<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
The listowners have received an electronic version of a fascinating
article about the historic role of gluten intolerance in the structuring
of the genetic makeup of man. It was written by Dr. Luigi Greco, a member
of the well-respected Aurrichio team (Italy) which has done many
important celiac research studies. The article is 27k long (including an
useful list of 18 citations to other articles) as was judged too large
to post on the list, so anyone who wants a copy should send an email to:
 
[log in to unmask] with the body
 
GET CELIAC CUL-WHT CELIAC
 
Do not use the reply feature of your software, or 1050 people will get
your request!
 
I have posted the introduction to the article below, so you can get a feel
for its scope.  If you use a monospaced font, like Courier, the right margins
line up perfectly.  This is also true of the article itself.
 
Mike Jones ([log in to unmask])
for the Listowners
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 FROM  THE  NEOLITHIC  REVOLUTION  TO  THE  GLUTEN  INTOLERANCE  :
BENEFITS AND PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED TO THE CULTIVATION OF WHEAT.
 
Luigi Greco, D.C.H., M.Sc.(MCH), M.D.,
Dipartment of Pediatrics, University of Naples.
30.06.1995
 
WHY SO MANY INTOLERANT TO GLUTEN ?
 
     We  have recently reported on Lancet(1) a consistent  cohort
of  patients  affected by drug-resistant epilepsy  with  cerebral
calcifications,  half of which were cured by a gluten-free  diet.
All  had an atrophic jejunal mucosa, which recovered on a  gluten
free diet. Gluten intolerance is now a recognized cause of  brain
calcifications   and  epilepsy,  of  dementia,   of   psychiatric
disturbances   :  many researchers believe that,  in  genetically
predisposed  subjects  ,  gluten is not  healthy  for  the  brain
function (2).
 
     This is just too much.
 
     Having  had  over  25 years of  variegated  experience  with
gluten  intolerance I find hard to immagine that the single  most
common food intolerance to the single most diffuse staple food in
our  environment  maight  provoke such  a  complexity  of  severe
adverse  immuno-mediated reactions in any part of the human  body
and  function.  The list is endless,  but  malignancies,  adverse
pregnancy   outcome  and  impaired  brain  function  are   indeed
complications   above  the  tolerable  threshold  of  this   food
intolerance .
 
     On the other end today  we know very well that the  majority
( as many as 9 to 1) of gluten intolerant subjects, identified by
familial or population screening, do not manifest any  complaint,
although they do have a flat intestinal mucosa (3).
 
     In conclusion a sizeable proportion of our population  (from
0.3  to 1%) is gluten intolerant and reacts with a wide  spectrum
of symptoms from no apparent reaction to severe  life-threatening
diseases.
 
     This  intolerance  is strongly linked  to  specific  genetic
markers which have indeed required thousands years to develop and
be selected : the 'population genetic' time is of this dimension,
while  the  changes in the environment and in the  food  we  eat,
require centuries or less.
 
               Where then they come from ?