Dean Esmay <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>There is also significant evidence linking the advent of agriculture with
>bone and joint disease (2,3). A study of a people eating a high saturated
>fat diet that are nearly 100% free of heart disease seems to show that the
>most significant difference between their diet and that of Westerners is a
>lack of dairy and cereal grain products (5). There is evidence that the
>proteins in cereal grains provoke auto-immune reactions (6).  There is also
>the troubling existence of Celiac disease, which is a serious condition
>caused entirely by sensitivity to the proteins in cereal grains, and which
>appears to be quite a bit more common among peoples who have culturally
>only been agriculturalist a relatively short time, such as the Irish,
>compared to that of, say, the Indians or the Chinese; I do not happen to
>have references on the incidence of Celiac right now but perhaps Ron Hoggan
>can help us out there (Ron, are you still reading?).

I'm still reading, but am very limited in time right now. That will change
in a couple of weeks, but in the interim, my comments will have to be very
brief.

Depending on the means of determining gluten intolerance, as associated with
serum antibodies against some protein fractions of wheat, rather than mental
illness or villous atrophy, the incidence ranges from 15% of a random
population sample in Iceland (1) to 4.75% of a sample taken from  healthy
blood donors in Maryland, USA (2) I think it reasonable to deduce that
something more than 5% of Westerners experience an immune response to the
commonest food in our diet.

The types of gluten intolerance that result in mental illness are given
little creedence in mainstream medicine, and I am unaware of any
epidemiological data on that facet of gluten intolerance.

As for celiac disease itself, there is increasing serological evidence, both
from Europe and the USA, that the incidence among healthy blood donors is ~
1:250 (3,4,5,6,7).

There is further evidence that in patient populations with neuropathies of
unknown etiology, the incidence of celiac disease runs as high as 35% (8).

To my knowledge, no epidemiological studies have been done among cancer
patients, but there is some basis for speculating that, while not a
carcinogen per se, some fractions of the cereal grain proteins which are
toxic to celiacs, may also be involved in the downregulation of natural
killer cell activation, thus contributing to the incidence and progression
of a variety of malignancies. (9)

1. Arnason J, Gudjonsson H, Freysdottir J, Jonsdottir I, valdimarsson H. Do
adults with high gliadin antibody concentrations have subclinical gluten
intolerance? Gut 1992; 33 (2): 194-197.

2. Not T, Horvath K, Hill I, Fasano A, Hammed A, Magazzu G, "ENDOMYSIUM
ANTIBODIES IN BLOOD DONORS PREDICTS A HIGH PRVALENCE OF CELIAC DISEASE IN
USA" _Gastroenterology_ Supplement April, 1996; 110(4): A 351

3. Challacombe, David "When is coeliac" _Lancet_ 1994; 343: p188

4. Tighe & Ciclitira "The implications of recent advances in coeliac
disease" _Acta Paediatr_ 1993; 82: 805-810

5. Corrao G, Corazza G, Andreani M, Torchio P, Valentini R, Galatola G,
Quaglino D, Gasbarrini G, di Orio F, "Serological screening of coeliac
disease: choosing the optimal procedure according to various prevalence
values" _Gut_ 1994; 35: 771-775

6. Ladinser B, Rossipal E, Pittschieler K, "Endomysium antibodies in coeliac
disease: an improved method" _Gut_ 1994; 35: 776-778

7. Malnick S, Lurie Y, Bass D, Geltner D, "Screening of coeliac disease"
_Lancet_ 1994; 343: 675

8. Hadjivassiliou M, Gibson A, Davies-Jones G, Lobo A, Stephenson T,
Milford-Ward A, "Does cryptic gluten sensitivity play a part in neurological
illness?" _Lancet_ 1996; 347: 369-371

9. Hoggan R, "Considering Wheat, Rye, Barley, and Oats Proteins as Aids to
Carcinogens" _Medical Hypotheses_ In Press

From Loren Cordain's post of June 4:

5.      Eating raw cereal grains (as well as cooked cereal grains) wreaks
enormous havoc on the primate gut because of their high antinutrient
content.   Additionally in virtually every animal model studied (dog,
rat, guinea pig, baboon etc - citations available if you want them),
high cereal grain promotes and induces rickets.   I havent even touched
upon the other antinutrients which inflict damage on a wide variety of
human physiological systems - these antinutrients include protease
inhibitors, alkylrescorcinols, alpha amylase inhitors, molecular
mimicking proteins ect).     Clearly, unprocessed cereal grains cannot
contribute substantial calories to the diet of primates unless they are
cooked and processed.>

Hi Loren,

I would appreciate such citations as you offer. I'm sure I have some. One on
dogs done here in Canada, and one on cats. But I've never heard of the
others and would welcome them, as I'm sure many list members would.

Thanks,
Ron Hoggan