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Potassium Deficiency

Luscious Figs For Potassium.
Luscious Figs For Potassium.

What Is Potassium?

Potassium is a mineral that is crucial for life being essential for every cell, especially nerve and muscle function.

Most potassium is intracellular, meaning it is found within cells while sodium, its opposing mineral (both electrolytes), is found in the fluid surrounding cells.

In muscle contraction, exchange of potassium and sodium takes place so that potassium moves out of muscle cells and sodium moves into them.

With muscle relaxation, potassium moves back into the cells and sodium moves out. Functions are described below.

Importantly, a recent study investigating the association between the metabolic syndrome and potassium intake in the general population found a significant inverse association between potassium intake and metabolic syndrome in adults. That is, the lower the potassium intake, the greater the odds of developing metabolic syndrome. After adjusting for various lifestyle and dietary confounders, subjects in the highest quartile of potassium intake had 39% lower odds for metabolic syndrome compared to those in the lowest quartile. This association was consistent for both sexes. Among the components of metabolic syndrome, potassium intake was inversely related to abdominal obesity and fasting hyperglycemia in multivariate analysis.1

What Is Potassium Deficiency In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Shin D, Joh HK, Kim KH, Park SM. Benefits of potassium intake on metabolic syndrome: The fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV). Atherosclerosis. 2013 Sep;230(1):80-5. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2013.06.025. [↩]

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. [↩]

Zinc Deficiency

Oysters Have Mega Zinc!
Oysters Have Mega Zinc!

What Is Zinc?

Zinc is an essential trace mineral that is involved in numerous aspects of cellular metabolism, being essential for activation of almost 200 enzymes that have vital roles in the body.

Q: What happens when enzymes do not get activated?

A: When enzymes do not get activated, they cannot perform their necessary functions which, in turn, damages health.

Zinc promotes healthy skin, hair, immunity, fertility, and growth.

A daily intake of zinc is required to maintain a steady state because the body has no specialized zinc storage system.1 Functions are more fully described below.

What Is Zinc Deficiency in Celiac Disease?

Sources:
  1. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/ [↩]

Muscle Weakness 

Microscopic View of Gastric Biopsy Showing a Collagen Band Under the Surface Mucosal Cells. Courtesy Gastrolab.com
Microscopic View of Gastric Biopsy Showing a Collagen Band Stained Pink Under the Surface Mucosal Cells. Courtesy Gastrolab.com

What Is Collagenous Gastritis?

C ollagenous gastritis is a rarely reported stomach disorder characterized by the deposition of a subepithelial collagen band and accompanying inflammatory infiltrate in the stomach wall.

A subepithelial collagen band means that collagen, a tough fibrous protein, has abnormally accumulated under the surface layer of epithelial cells which form the mucosa lining the stomach.

The surface mucosa may remain intact and not show lymphocytosis and/or gastritis on endoscopic examination or it may become stripped off and bleed from entrapped capillaries. Biopsy is necessary to diagnose collagenous gastritis.1

Q: Why does collagen become deposited under the surface lining of the stomach?

A: It is thought that collagen deposition is preceded by inflammation and tissue damage. However, the natural history and pathogenesis of collagenous gastritis remain unclear.2

What Is Collagenous Gastritis In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Jain R, Chetty R. Collagenous gastritis. Int J Surg Pathol. 2010 Dec;18(6):534-6. doi: 10.1177/1066896908329588. Epub 2008 Dec 22. [↩]
  2. Leung ST, Chandan VS, Murray JA, Wu TT. Collagenous gastritis: histopathologic features and association with other gastrointestinal diseases. Am J Surg Pathol. 2009 May;33(5):788-98. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0b013e318196a67f. [↩]

Nails, Horizontal Ridges (Beau’s Lines), Fragile

Photo showing resolving deep bruise on the thigh.
Photo showing resolving deep bruise on the thigh.

What Is Easy Bruising?

E cchymosis, or easy bruising, is a feature of impaired secondary hemostasis (blood clotting) characterized by subcutaneous bleeding (under the skin) in response to light trauma.

Q: What causes easy bruising?

A: Easy bruising is the direct result of vitamin K deficiency that develops from inadequate diet, malabsorption, dysbiosis, and vitamin K depleting medications.

What Is Easy Bruising In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Nails, White Spots And White Bands

Cardiomegaly-Heart-frontWhat Is Cardiomegaly?

C ardiomegaly is a non-inflammatory disorder of the myocardium (heart muscle) causing the heart to enlarge.

Q: What happens when the heart enlarges?

A:The heart enlarges because excessive growth of muscle tissue (hypertrophy) thickens the heart walls which in turn reduces the size of the lower chambers (ventricles) and impairs the filling of the heart chambers with blood. In consequence, the heartbeat quickens.

Also, the enlarging heart encroaches on lung space which impairs their ability to expand with inspiration of air.

Cardiomegaly can result in heart failure because of inability to pump sufficient blood for the needs of the body and ventricular arrhythmias (irregular or missed beats) that can stop the heart. An echocardiogram, which is a test that uses sound waves to produce a picture of the heart, is used to detect and diagnose cardiomegaly.

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

Muscle Pain and Tenderness, Chronic 

Reproduction of a lithograph plate showing inside of the stomach from Gray's Anatomy. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
Reproduction of a lithograph plate showing inside of the stomach from Gray’s Anatomy. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

What Is Delayed Gastric Emptying?

D elayed gastric emptying is a stomach motility or movement disorder characterized by abnormally slow movement of gastric contents from the stomach through the pyloric sphincter into the duodenum, causing dyspepsia.

Q: What determines how fast the stomach empties?

A: How fast the stomach empties depends on the pressure of strong coordinated muscle contractions in the top region of the stomach propelling chyme against resistance at the pylorus (base region of the stomach).

Chyme is food that has been dissolved and thoroughly mixed with stomach secretions.

In the digestion of carbohydrate, protein and fat, protein leaves the stomach first (1 hour), then carbohydrates (1 1/2 to 2 hours), and fat takes longest to digest (2-4 hours). Plain water is able to pass through the pylorus within 5 minutes.

What Is Delayed Gastric Emptying In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Alopecia, Diffuse (Balding Hair Loss)

Courtesy of slideshow.net
Courtesy of slideshow.net

What Is Transient Erythroblastopenia?

T ransient erythroblastopenia is a rare disorder of red blood cell formation characterized by brief, reversible disappearance of erythroblasts (red blood cell precursors) in the bone marrow of children.

Q: What do the red blood cells look like?

A: Circulating red blood cells appear normal so that the anemia which develops is a normocytic (normal cellular) anemia in contrast to microcytic (small cell) anemia in iron deficiency or macrocytic (large cell) anemia in vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency.

Because new red blood cells are failing to mature, packed red blood cell transfusions may be necessary in severe anemia.

In adults, this disorder is called pure red blood cell anemia.

What Is Transient Erythroblastopenia In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Tuberculosis – Non-Response to Treatment 

Underarm showing skin darkening, which is a feature of Addison's Disease
Underarm showing skin darkening, which is a feature of Addison’s Disease

What Is Primary Addison’s Disease?

A ddison’s disease is an autoimmune destruction of the adrenal glands by autoantibodies that target the adrenal cortex, or outer part of these glands, and is characterized by a slow progressive failure of the adrenal glands to adequately produce its steroid hormones.

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue or failure may not develop until the majority of adrenal tissue is destroyed. When untreated, progression leads to coma, called Addisonian crisis, which is a medical emergency.

There are two adrenal glands each located on top of a kidney and enclosed in a connective tissue capsule. Each is a small, triangular shape that is made of two parts: the outer region and the inner region.

The inner region, called the adrenal medulla, produces epinephrine and norepinephrine chemicals that are needed to deal with stress.

The outer region, called the adrenal cortex, produces adrenocortical (steroid) hormones and releases them into the bloodstream in response to pituitary stimulating hormone from the brain.

Q: What is the function of steroid hormones produced by the adrenal glands?

A: Functions of the three steroid hormones produced by the adrenal glands are:

  1. Glucocorticoids restrain inflammation and metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins to maintain a normal glucose blood level. The major glucocorticoid is hydrocortisone.
  2. Mineralocorticoids regulate the retention and excretion of fluids and electrolytes by the kidneys. The most important mineralocorticoid is aldosterone.
  3. Androgen (testosterone) is a male sex hormone.

Secondary adrenal insufficiency may develop from other causes that are not immune related such as chronic infections, tumor, and medications.

What Is Addison’s Disease In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?