Innovate Biopharmaceuticals Completes License For Late-Stage Celiac Disease Asset From Alba Therapeutics

Alba_Logo[1]Alba Therapeutics has been working on a therapy for celiac disease the past 8 years. Alba’s therapy, Larazotide Acetate, is the first to reach phase 3 clinical trials, where it will be given to large groups of people.

When Alba first contacted us about helping to promote their phase 2 clinical trial, we investigated the therapy’s mechanism and were glad to see the drug is not absorbed into the body, but acts in the intestine to stop gluten from being absorbed. Better yet, it worked. We covered Larazote Acetate in our article, Medical Research Study to Test a Potential Celiac Disease Therapy Is Underway and Signing up Participants.

A real therapy for celiac disease is one step closer. Alba just sent us the following press release concerning their deal with Innovate Biopharmaceuticals to produce the therapy.