Could gluten's toxicity extend to the nervous system, producing symptoms identical to classical Parkinson's disease? A remarkable case study adds to a growing body of research indicating that wheat's neurotoxicity is greatly underestimated.
A remarkable case report describing the dramatic recovery of a 75-year-old Parkinson's disease patient after following a 3-month long gluten free diet reveals the need to explore whether there is an increased prevalence of silent or symptomatic celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity both in those afflicted with Parkinson's disease and the related multi-factorial neurodegenerative condition known as Parkinsonism.
Published in the Journal of Neurology, the report notes that celiac disease often manifests with only neurological symptoms, even in advanced age. This may strike the reader as surprising, considering gastrointestinal complaints are the most commonly noticeable symptom; and yet, when the voluminous published literature on gluten related adverse health effects is taken into account, so-called 'out of intestine' expressions of intolerance to gluten-containing grains are far more common than gut-related ones, with no less than 200 distinct adverse health effects implicated. You can read our summary of the biological carnage exacted by this 'king of grains' here: Wheat: 200 Clinically Confirmed Reasons Not To Eat It. You will notice that harm to the brain figures high on the list. From schizophrenia to mania, autism to peripheral neuropathy, the central nervous system is particularly sensitive to its adverse effects.
There are a wide range of mechanisms driving gluten associated neurotoxicity, such as:
Gluten Acts Like A 'Brain Drug': The presence of pharmacologically active opioid peptides in wheat including four gluten exorphins and gliadorphin, and another is gluten's ability to restrict blood flow to the frontal cortex. Read More: "Do Hidden Opiates In Our Food Explain Food Addictions?"
'Gluten Brain' Autoimmunity: Plenty of research now indicates that in susceptible individuals wheat adversely affects the gut-brain axis, increases intestinal permeability, and ultimately leads to the immune system misidentifying self-structures within the brain or neurological tissue as "other," causing the host immune system to attack its own nervous system. Read More: "2 Popular Foods May Turn the Immune Against the Brain."
Wheat's "Invisible Thorns" Affect The Brain: The defensive carbohydrate-binding protein in wheat known as wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), also know as "wheat lectin," has been found to cross the blood-brain-barrier and can interfere with neurological function in a number of ways. Read more: "Opening Pandora's Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease."
Grains Metabolically Impair the Brain: The larger context is that grains provide an inappropriate or suboptimal set of nutrients for brain metabolism. Dr. David Perlmutter in his NY Times bestselling book Grain Brain links cognitive impairments endemic to older populations in Western cultures to the over consumption of carbohydrates (from grains and sugar), and the under consumption of fats.
You can also read Dr. Kelly Brogan's article "This Is Your Body (and Brain) on Gluten" to get greater perspective on the topic.
Considering these factors, it is not surprising that gluten removal from the diet could result in what the title of the published case report described as a "Dramatic improvement of parkinsonian symptoms after gluten-free diet introduction in a patient with silent celiac disease." We've seen similar remarkable recoveries with brain-metabolism optimizing fats like coconut oil in cases of debilitating dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.
In this new case study, the 75-year-old man presented with a 1-year history of "difficulty walking, instability, and fatigability." His neurological examination revealed:
Facial hypomimia (reduced facial expressions)
Bradykinesia (extreme slowness of movements and reflexes)
Rigidity
Postural instability
A brain scan was performed using Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), revealing abnormalities consistent with low dopamine production and which in combination with the clinical data lead to a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Additional laboratory blood work revealed lower than normal level of serum folate, elevated homocysteine, with normal vitamin B12 levels. To assess the possibility of asymptomatic malabsorption due to a silent celiac disease further blood screening was explored. Anti-gliadin antibodies, markedly elevated IgA, anti-transglutaminase antibodies, and positive anti-endomysial antibodies – all signs of gluten associated autoimmunity. Finally, a duodenal biopsy was performed revealing intestinal characteristics (flattened villi; crypt hyperplasia) consistent with celiac disease. As a result, the gastroenterologist prescribed a gluten-free diet.
Remarkably, after only 3 months of abstinence from gluten, the patient reported an almost complete remission of symptoms, subsequently confirmed by a neurological evaluation. 18 months later he was reexamined and was found to have improved further.
Notably, the patient did not see measurable improvements in the dopaminergic abnormalities discovered in his brain scan, which would be expected in classical Parkinson's disease, which is marked by the degeneration of the dopamine producing cells in the substantia nigra of the brain. The authors therefore did not posit that the celiac disease "caused" Parkinson's disease in the patient, but rather that celiac disease exacerbated parkinsonism in this case. The case, however, does illustrate the possibility that a number of patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease are suffering from previously unidentified and unreported gluten-associated Parkinsonism, which from the outside clinical presentation can look identical. Those folks, who would benefit greatly from removing the cause of the neurological problems – namely, gluten/wheat removal – are often overdiagnosed and overtreated with drugs aimed at alleviating Parkinson's disease, but which ultimately can lead to accelerated degeneration of endogenous dopamine production in the brain, enhanced neurotoxicity due to drug metabolites (e.g. 6-hydroxydopamine), and the production of dyskinesias (movement disorders) that are far worse than, or were never present within, the pre-treatment condition.
For additional research related to natural interventions for Parkinson's disease, use our database: Parkinson's Disease Research. Also, our section on neurodegenerative diseases provides additional help: Neurodegenerative Disease Research.
Vincenzo Di Lazzaro, Fioravante Capone, Giovanni Cammarota, Daniela Di Giuda, Federico Ranieri. Dramatic improvement of parkinsonian symptoms after gluten-free diet introduction in a patient with silent celiac disease. J Neurol. 2014 Feb ;261(2):443-5. Epub 2014 Jan 25. PMID: 24464413
Originally published 2017-11-07
Updated: 2019-02-24
This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2019
Written by
SilentEchoes
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Gluten free is a well established fad in the PD world with many advocates. (Colin Potter may be the founding guru, inspired by David Perlmutter)
I bought in early on and my symptoms improved. They improved further when I stopped being gluten free. (other stuff going on).
There is significant evidence that the idea is invalid and that whole grains are important for general health.
Usual story - I am surrounded by wheat eaters who don't have PD, and see plenty of gluten free PWP who are far from cured. Colin Potter, in his recent video, would be a case in point
For people with celiac disease gluten really matters. Since this does cause neurological symptoms it is not a big stretch to think it could cause parkinsonism.
Interesting, maybe people should try it (what's the harm...can't really think of anything).
Ok, easy cheap (under $15 million) next step would be to find about 1,500 naive people with celiac disease, 1,500 randomly selected other persons, get all the different un-corruptible well-defined measure-able clinical, lifestyle, and science data as extensive as possible (multi-center workups), do diagnoses according to ICD, get a certified gluten free diet, double blind everybody, and feed it to them for a year, repeat measures, give to statisticians.
Meanwhile, considering the source:
Unattributed, but heavily referenced, from Wikipedia:
""GreenMedInfo.com is a website operated by Sayer Ji which opposes vaccination,[1][2][3][4] hates GMOs,[5][6][7] is vehemently anti-fluoride[8] and promotes a wide range of assorted cancer woo.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
Probably the truest statement on the website is the disclaimer at the bottom: "This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment."" And on from there.
The heading for this piece is wildly misleading and this very article has been discussed on here before. You wrote:
Could gluten's toxicity extend to the nervous system, producing symptoms identical to classical Parkinson's disease? A remarkable case study adds to a growing body of research indicating that wheat's neurotoxicity is greatly underestimated.
Who saysgluten is neuro toxic, thats not factual.
A remarkable case report describing the dramatic recovery of a 75-year-old Parkinson's disease patient after following a 3-month long gluten free diet reveals the need to explore whether there is an increased prevalence of silent or symptomatic celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity both in those afflicted with Parkinson's disease and the related multi-factorial neurodegenerative condition known as Parkinsonism.
A remarkable story - balderdash! A man with celiac disease and Parkinsons has treatment for his celiac disease and his PD improves. Is that really such a surprise? We already now that Celiac is no more common in pwp than the general population and one persons experience is hardly earth shattering. This article is a little more balanced.
I was tested for gluten intolerance as part of my neurological workup. Why do you suppose that is? I was negative. I went gluten free many years ago due to gut issues and they improved significantly. I reintroduced organic wheat and do not have GI problems, but if I eat non-organic I get sick again.
I believe it is the Roundup sprayed on our food that is the cause of many GI issues AND neurological dysfunction, the two are not mutually exclusive.
It's any easy hypothesis to test. Stop eating gluten for two weeks and see what happens.
I think the article from GreenMed Info has merit and is relevant. That's why I posted it. People on HU are capable of forming their own opinion. Thanks for sharing yours.
Sorry to puncture your theory but I was diagnosed with celiac disease 30 years ago and have followed a gluten free diet since. Diagnosed PD 3 years ago.
I do not expect that gluten has any causal relationship with PD. I am either Celiac or have a intolerance for wheat but I have not taken the tests yet to determine which because I will have to go back to eating wheat to take the test. I have been wheat and Gluten free now for 5 weeks. It is very difficult and requires a lot of effort and support , but slowly you catch on to what you can eat. Wheat is every where, and gluten makes everything taste better. Basically, I now eat more rice and more corn, no bread, cakes, muffins , donuts etc which is a large drop in sugar and also a drop in fiber intake.
My gut has reduced in size about 2 inches , I am much more comfortable , loosing weight and less gas . I can now do a bit more exercise which generates PD improvements. I gave up trying to find a cause for my PD many years ago . I am only interested in a cure.
Gluten/ wheat free is not a fad to those of us that have an intolerance to wheat and gluten . Why would anyone subject themselves to that with out good reason.
The herbicide you refer to was mostly used on corn fields to kill all types of weeds and stop them from growing , then genetically altered corn was planted. Wheat was later also grown in that situation but not as much. It has not been proven nor indicated that there is any medical concern in humans eating the corn or wheat regardless of the pending lawsuits in the USA. It is still legal and obtainable in most hardware stores in Canada.
If , by not eating gluten and wheat, my PD goes away I will mention it . Dont hold your breath waiting.
The article isn't a blanket claim that PD is caused by gluten. It does say that in this particular case PD symptoms were exacerbated by gluten, and that in SOME cases Parkinsonian symptoms might be caused by gluten. Makes sense to me. Not true in my case (I eliminated gluten for a while, made no difference). But PD is tied to the gut and the gut (and more) is affected by gluten in intolerant people or celiac.
May make sense to to you but I read this in the link I gave.
A population-based study, based on data from Sweden's national health registry, looked at 14,000 people with a diagnosis of celiac disease, comparing them to 70,000 similar people who didn't have celiac. The study didn't find a statistically significant association between celiac and several neurological conditions, including Parkinson's disease, and concluded that the two conditions are not linked.
But several experts on gluten say everyone is affected by gluten even when they aren’t celiac. So that would make sense if both groups are equally likely to develop PD.
Gluten free and sugar free diet made my husband’s weight plummet over a few months which he needed. I think it helped. It may have been the sugar rather than gluten, although he never ate much sugar.
I suspect many people go gluten free to loose weight as your husband has done. (It is more usual for PD people to have problems retaining weight.) I would think his weight loss is significant in him feeling better.
InterestingLy he felt much worse to start with which I think may be because all the toxins bound up in his fat cells suddenly were dumped in his liver. In hindsight it would have been better to lose weight more slowly but it wasn’t a deliberate effort to lose weight. It just happened. I think he may have actually been prediabetic.
THe study that is the subject of this blog. Dramatic improvement of parkinsonian symptoms after gluten-free diet introduction in a patient with silent celiac disease
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