Celiac,gluten intolerance effects more than just the gut. For far more people than you know, and doctors will admit. Gluten does not JUST cause a bit of upset stomach and diarrhea.  The stomach intestinal upset is just the easiest seen symptom. It is the hidden symptoms that are truly the most detrimental.

Doctors, and we look at fixing the symptom, or living with the symptom, or a graceful way to die from the symptom. We should be looking for the cause of the symptom, and removing that cause.

The whole body functions, or not, from the nutrients it receives, or not, directly from the gut. ALL of our nutrients are taken in by mouth and transfer to the body through the gut, somehow someway. Vitamin D makes it’t route through the mouth and from the sun, but even that through the sun is affected by the nutrients that carry it, that are ingested from the mouth.  If any part of the body does not receive the necessary nutrient/fuel to function, it will fail.

The brain needs nutrients to function.  Dementia is a severe fail of the brain. It is a symptom. Alzheimer’s accounts for 60-80 percent. Thyroid and vitamin deficiencies can cause dementia. i.e. disorder caused by severe deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B-1).

‘The name Alzheimer’s is fairly ‘new’ to our world. My grandparents never heard of it, though they did know about dementia, and senility. My grandmother, even though not knowing the word Alzheimer’s may have been diagnosed with it had she been from a later generation.

Alzheimer’s is such a ‘new’ disease, doctors are still at a loss as to what causes it. Most see it as  a disease, and not a symptom.  Scientists believe genetics are involved in Alzheimer’s. They also believe genetics are involved with Celiac/gluten intolerance. Age is a major factor also.  Recently there have been some direct links made to Celiac and Dementia/Alzheimer’s.

“There has been very little known about this connection between celiac disease and cognitive decline until now,” says Keith Josephs, M.D., Mayo Clinic neurologist and study investigator. “This is the largest case series to date of patients demonstrating cognitive decline within two years of the onset of celiac disease symptom onset or worsening.”

Does gluten affect the brain? There is ample research to show that the body’s immune system reacts to gluten and that can result in a host of brain related issues including: brain atrophy, lesions in the brain (called white matter lesions), decreased blood flow to the brain (call hypoperfusion) and inflamed blood vessels in the brain (called vasculitis). It is understandable how such damage could create symptoms of dementia.

According to an article in the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology in 2008, “Neurological Disorders in Adult Celiac Disease,” celiac disease is associated with neuropathy, ataxia, dementia and seizure disorder

Most doctors attribute forgetfulness or confusion to normal aging or Alzheimer’s disease. Research from the Mayo Clinic, however, indicates that celiac disease should be considered when people start experiencing amnesia, confusion, or personality changes, or when they have trouble thinking, doing simple math, or remembering things. Several of their patients had been diagnosed with both celiac disease and dementia.

Is dementia caused by gluten intolerance? Dementia is  dramatically increasing in the US  & it’s expected to double by the end of the decade. Gluten contributes to the condition. Find out more from a doctor and author

The brain has to be fed. The only way nutrients get in the brain is through the intestines to the blood stream, to the brain.Damage from gluten can shut down the absorption of the B vitamins and D even water.  All of these the brain craves. All of these are found deficient in those with dementia. Scientists are not sure why they are finding those with dementia are also deficient in D. They don’t seem to know what role D plays for the brain,just that it is missing. But maybe they should look at it another way. Those that are gluten intolerant are deficient of vitamin D, so dementia is just another symptom of gluten intolerance. 

Think on this: A 65 year old person who has eaten gluten all of their life. They have been treated for all of the common maladies of life, heartburn, migraines, thyroid, arthritis, IBS. … Now  they are retired, they stay at home and eat their breakfast food of: toast, biscuits, pancakes, whole wheat cereals(to help that constipation). Lunch is a sandwich, on wonder bread. Snacks are a few cookies or a granola bar. Dinner is spaghetti, or fried chicken, and a bread roll. Possibly eating more gluten than before, it is cheaper to buy processed foods. If they have moved to an assistive living or nursing home, because of health issues or early onset Alzheimer’s, their meals are much heavier with starches and carbs (it is easier and cheaper to feed).  The dementia starts to set in or progresses. What if, all of these years they, we, are gluten intolerant? The brain is starving to death! It can not remember because it is be smothered by wheat.

My 65 year old biological mother was going to several different doctors for several different health issues, one being the symptoms of early onset Alzheimer’s. One diagnosed her with Celiac disease.  After being on a gluten free diet, the osteoporosis is diminishing, the thyroid is responding, and the Alzheimer’s is a thing of the past. She said, ” I can remember yesterday!” It is a miracle,  no wheat = no forgetting!