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 [log in to unmask] ^^^^ \ / \ | / Today’s Research \\ | // ...Tomorrow’s Cure \ | / \|/ `````