Gluten Sensitivity is Obviously Not What We Think It Is

Post by **tex** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:12 pm

Hi All,

Ok, I think that most of us are confused about the mechanics of gluten sensitivity, and that definitely includes me. Thanks to Joanna's post about the new enzyme research, I did some poking around to see what additional details might be available that weren't mentioned in the newspaper accounts. I found some rather interesting insights, that I had been unaware of. For example, consider this:

Celiac disease is an HLA-linked disease related to Type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis in which autoimmune reactions cause the disease; similarly, immune reactions can lead to organ transplant rejection. Koning said it “isn’t likely that AN-PEP would be of any therapeutic value in any of these HLA-associated diseases” because Type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis are real autoimmune diseases, where the immune system attacks parts of the body. In celiac disease, it is the gluten that is the target, not the body.

Ok, we all know about the links to those diseases. However, as far as I am aware, microscopic colitis is considered to be an autoimmune problem. Apparently it is not, assuming that I am reading Fritz Koning's statement correctly. Or, is it possible that gluten sensitivity is not an autoimmune issue for celiacs, and yet it is an autoimmune issue for victims of microscopic colitis. Is that confusing, or what?

Assuming that Koning's comment is correct, why then is gluten, (or any other food trigger), not considered to be the target of the immune system attack, rather than the body, in the case of microscopic colitis?

While you're mulling that over, consider this:

Koning said feeding wheat (or barley or rye) products to infants before they’re 6 months old isn’t recommended because once an immune response develops “immuno-memory builds up and it doesn’t go away.” Indeed, Koning noted that in Sweden some years ago gluten was introduced into baby food, which led to a five-fold increase in celiac disease. The problem disappeared when gluten was removed.

I wasn't aware of that little "experiment". That was a pretty impressive response, wasn't it? These quotes, (and other valuable insights), come from this article, which was published on June 30, 2006, by the American Phyisiological Society.

http://www.the-aps.org/press/journal/06/13.htm

Love,
Tex

harvest_table · Post by **harvest_table** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 2:34 pm

Tex,

Very interesting stuff indeed - I'm throughly confused and intrigued.

Also, consider we are latent celiacs and throw DogtorJ's immune system/virus theory into the mix that gluten (the lectin) is the smoking "gun" and the virus is the "bullet" that causes the damage.

http://dogtorj.tripod.com./id35.html

Lot's for us to ponder!

Love,
Joanna

Post by **tex** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 2:56 pm

Joanna,

The same thoughts crossed my mind, (great minds think alike, as they say, LOL). This would appear to add credence to both those theories, unless, of course, MC truly is an autoimmune reaction, while the celiac response is not.

Since the damage caused by the reactions occurs in seperate areas of the intestine, (the colon for MC, and the small intestine for CD), it's certainly possible that it could be two entirely different responses to gluten. Or, the reactions could be the result of two different viruses.

Love,
Tex

Tessa · Post by **Tessa** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 3:10 pm

Extremely interesting, Wayne, though I first became confused too...

Thank you for posting,

Love,
Tessa

kate_ce1995 · Post by **kate_ce1995** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 6:58 am

Wayne,

As for being considered an autoimmune disease, I think what it boils down to is that there is a strong suspition (sp?) about it being autoimmune related, but a "gold standard" has not been met to prove it yet.

When I was going to an endometriosis support group in the Boston area before I moved, we had an immunologist who researches endo come and speak to the group. She was great, and what it seems to boil down to is that for the medical community to agree that it is or isn't autoimmune, there are certain tests that much check out first. Endometriosis is in the same category as MC in that it is thought to be autoimmune related. I guess that things either "are" (having met the standard), "aren't" (having completely missed the standard), and "are susspected to be" (having signs of autoimmune illness, but not having completely checked out yet).

Unfortunately, its not a quick process to completely check it out.

It is confusing and its no wonder the lay person or uninterested doctor have not enough info to understand the gluten sensitivity thing. Its a lot of info to digest.

Katy

TendrTummy · Post by **TendrTummy** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:22 am

I just wanted to add a scary part to this..

In our quest to be new (again) parents and with our concerns for the baby's immune system immediately after birth, and with my concern of what nutrition my breast-milk might hold, I've been researching formulas and have found that most, including those directed at the extra sensitive tummy, the organic, etc, all contain Whey, which contains gluten if I'm not mistaken. What nutritional value could that item hold that it is SO important. Probably none. Probably exists only to bind the formula together once it hits the water to make the milk.

I've always felt that my immune system simply attacks the food (be it gluten or other) and whatever organs are holding that food at the time are just innocent bystanders.

Scary, scary time we live in. Can't we just go back to the basics????

Christine

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:14 am

Hi TT!

I don't think whey has any gluten in it. It does have lots of lactose.....maybe that's what you're thinking of?

Love,

Polly

TendrTummy · Post by **TendrTummy** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:33 pm

Hmm .. could be.. ??

I'd always been told Whey was gluten. My mistake! LOL

I'll have to look again at baby formulas then. LOL

Christine

mle_ii · Post by **mle_ii** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:08 pm

Right Whey is a byproduct of milk. Hell it used to be thrown away as garbage until someone found a use for it. :)

It does not in and of itself contain gluten, and also depending on the processing can or doesn't contain lactose. Whey is a protein, lactose is a sugar.

Currently I "think" I'm lactose intollerant (haven't gotten the test for this yet, chicken LOL), but can consume MPI (Milk Protien Isolate, which contains whey, casien and in this product no or tiny ammounts of lactose).

mle_ii · Post by **mle_ii** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:13 pm

As for MC being automimmune, I'm leaning towards it perhaps being a sign of some other auto-immune disease causing the inflamation.

But I'm not sure I agree with the statement that celiac isn't auto-immune. Yes, it is the gluten that is attacked, but in the end (I wish I could remember why) the body is attacked because of the gluten. I want to say it's because the body confuses part of itself as the invading gluten proteins, but I'm not sure I'm confusing something there.

LauraJ · Post by **LauraJ** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:49 pm

Christine-
Whey is safe for gluten sensitive/Celiacs. And good luck on "practicing" --- I've heard practice makes perfect if ya know what I mean

Laura