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Howdy- I have been very excited to find your websites and information.

       My interest is the relation of gluten and casein intolerance to asthma
and (IgE) allergy.  I am a 49 year old male asthmatic with severe allergies
by IgE test.  My physical conditioning ranges from good to excellent which,
along with my diet and nutrition allows me to live a very active and rich
life without asthma drugs.  I have made a serious study of asthma and allergy
for the past two years, parttime and hope that you all can help me go
further.

       Part of my personal regime is the avoidance of gluten and milk
products, though not strictly.  I feel that when I am in top shape and
working hard, I can stand cheese and even some bread (both of which I love).
My IgE allergy test shows me very mildly allergic to wheat and not at all to
milk.  (Asthma authorities insist that food allergy is very rare in adults.
If they are only speaking of IgE, they are probably right.)

       And yet I know that if I include much of these substances in my diet,
my condition will get worse.  I will never forget the time, seventeen years
ago, when recovering from an attack at the end of my cycle, I ate two
delicious pieces of wheat toast with butter!  This closed up my airways,
postponing my full recovery for another 24 hours.

        I recently had a blood test from MetaMetrix lab in Atlanta, GA,
apparently for IgG reactions, using the ELISA test.  The results showed me
highly reactive to milk, wheat, almost all beans and a few other items.  True
enough that I have never digested beans very well.  I would like to know how
to assess this.

         I am considering getting another such test from the more famous
ImmunoLab of Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  However, it costs around 300 bucks, which
I can't afford right now anyway.  It is interesting that ImmunoLab's
scientific reference list includes one from 1992, one from 1991, a few from
1990 and nothing more recent.

        How useful do you you feel such analyses are for people like me?  Are
there better alternatives, say as part of an experiment?

        It is my general suspicion that wheat and casein have adverse effects
on many asthmatics.  Personally, I think of it as a "loading" effect, not so
direct or immediate.  Here is a possible mechanism- if these proteins are not
easily accepted by the body's digestive system (the Peyer's patches?), the
body's immunoglobulin system may be kept in a more sensitive state, or if
more of the body's IgG is needed to deal with these dubious proteins- then
the IgE are more likely to react, or may be more "needed".  Maybe somehow the
casein or gluten "primes" the immune system for greater IgE reactivity.
Probably most of this is at a less than acute (subclinical?)  level.  And
yes, I know this is not very scientific.

       Some of the following are written as statements but that does not mean
they are facts.  All is questionable.  Please react to anything.

       Questions:  In asthma and (IgE) allergy, IgA is one of the "good guys"
because it deals with intruders very quietly, without tripping various
inflammatory cascades.  Yet apparently, if they are present in great
quantities, it will result in digestive problems?

       The process of allergy shots (attempts at immunization to IgE
reactions) is supposed to induce an IgG reaction to substances that excite an
IgE reaction.  IgE pertains mostly to the airways and to the skin.  Any
comment?

        When the unbroken down peptides are toxic to the gut mucosa, is this
due to the histocompatibility genes binding these peptides, preventing the
breakdown?  Where do they bind?- in the large intestine?  Could low stomach
acidity play any part in this?

       How common is the opioid reaction?  It seems that many people just
cant get enough bread and milk.  Could it be a somewhat common digestive
effect, yet only be associated with some other factor in autism?

       The Italian study claims that "subclinical celiac disease is common"
and shows 2.1% reacting in their study.  Is this the highest number of people
that could be affected?  Is celiac disease the same as gluten intolerance?
Is subclinical celiac disease another name for gluten sensitivity?

>>> We all have IgG antibodies to food proteins indicating uptake of
immunologically active proteins in trace quantities.  In
         When does it become a problem?  Or is it, as I suspect, all on a
spectrum, a matter of degree for all of us?

>>>1:  It is not allergy but intolerance which is the problem.  That is
peptides formed from taken up proteins and peptides taken directly from the
gut are the root of the problem.  Therefore only some of the children with
autism show IgA antibodies.  Smaller peptides, which sometimes dominate, do
not cause antibody formation.
        Some of these large molecules pass thru the gut wall alone; others,
as in allergies, with some immunoglobulin attached as a circulating immune
complex.  What is the difference to the body?

        My ability with scientific jargon is a bit limited.  However, I do a
bit better with asthma and allergy- I have an extensive outline and a draft
of a book.  I've had to learn a lot.  Hope to learn more.

        Any answers, book or references you may suggest will be greatly
appreciated.
                                 John Hepler
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