Non-celiac gluten diseases

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For those that are following the gluten question, this

is a new study out ... the question has always been, does

gluten cause damage even if you are not " celiac. " More

and more the answer seems to be -- yes, people with gluten

antibodies are also sustaining other damage, though most

doctors will not diagnose them unless they are " celiac " .

BTW: The definition of ataxia:

http://amazinggrace.org/richard/ataxia.htm

" Ataxia is a symptom, not a specific disease or diagnosis. Ataxia means

clumsiness, or loss of coordination. Ataxia may affect the fingers and hands,

the arms or legs, the body, speech or eye movements. This loss of coordination

may be caused by a number of different medical or neurologic conditions; for

this reason, it is important that a person with ataxia seek medical attention to

determine the underlying cause of the symptom and to get the appropriate

treatment. "

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J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2003 Sep;74(9):1221-4

Dietary treatment of gluten ataxia.

Hadjivassiliou M, Davies- GA, DS, Grunewald RA.

Department of Clinical Neurology, The Royal Hallamshire Hospital,

Sheffield, UK. Department of Gastroenterology, The Royal Hallamshire

Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Gluten ataxia is an immune mediated disease, part of the

spectrum of gluten sensitivity, and accounts for up to 40% of cases of

idiopathic sporadic ataxia. No systematic study of the effect of gluten-

free diet on gluten ataxia has ever been undertaken. OBJECTIVE: To study

the effect of gluten-free diet on patients presenting with ataxia caused by

gluten sensitivity. METHODS: 43 patients with gluten ataxia were studied.

All were offered a gluten-free diet and monitored every six months. All

patients underwent a battery of tests to assess their ataxia at baseline

and after one year on diet. Twenty six patients (treatment group) adhered

to the gluten-free diet and had evidence of elimination of antigliadin

antibodies by one year. Fourteen patients refused the diet (control group).

Three patients had persistently raised antigliadin antibodies despite

adherence to the diet and were therefore excluded from the analysis.

RESULTS: After one year there was improvement in ataxia reflected in all of

the ataxia tests in the treatment group. This was significant when compared

with the control group. The diet associated improvement was apparent

irrespective of the presence of an enteropathy. CONCLUSIONS: Gluten ataxia

responds to a strict gluten-free diet even in the absence of an

enteropathy. The diagnosis of gluten ataxia is vital as it is one of the

very few treatable causes of sporadic ataxia.