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Low Stomach Acid Production

low-stomach-acid1What Is Low Stomach Acid Production?

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ow stomach acid production is a common disorder in celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis that is characterized by lack of sufficient hydrochloric acid needed 1) to properly digest food, which results in malnutrition and subsequent nutritional deficiencies, and 2) to destroy swallowed bacteria and other microbes, which may allow infections to develop.

It is also common in the general population, as well, affecting 50% of people age 60 years and about 80% by age 85 years.  Nevertheless, low stomach acid is not generally looked for as a cause of acute and chronic disorders that rob health with far-reaching effects.

[box type=”shadow” ]Understanding Stomach Acid Production and Function

The stomach digests incoming food into a liquid state, thereby releasing nutrients so they can be absorbed by the small intestine. Powerful stomach muscles churn food and mix it with gastric juice, dissolving and breaking it down.

Gastric juice is produced by gastric glands located in the stomach lining. These numerous, microscopic glands produce about 3 liters of juice a day. Gastric juice is composed of a high concentration of

Hypertension, Reversible

Grade_1_hypertension[1]What Is Reversible Hypertension?

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]eversible 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?

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]levated 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. [↩]

Multiple Sclerosis

Brain scan showing changes in multiple sclerosis over a month. Courtesy Wikimedia
Brain scan showing changes in multiple sclerosis by month over a year’s time. Courtesy Wikimedia

What Is Multiple Sclerosis?

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ultiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system characterized by patchy inflammation of the myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells that produces multiple and varied neurologic symptoms and signs due to demyelination.

Q: What does demyelination mean.

A: Demyelination means there is damage to the myelin sheath which is a fatty substance that surrounds and protects nerve cells much like a the covering of a lamp cord keeps the electricity flowing within it from the plug to the light bulb. This damage impairs transmission of nerve impulses between the brain and body.

In the process of demyelination, T-lymphocyte cells that are activated and potentially autoimmune cross the blood-brain barrier and produce inflammatory plaques and axonal tissue loss in the brain, spinal cord or optic (vision) nerves. The end result is the accumulation of gliosis (scarring) and demyelination of areas in the central nervous system.1

The course of multiple sclerosis is unpredictable and slowly progressive, usually with  exacerbations (worse symptoms) and remissions (relief of symptoms).

Multiple sclerosis affects about 1 ‰ of the population worldwide.

What Is Multiple Sclerosis In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Rodrigo L, Hernández-Lahoz C, Fuentes D, Alvarez N, López-Vázquez A, González S. Prevalence of celiac disease in multiple sclerosis. BMC Neurol. 2011 Mar 7;11:31. doi: 10.1186/1471-2377-11-31. [↩]

Peripheral Neuropathy: definition

Damage to one or more peripheral nerves characterized by impaired nerve transmission causing burning, tingling or numbness of hands and feet and resulting from any of these nutrient deficiencies: folate, niacin (B3), thiamin (B1), pyridoxine (B6),… 

Macrocytosis: definition

A blood cell disorder characterized by altered blood cell formation resulting in abnormally large erythrocytes (red blood cells) circulating in the bloodstream. Click for full description.