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> Don Wiss's post re MS and the effects of a gf diet follows:
> From: Don Wiss <[log in to unmask]>
>
> The MS/gluten/casein connection is mostly only anecdotal as it has
> never really been studied. This is what I have:
>
> (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 St (Box 876)
> New Canaan, CT  06840-0876, 1992, ISBN 0-87983-538-9].
>
> MacDougall eventually wrote a pamphlet titled "My Struggle Against
> Multiple> Sclerosis", pub 1980 by Regenics Inc, Rt. 10, 2660 Touby
> Rd, Mansfield OH 44903, Phone (419) 756-2994 (Cost $2). Now an edited
> version is on the web at:   http://aspin.asu.edu/msnews/mac.htm
>
> 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
>    http://aspin.asu.edu/msnews/emb696.htm (old version)
> He has also set up a foundation to study diet and MS.  His web site
> is at:
>    http://www.cadvision.com/embrya/
> Also see:
>    http://www.2x2.co.nz/ms/direcms.html
>    http://www.2x2.co.nz/ms/
>
> (4) In _Gluten Intolerance_ by Beatrice Trum Hunter, Keats
> Publishing 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.' See:
>    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0906391989
>
> (6) According to Dr. Joe Murray now at the Mayo Clinic 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/ms.htm
>
> (9) There is 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. [It doesn't have much
> activity.]
>
> (10) A page on MS and Milk 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
>
> As the page is no longer available e-mail [log in to unmask] for a
> copy.
>
> (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 disease 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.
>
> In this article: Beversdorf D, Moses P, Reeves A, Dunn J  "A man with
> weight loss, ataxia, and confusion for 3 months" _Lancet_ 1996
> Feb 17;347(8999):446
>
> They discuss the neurological manifestations of adult celiac
> disease which include cerebellar ataxia, sensory neuropathy, myopathy,
> hyporeflexis, and seizures. These symptoms resemble those of Vitamin
> E deficiency.   Patients with abetalipoproteinaenemia, who lack the
> lipoproteins necessary to carry fat-soluble vitamins, have similar
> symptoms.  These patients respond to water-miscible Vitamin E
> supplementation.
>
> In this article: Cooke WT, Neurologic manifestations of
> malabsorption. In Handbook of clinical neurology, volume 28 (metabolic
> deficiency diseases of the nervous system, part II), Amsterdam; No.
> Holland Publishing Co.  976; 225-41.
>
> They discuss the many neurological manifestations that are
> associated with coeliac disease, including ataxia, peripheral
> neuropathy, myelopathy, myopathy, and dementia.
>
> 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.
>
> Hadjivassilou et. al. "Clinical, radiological, neurophysiological,
> and neuropathological characteristics of gluten ataxia" _The Lancet_
> 1998; 352: 1582-1585.
>
> The abstract summary reads, "Gluten sensitivity is an important
> cause of apparently idiopathic ataxia and may be progressive. The
> ataxia is a result of immunological damage to the cerebellum, to the
> posterior columns of the spinal cord, and to peripheral nerves. We
> (the  authors) propose the term gluten ataxia to describe this
> disorder."
>
> Patients with ataxia (a neuromuscular disorder) who attended a
> neurology clinic were screened for celiac disease (biopsy and HLA).
> The authors identified 28 patients with gluten sensitivity and
> ataxia with o other predisposing cause. The neurological symptoms
> preceded the diagnosis of celiac disease.
==================================
> For more information on avoiding these foods, these pages have
> annotated links points to many resources:
>
>   The Gluten-Free Page:        http://www.GFlinks.com/
>   The No Milk Page:            http://www.NoMilk.com/
>
> And this is the diet that I really think people with MS should be
> on:   The Paleolithic Diet Page:   http://www.PaleoDiet.com/
>
> And here is a recipe site for it:
>   PaleoFood Recipe Collection: http://www.PaleoFood.com/
>
> Since switching to it, and not wearing my glasses but
> occasionally, my nearsightedness has improved about 1.50 diopter in
> each eye (butI I am a celiac and don't have MS).   Don