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The following is a letter from Dr. Reichelt that was written in response to
some questions posted in a newsgroup.

>       - can gluten intolerance cause a forboding feeling that there is a
>'conspiracy' working against you or causes you support, obsessiveness, or
>lack of insight? Can it cause feelings of persecution, the sense that
>things somehow pertain to you or your close friends and relatives? Can it
>make someone display symptons of paranoid-type schizophrenia?

From: [log in to unmask] (Kalle Reichelt)
Subject: Gluten, casein and behaviour

Hi.
It is of course very difficult to make follow the effect of gliadin,
gluten and casein derived peptides and their specific effects on the
brain. However, the fact that opioids from exogenous proteins can be
isolated from patients (1,Reichelt et al submitted), and that other peptides
found in urine and dialysis fluid from patients (2,3) also causes
behavioural changes in animal models, makes it possible that paranoid
ideation and persecutory feeling could well be human correlates of the
behaviour changes noted in animals (2,3). We cannot do such experiments on
humans although they have been carried out before the advent of ethical
committees. Thus prof R Heath in New Orleans injected a serum prep on
volunteering prisoners called tarexein. They definitely demonstrated
schizoid behaviour. (I have seen the videos myself).
We have effect on schizophrenics on diet (blind) (4) which agrees with
some publications (5,6) but not with others. I think the negative
experiments were run for too short an interval. A dietary casein and gluten
free diet would need 1/2 to one year to be certain. In autistic children we
do also find a clearcut effect of diet run over 4 years (1).
However, if it is correct that you drink tons of coffee, this could in
itself be the cause. This is because caffeine act as a CNS stimulatory
agent causing higher arousal which again makes you more introverted. If the
doses are very large borderline conditions may develop and the world by
seeming strange causes paranoid ideation to explain the changed perception
of the world. See Prof Eysencks many paperbacks on psychology. Amphetamine
has the same effect (bad trips) in introverted persons. In Hyperkinetic
children where the attention related CNS centres show lower activation,
they go from extreme extroversion and become normalized. Treating epileptic
children with the drugs available often causes a iatrogenic hyperactivity
(ADD) syndrome because of increased CNS inhibition. This is a clinical
problem which is difficult but unavoidable.
Ref:
1:Reichelt Kl et al (1991) Brain Dysfunct . 4:308-319.
2: Hole K et al (1979) Neuroscience 4:1883-1893.
3:Drysdale A et al (1982)Neuroscience 7:1567-1574
4:Reichelt KL et al (1990) J Ortomol Med5:223-239
5:Singh MM and Kay (1976) Science 191:401-402.
6:Vlissides DN et al (1986) Brit J psychiat 148:447-452(some cases, not all)
Right now I do not have time for more references, but we can get back to
that later.
All the best                            Cheers

                                        TINY
K. Reichelt
Pediatric Research Institute
N-0027 Oslo, Norway
Tel: +47 22 86 90 45
Fax: +47 22 86 91 17
E-mail: [log in to unmask]