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At 12:53 PM 1/17/97 -0500, Chris <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
>Does anyone know about the relationship between CD and MS?
 
The MS/gluten/casein connection is mostly only anecdotal as it has never
really been studied. This is what I have (much contributed by Ron Hoggan):
 
(1) Roger MacDougall was a famous British playwright, who was diagnosed
with MS in the 1950's. The doctors felt it was best to keep the information
from him. They thought it was in his best interests not to tell him what he
had. It was not until he was bedridden that he learned what illness he had.
When he knew about it, he did some reading, and went on a gluten & casein
free diet. He recovered almost totally. This is from CAN A GLUTEN-FREE DIET
HELP? HOW? by Lloyd Rosenvold, M.D., [Keats Publishing, 27 Pine Street (Box
876) New Canaan, CT  06840-0876, 1992, ISBN 0-87983-538-9]. MacDougall
eventually wrote a pamphlet titled "My Fight Against Multiple Sclerosis",
pub 1980 by Regenics Inc, Mansfield, Ohio. Rosenvold also includes some
other anecdotes in his book.
 
(2) In the Oct. 5, 1974, Lancet, Dr. Norman A. Matheson's letter "Multiple
Sclerosis and Diet" was published on p. 831, wherein he outlined his having
been diagnosed with MS and subsequently reading Roger MacDougall's story.
He then described his return to good health and ended with: "I thank Roger
MacDougall, whose diet made it possible to carry out these observations."
 
(3) Ashton Embry has written an article "MS - probable cause and best-bet
treatment" in which he discusses the dietary and food allergy links to MS.
The paper is available at: http://www.2cowherd.net/q/embry.htm or
http://aspin.asu.edu/msnews/emb696.htm or
http://www.helsinki.fi/~ahalko/embry
Also e-mail copies (it's 118K in length) are available from [log in to unmask]
 
(4) In _Gluten Intolerance_ by Beatrice Trum Hunter, Keats Publishing Inc.
New Canaan, CT. ISBN 0-87983435-8 She talks about a Dr. R. Shatin in
Australia who "has suggested that an inherited susceptibility to multiple
sclerosis is from a primary lesion in the small intestine resulting from
gluten intolerance, and that the demyelination is secondary. Shatin
suggested that the high incidence of multiple sclerosis in Canada, Scotland
and western Ireland may be related to the predominant consumption of
Canadian hard wheat, which has the highest gluten content of all wheat
varieties. In contrast, the incidence of multiple sclerosis is low among
indigenous Equatorial Africans who mainly consume non-gluten containing
grains such as millet."
 
(5) In _Multiple Sclerosis_, by Jan de Vries, Mainstream Publishing,
(Thorntons?) UK it recommends absolutely no gluten and very high reduction
of dairy products, refined sugar, and saturated fats. He says that one of
his most successful case studies, confirm that 'absolutely not one pinch if
flour' i.e. absolutely no gluten at all... 'otherwise you are deceiving
yourself.'
 
(6) According to Dr. Joe Murray at the University of Iowa there is the
possibility that the MS patient suffers from a neurologic complication of
undiagnosed celiac disease. About 5% of celiac patients get nerve damage
that can vary from tingling and numbness in the feet to confusion, memory
loss, dizziness and loss of balance, visual abnormalities. This sometimes
happen in the absence of GI symptoms.
 
(7) Lutz, W.J., "The Colonisation of Europe and Our Western Diseases",
Medical Hypotheses, Vol. 45, pages 115-120, 1995
 
Dr. Lutz argues that there is a clear, inverse relationship between
civilisatory diseases and the length of time the people of a given region
of Europe have had to adapt to the high carbohydrate diet associated with
the cultivation of cereal grains that was begun in the Near East, and
spread very slowly through Europe.
 
I quote from the first page of the article:
 
"In over thirty years of clinical practice, I have found, as published in
numerous papers and several books (3, 4), that diet works well against
Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, heart failure,
acne and other problems."
 
[log in to unmask] can e-mail a copy of the article text to those requesting.
 
(8) There is a fellow named Dave Q that has "recovered" with a gluten-free
diet and lots of supplements. He discusses this, along with other recovery
stories, on his web site found at: http://www.2cowherd.net/q/
 
(9) There is supposedly a newsgroup for those interested in "Natural
Recovery" of MS. It's alt.support.mult-sclerosis.alternatives. Ask your
system administrator to add it if you can't find it. But it seems to be hard
to find.
 
(10) A page on Milk and MS is from the Carbondale Center for Macrobiotic
Studies and blames dairy for the distribution of MS. Visit:
http://commercial-directory.clever.net/health/msmilk.htm
 
(11) The following is a list of articles in medical journals, which were
published at about the time that prednisone became popular in the treatment
of MS. They appear to connect MS with celiac-like intestinal morphology.
 
Cook, Gupta, Pertschuk, Nidzgorski "Multiple Sclerosis and Malabsorption"
Lancet; June 24, 1978, p. 1366
 
Fantelli, Mitsumoto & Sebek "Multiple Sclerosis and Malabsorption" Lancet
May 13, 1978 p. 1039-1040
 
Davison, Humphrey, Livesedge et al. "Multiple Sclerosis Research" Elsevier
Scientific Publishing New York, 1975
 
I find it curious that the connection between malabsorption and MS stopped
at about the same time that prednisone and other such steroids became
the treatment of choice for MS. As I'm sure you know, prednisone incites
the re-growth of the villi despite the ingestion of gluten, in the celiac
gut. Investigators who did endoscopies on MS patients admit that they have
not asked about the patients' use of such drugs.
 
(12) Some literature from the celiac view point:
 
Drs. Cooke & Holmes in _Coeliac Disease_ 1984; Churchill Livingstone, NY
say that 10% of celiacs have neuropathic symptoms. Many appear to be
associated with demyelination. Fineli et. al. echo that figure in "Adult
celiac diseae presenting as cerebellar syndrome" _Neurology_ 1980; 30:
245-249.
 
Cooke & Holmes come right out and express some of their frustration with
neurologists for ignoring the potiential for neuropathic celiac.
 
A new school has emerged, on the heels of the following report:
 
Hadjivassiliou, et. al. "Does cryptic gluten sensitivity play a part in
neurological illness?" _Lancet_ 1996; 347: 369-371
 
They found that 57 percent of those with neurological problems of
unknown cause also had antibodies to gliadin, which is a component of
gluten. Sixteen percent of them had coeliac disease, a much higher level
than normally found. Most of the patients with the anti-gliadin antibodies
did not have other symptoms of coeliac disease such as poor absorption of
vitamins.
 
(13) There is supposedly a book on MS written by a Greg Nooney, a fellow
that has "cured" himself with a gluten-free diet. He may be in Colorado.