On Saturday, December 18, 1999 1:35 AM, erika wrote:
>>>What intrigues me is the studies that have been done in relation to
ADD/ADHD and everyday foods showed a link...discovered a connection
between ingestion of food colorings and hyperactivity...studies...showed
MSG, amines and salicylates (natural chemicals that occur in varying
quantities in some everyday foods) affected many of their test subjects.
Foods low in these natural chemicals were almost never a problem...
the final item on the list of foods that caused...hyperactivity problems
was MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, not straight cornstarch. Only the modified form
appeared to find it's way into the brain and wreak havoc. <<<

Further to this, I dredged up a couple of articles that I had saved...

Gluten Sensitivity, Neurological Disorders And Celiac Disease: A
Possible Link

WESTPORT (Reuters) , Feb 09, 1998 - Investigators in the UK recommend in
The Lancet this week that all patients with neurological dysfunction of
unknown cause be tested for antigliadin antibodies. The presence of
antigliadin antibodies in serum provides an indication of dietary gluten
sensitivity.
    Because gluten sensitivity is a feature of celiac disease, the UK
investigators also recommend testing for this disorder Dr. M.
Hadjivassiliou at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield recently
detected the presence of antigliadin antibodies in a number of
his patients with unexplained neurological diseases.
    He then determined the occurrence of antigliadin antibodies in three
groups of patients: 53 with neurological disorders of unknown cause, 94
with neurological disorders caused by stroke, MS, or Parkinson disease
and 50 healthy controls.
    Dr. Hadjivassiliou found that more than half (57%) of the patients
with unexplained neurological disorders had antigliadin antibodies
compared with 5% of the patients with neurological disorders of known
etiology and 12% of the controls.
    In a subset of 26 patients with antigliadin antibodies, 9 had
evidence of celiac disease and 10 others had non-specific inflammation
of the Dr. Hadjivassiliou concludes that antigliadin antibody
estimation"...should be part of the routine investigation of any patient
with neurological dysfunction of unknown cause."
Lancet 1996;346:369-371
xxx
Date: 17/04/98
From: BRowley

Food Allergy Mystery - SOLVED
Warning to Millions of Americans

An alleryy to the commom food substance gluten may be responsible for a
wave of health problems, say experts.
    A recent study found that 57 percent of people suffering from
nervous
system disorders of unknown origin - such as shaky movements, unsteady
gait
and weakness or numbness of the arms and legs - were found to be
sensitive to
gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and oats.
    Researchers say that other cases of neurological disease which have
no
obvious cause, such as Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis, may
also be
linked to gluten allergy.
    Gluten is a part of every American's diet, from breakfast toast to
gravy
at dinner - yet as many as 40 million Americans may be allergic to it!
    Gluten is a neuro-toxin", says Dr. Lloyd Rosenvold, author of the
book
Gluten Free Diet--Can It Help?. "It poisons the nervous system by
getting into
the bloodstream through the digestive system. Then it travels through
part of
the nervous system where it causes problems.
    "I've worked with people who have multiple sclerosis, myasthenia
gravis
(a muscle disease), irregular heartbeats, epilepsy and even
schizophrenia,
which were caused by gluten allergy", he says.
    "If you have a problem and your doctor can't diagnose it, ask to be
tested for gluten sensitivity."
---by Ruth Watts
xxx
BRAIN DISEASES LINKED TO BLEACH USED IN FLOUR

Globe and Mail, June 1998 -- A bleaching agent once used to whiten flour
may be a factor in the increase over the past half-century of
neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s, according to
a Vancouver neurscientist.
     Dr. Christopher Shaw of the University of British Columbia, with
colleagues in
Halifax and Finland, found the agent, called methionine sulfoximine,
overstimulates
brain cells.  He told the Medical Post, “MSO directly turns on a toxic
cascade of events
which can lead to brain cell death.”
    The bleaching agent has not been used in Canada since 1968. It was
banned in the
United States and Britain in 1950, after being used for 30 years in
white bread and
pastries. Shaw says some epidemiologists believe the incidence of
Parkinson’s and Lou
Gehrig’s diseases has peaked and should level off.
    However, Shaw adds, “My concern is what this tells us about the
presence of
other toxins in processed food. I think this is the tip of an iceberg.”

~~~~
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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