If you have any neurological disease, lupus, or a rheumatic disease, it may not be a disease at all. It could be an allergy!
A major rheumatology journal report described three cases of diagnosed lupus, a serious so-called autoimmune disease where the pundits think your body is attacking itself. In each of these cases, the cure for lupus was not drugs. It was not even supplements. And it costs nothing!
Case #1: A 20-year-old female who had struggled with health problems from birth. She failed to thrive as a baby, and has always suffered from malaise and abnormal sweating. Diagnosed with lupus, she was placed on steroids and became resistant to them by age six. Then she was given immune-suppressive drugs (the common orthodox treatment when they just do not know what else to do).
By age 17, she graduated from the pediatric drug pushers and was seen in an adult rheumatology clinic. There, one bright fellow thought to check for gluten sensitivity. She was positive. When she eliminated gluten, her symptoms vanished within six months! Her blood tests normalized, and all drugs were stopped.
Case #2: Another 20-year-old female developed MS-type complaints (blurred vision, headaches, generalized weakness, and heaviness of legs). Tests for MS were negative. She was diagnosed with lupus and given aspirin. A few years later, she developed severe neurological symptoms. One side of her was partially paralyzed. She staggered on her feet. She was checked for gluten sensitivity and was positive. After six months of a gluten-free diet, her methotrexate (chemotherapy-type drug) was stopped, as it was not needed anymore.
Case #3: A 54-year-old female developed persistent headaches by age 40. She had a high ESR (classic lab marker for inflammation) and low white blood cell count. By 49, she had generalized hives, facial edema, and a very high ESR. Eventually, she made it to an astute gastroenterologist who found she had gluten sensitivity. A gluten-free diet cleared all her symptoms and brought the ESR test to normal.
Heres the important thing for you: If you are sensitive to gluten, the only symptom you may have is neurological dysfunction. Ataxia (staggering) and peripheral neuropathy are the most common signs. (I am asked repeatedly about peripheral neuropathy!) Only one-third of these patients will have evidence of intestinal disease, the classical signs of gluten problems.
Its estimated that at least 1% of the U.S. and European population have this disorder. And for every patient with intestinal signs, there are at least eight others with silent gluten sensitivity (meaning no intestinal signs). Conventional medicine is finally admitting that there is a cause for at least some of the idiopathic inflammatory diseases. (Idiopathic means we do not know whats causing it, so it must be you.)
If gluten can fool the pundits into thinking a problem is lupus, it is very possible it could be causing your inflammation.
If you have any strange malady, joint problems, neurological disease, or inflammation of any kind, I strongly suggest a test for gluten. There are two types of problems you will need to look for — those inside the intestine and those on the outside of the intestine. Each requires a different test.
To test for gluten problems within the intestine, you will need to get tests called antiendomysium (100% specificity) and tissue transglutaminase antibodies. (Do not worry about learning the names. Just show this to your integrative doctor and hell know what to do.)
For symptoms outside the intestine, the antigliadin antibody test is a must. Antigliadin antibodies have been reported in as many as 23% of diagnosed lupus patients. That is a whopping number.
A final test that I’ve found useful is a tissue-typing test. Its much like a blood-type test. If the test says you have type HLA DQ2, it suggests gluten sensitivity.
Gluten is found in the following grains and all their byproducts: wheat, barley, oats, spelt, kamut, and rye. Please check for gluten sensitivity should you have any inflammation of unknown cause or a so-called autoimmune disorder.
I personally do not believe in autoimmune diseases. I think all such diseases are your body reacting to something in it that should not be there (such as an allergen, poison, metal, or infection). You could spare yourself a lifetime of steroid and chemotherapy-type drugs with all their terrible toxicity.
Ref: Ann Rheum Dis, 2004;63:1501-1503.