Gluten and dementia

I’ve touched on this previously, but wanted to put out the links I’ve found about the connection between Celiac and dementia.  This really hits home because of my Mom’s suffering, which I am more and more positive comes from undiagnosed Celiac.

This is an interesting link about how someone might have Celiac, but the symptoms are neurological, not in the gut.

From the site:

British clinician, Dr. Maios Hadjivassiliou, a world renown authority on gluten, reported in The Lancet that gluten sensitivity can be at times exclusively a neurological disease.2 In other words, people suffering from gluten intolerance can have absolutely no digestive symptoms but will have issues with brain dysfunction.

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This is my Mom, in a nutshell.

Here’s another short and sweet site with a connection. Note that it says that the Celiac diet only helped one patient.  I would question that because the sample is too small and it doesn’t state what exactly the person was eating.  I have actually seen sites and cookbooks that claim to gluten free and they had gluten in the recipes.  And I would also want to know if the diet contained GMO food, which is also suspect at causing Celiac.

Another site here. Note that they say they saw a reversal of symptoms…nothing short of miraculous!

They often talk about how our compromised gut allows Candida (yeast) to get waaaay out of control, which also affects brain function.  They talk about it here on celiac.com and a post here on the NY Times site –-these are very good descriptions on what we go through–it’s also a good description of heavy metal poisoning sufferers. Note IrishHeart’s description of holding her husband’s sleeves when they went out–that shyness/autistic-like symptom.  Been there, done that…still have *those* days…

Another neurological affliction linked to Celiac is Ataxia–your balance is off and you look like you’re drunk (walking sideways)  when you walk.  People have been mistakenly diagnosed with multiple schlerosis when their symptoms were from Celiac disease.

Remember the teacher who wanted to carry a gun in school?  Remember the constant movement of her eyes?

From the site:

About 80% have problems with their eyes, in which their eyes move involuntarily back and forth.

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Now look again at that video here. I would say she’s probably a Celiac and has heavy metal poisoning.  (That will be $100 for a diagnosis. :p )

Once again, I am in awe of our miraculous bodies and how the body will constantly try to fix itself….if only given the proper tools of organic (gluten free) diet, clean air, clean water, and exercise….

 

 

 

Boycott Kellogg’s

Organic Consumers posted this a while back (I’m sooo far behind in emails).  Financially supporting the companies that truly have the best interests of their consumers at heart is the best way to go.  Well, that and labeling our food.

Read the note on Kashi’s using genetically engineered soy in their “organic” products.  It is such a cop-out to claim pollination was the reason the soy was GMO–an easy way to escape accountability.  Instead of fighting GMO labeling, they should be fighting against Monsanto and the others involved in genetically modified food.  This food is highly likely involved in leaky gut, as the body cannot recognize the grain anymore, and treats it as a foreign substance and that leads to gut inflammation and eventually leaky gut.

A link here to eye problems and leaky gut and GMO’s.  Very interesting.  My eyes have begun to improve–I was using 1.50 readers and now am able to use the 1.25 magnification.  I’m also able to distinguish fine degrees of color, and I had lost some of my ability to determine colors.  I know this by my embroidery thread that I used for counted cross-stitch–the thread is numbered and has very minute distinctions, and it was difficult for me to separate them by color.  I grew so frustrated at it that I just put them all in one bag, unable to organize them.  This began to change when I started to detox.

Here’s a good opinion on the GMO’s.

More here on the global effort to get GMO’s labeled.

A debate between a professor and a neoliberal. (hat tip to organic consumers).

Lastly, I really wonder about the exposure even if you’re not eating GMO foods (or at least trying not to by buying organic).  I say this because every year, around late July, I begin to have more severe allergy symptoms, culminating in September, when I usually have headaches several days out of the month (this has been after mercury poisoning–at least, that’s when I first noticed it).  I found a link here on the increase in allergies and GMO’s.

Here is a paper that must have been written by a Monsanto toadie, it is so slanted towards GMO’s and gives very little attention or support for research towards health concerns.  This is what I was seeing when I was a student in college and I took a class in science writing:  they had a forum at this strongly agricultural school on GMO’s when they were first being introduced in 1997-98 (only we found out later that they had been unleashed onto the unsuspecting public earlier.)

A good blog here on GMO.

 

 

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Related to this is an stunning affirmation of those in power that amalgams are safe.  Just stunning. Absolutely stunning.  (hat tip to organic consumers).  It just goes to show that Washington is bought by those whose interests don’t include the health and well being of the public, but of who has the $$$ to fund their campaigns.

And my previous blog  with this on how not only mercury affects us, but the animals, as well.  My other blogs on it here and here.

And I’m finished.  So much for catching up on my emails. 😛

 

 

More compelling evidence…

Good Grief, how many children/adults have to suffer?

Why isn’t the evidence is for public viewing.?  Pretty evident that Big Pharma is culpable, and getting away with it because if you can keep the information from being in the public sphere, more folks will be unaware and less likely to realize their child or their selves have symptoms caused by vaccination.  And as this story illustrates, the court cases can have motion after motion filed and be dragged on for years, and only someone of means could afford to pay an attorney to fight their case.  In other words, more profits for Big Pharma…

Exploring the link between diet and health

I wanted to explore the health factors that indicate heavy metal poisoning and the African Americans.

I found this link on BET.  Diabetes can be caused by heavy metal poisoning, and high blood pressure is linked to the adrenals and kidneys which can be severely affected by heavy metal toxicity, therefore, affecting blood pressure. And, of course, heavy metal poisoning is closely associated with autistic symptoms.  I say “symptoms” because I’m not sure that the poisoning causes autism, but it most definitely causes autistic symptoms, as has been my experience.

Here’s another site.  I’ve come across a couple of websites geared towards the African American link to autism, but they are exploring the issue of comparison between whites and blacks being diagnosed later.  I’m trying to get away from that because it’s not helpful.  It is not going towards the issue itself of autism and the possible causes behind it.  It’s upsetting to me because the blanket statement that whites get diagnosed sooner than blacks is not my experience, nor others who also diagnosed themselves.   I, a white person, was not diagnosed by any damn doctor, after years of low thyroid, adrenal issues, chronic fatigue, migraines, and the symptoms of autism of wanting to be left alone, wanting to stay in my house and never leave it, diminishing communication skills, memory loss, hyperfocusing, exaggerated startle response, etc.

When I searched for a link with African Americans and heavy metal poisoning, I again came up empty.

I searched “chronic fatigue and African Americans and found this.  As I read the paragraph:

Psychosocial variables may influence the experience of chronic fatigue, especially in individuals of color. Overarching psychosocial realities such as the endemic nature of ethnic/racial discrimination and the complexity of the acculturation process may bear on the experience of fatigue. This study evaluated whether the acculturation process was related to chronic fatigue and racism among African Americans and Latinos. While associations among the predicted variables were not statistically significant, distinct divisions among levels of acculturation appeared between African Americans and Latinos. Membership in a community of color likely increases the complexity of the experience of chronic fatigue in a manner that requires further investigation.

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Okay, what I’m reading from this is that the psychobabble is stating that chronic fatigue is a psychological problem.  Pfft.  Yep, they’ve been telling women that for decades…didn’t even acknowledge that it was a true physical condition until very recently.  These women were just lazy and hypochrondriacs who needed to get a life, when in reality they were the first to suffer the effects of low thyroid and adrenal fatigue from a toxic environment.

Reading this website, the symptom onset after a traumatic event, either physical or emotional, with the compromised immune system is a red flag for an inflamed gut from Celiac or gluten intolerance.  It’s the final straw that breaks the body. I have issues with the link to the psychological, although stress does affect the immune system, I don’t think it’s the cause of it.  It’s too convenient to blame psychological stress than to explore things such as heavy metal toxicity and/or leaky gut. It’s been proven that gluten intolerance can cause psychological symptoms, and this has been known since before WWII.  Therefore, the psychological stuff comes *after* the leaky gut or whatever physical issue is beleaguering the body, not necessarily the other way around.

As a side note, I found this link.  I had forgotten about the Gulf War syndrome being the first serious acknowledgement that chronic fatigue was an actual physical ailment and not psychological.  And the link between Gulf War syndrome and vaccines should not be ignored.

From the website:

“Despite these agreements between FDA and DoD, and DoD’s official subsequent decision to administer the vaccine voluntarily, many PGW veterans claim that they were not told what vaccine they were being given, or what the risks were, either orally or in writing. Many report that they were told not to tell medical personnel that they had received a vaccination, even if the vaccination caused pain or swelling. No record of the vaccine was available in medical records; as a result, physicians who were concerned about any local or systemic reactions were uninformed about the possible causes. Veterans who claim they were harmed by the vaccine or pyridostigmine frequently have no proof that they were vaccinated or took the pills, or that they had an adverse reaction. Moreover, virtually none of the soldiers received more than two of the botulism vaccinations, even though DoD informed FDA they would administer the three shots necessary for protection…

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So, folks…you should run right out and get that flu vaccine.  Run! NOW!

 

North Haven, Connecticut

I came back to look at the Cluster link…and North Haven, Connecticut caught my eye.  I wondered how close it was to Newtown.

From the Cluster website:

Researchers have doubled the scope of their investigation into brain cancer cases at a jet-engine manufacturing company and are requesting another two years and an additional $4 million to complete the work. This study was prompted by the deaths of at least several dozen workers from the same rare, very fast-growing form of brain cancer. The study initially had been expected to look at the medical and work records of about 100,000 current and former workers. But that number increased to 200,000 during routine searches of company records, said a biostatistician at the University of Pittsburgh who is conducting a portion of the research. The due-date for the study is 2008, but researchers now want to push back the completion deadline to 2010.

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I looked at the distance between the two cities: about 42 miles…close enough to possibly affect them?

When I looked up Newtown contamination, I found this. <sigh>

These piles are contaminated with high levels of metals including cadmium, lead, tin, chromium, copper, zinc, and nickel, as well as PCBs.

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…the only one missing is mercury, but the article does mention that it was a site of aluminum smelting.

So…you have poisons giving people brain cancer and 40 miles away, you have the toxic soup further messing with brain function, if they were lucky enough not to become sick (at least noticeably sick, i.e., cancer).  But many others will likely suffer from chronic fatigue, low thyroid/adrenal function, ADD, memory loss, and on…and they won’t likely be counted.  It’s sooo much easier to ignore a problem when you only count those most severely affected, and not the overall decline of health of many others….and if someone commits a horrible crime because of those toxins…

The susceptibility to disease

I was thinking about my post here over the weekend, and thought I should expand on it.  I write what I know (which is what they tell you), but perhaps I was being myopic.

I did a search on susceptibility and African Americans, but had very few articles to choose from.  I found this. 

Here are some of the issues I have with this article–

One is that pollution stays in one place, so it affects just the nearest geographical area.   It spreads all over.  Articles on it here and here and here.

Air pollution in FW is particularly bad–there were many, many ozone days last summer where I could not go outside for any length of time.  I thought I could at least jog in the morning of an ozone day, but was sadly mistaken when I started wheezing as I climbed the stairs to my apartment afterward.

The lung disease thing I am confused about because in my building, the only folks with oxygen tanks are whites–several of them.  And nearly all the ones in wheelchairs are white.  At one time, there have been seven whites in wheelchairs, several more using walkers  but only one black gentleman in a wheelchair.  Just my own little world….

I suspect that heavy metals are affecting African Americans, but like whites, are not being noticed or investigated.  The information may be out there, but I didn’t see it in my research.  I would love to explore this more.

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And no, I don’t think that nuclear energy is the answer (if one wants to reduce coal production to lessen the impact of lead, arsenic and mercury in the environment).  Nuclear has many, many problems, one of which is thyroid cancer levels go up around nuclear power plants.  I think one of the first things that has to occur is for Americans to stop wasting so much energy and going off grid would be the first step–one has to be more conscious of the energy they use if they are responsible for that energy. Another step would be to build sustainable housing, like earth ships. Gotta love that name.  And I love the design on this page—Isn’t that cool? Who would think such an artsy design is also sustainable?

A paper here by Joseph Mangano on the rising thyroid cancer rates and nuclear energy. (PDF)

A map on disease clusters here.

Yep, the evidence is out there that we are killing ourselves with the toxic environment.  I’d rather sacrifice a little and be able to breathe than have the conveniences of modern life that are killing us, slowly.

More on the lead and crime connection

George Monbiot weighs in on the lead/crime connection.  As usual, folks disbelieve that there could be a connection…until the evidence continues to mount.  Again, though, I wish they would have mentioned leaky gut (which lead can either cause or contribute to, according to one’s personal theory) and the devastating effects of mercury.

But hey, I’m glad to see this being picked up…hopefully, hopefully, this will get people who can do something about it off their arses.

One thing that leaps out at me as I read this a second time–they mention that lead is unsafe at any level, and African Americans, by being exposed to lead because of it being in older homes, etc., means that it affected them more.  Now, with my own experiences with the mercury, I don’t know whether exposure alone is the sole factor to be considered.  The reason being is that my hypothesis is that whites are more affected by heavy metal poisoning…especially we Irish, who are known to lack the genes responsible for ridding the body of heavy metals.  Think about it:  all the mass killings were done by white boys.  The article makes the point that boys are more severely affected.  (I would question that assumption, too, because what shows up in girls may be different than boys, but that doesn’t mean they are less affected, but just affected in different ways.)