Could gluten be related to psychosis?

Gluten may seem to be a fairly innocuous substance. Often found in modern BROWS grains - barley, rye, oats, wheat and spelt - gluten can end up in many expected and unexpected places. For those with celiac disease (an autoimmune disease affecting roughly 1-2% of the population) or gluten sensitivity, navigating simple tasks such as eating out or buying lip balm can become challenging (not, I might add, impossible). To make matters worse, some people don't understand that the effects of celiac disease, while not immediately visible, can be serious. Celiac disease can lead to deficiencies in iron, folate and Vitamin D, malnutrition, dental enamel defects, bone mineral density problems and severe gastrointestinal symptoms. Children may not grow. In a recent study, however, it seems that being sensitive to gluten, but not a celiac, may be related to schizophrenia.

Published in 2010, the study looked at 471 individuals - 129 who had recent onset psychosis, 191 with multiple episode schizophrenia and 151 controls without a history of psychiatric disorders. They then measured levels of gliadin IgA, gliadin IgG, deamidated gliadin IgG, atissue transglutaminase IgA, and tissue transglutaminase IgG antibodies - technical jargon for different markers than may be related to gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. The results showed that both those with recent onset psychosis and multiple episode schizophrenia had elevated levels of certain markers (in a statistically significant way)compared to controls.

The increases couldn't be explained by gender, age, race, or cigarette smoking. What is more interesting is that the increases were not the same as those seen in celiac disease. This may suggest that the immune system is still reacting pathologically, just in a different way to celiacs. Hence gluten may be contributing to the psychosis associated both with the multiple episode schizophrenia and the recent onset psychosis.

Does this mean that the cause of psychosis is gluten? All mental illnesses are complex, multi-factorial conditions and what happens in one person does not necessarily happen in another. What it does mean, however, is that attempting a healthy gluten free diet (not living solely on D'Lush biscuits - yum) is definitely worth trying. Remembering it takes a minimum of 3 months to clear the brain and that any gluten consumed can put you back at square one, if you're going to try it - plan and prep.

Need some resources:
http://www.theallergymenu.com/ - a fabulous website for all sorts of allergy info and recipes
http://shepherdworks.com.au/ - Sue Shepherd has some fantastic information at this site, and her recipe books are fabulous

The journal articles used:
Dickerson, F., Stallings, C., Origoni, A., Vaughan, C., Khushalani, S., Leister, F., . . . Yolken, R. (2010). Markers of Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Disease in Recent-Onset Psychosis and Multi-Episode Schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 68(1), 100-104. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.03.021 - this is the main article


Rodrigo-Saez, L., Fuentes-Alvarez, D., Perez-Martinez, I., Alvarez-Mieres, N., Nino-Garcia, P., de-Francisco-Garcia, R., . . . Lopez-Vazquez, A. (2011). Differences between pediatric and adult celiac disease. Revista espanola de enfermedades digestivas : organo oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Patologia Digestiva, 103(5), 238-244. Available free to view at http://www.grupoaran.com/mrmUpdate/lecturaPDFfromXML.asp?IdArt=4619631&TO=RVN&Eng=1

A Little Ray of Sunshine

There is no doubt that we human's love sunshine - a beach on a summer's day, a sunny clear ski slope or a misty rainforest are all made better by the sun's gentle kiss. We sing many songs to celebrate the sun as well - Sunshine on my shoulder, Walking on Sunshine, Here comes the Sun and Blister in the sun (that may be about a different celebration of course, but I wouldn't know). Our love of the sunshine may be a primal understanding about one of the sun's great gifts to humans - Vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with a raft of health problems including rickets, bone density issues, heart disease, hypertension, bowel cancer, infections and autoimmune diseases. It has also been linked to our mood and mental illness. In a study published in the journal Psychopharmacology, this association was discussed. The authors reported that hypovitaminosis D ( medical jargon for low vitamin D) had been associated with several mental illnesses including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression. However, there was an impact even on the general mood of those without a diagnosis.

Researchers excluded people with conditions that may have made it difficult for them to make vitamin D, such as certain kidney, blood and hormonal conditions. It also excluded those who had mental illness or first degree relatives with mental illness. They then checked both their vitamin D status and personality traits "along the dimensions neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness." (p734) The results were then correlated and relationships were identified.

Now I know what some of you are thinking (well nerdish critics anyway) - Correlation does not equal causation. Without the jargonese, that means that just because two things are related it doesn't mean one made the other one happen. Correlations are important indicators and I think you'd have to be half way to dead to not wonder if something isn't going on here.

So, what are we wondering about? Researchers found that extraversion and openess were more closely correlated to increased vitamin D levels, and that there was a partial relationship between concentration and vitamin D too. They also discussed vitamin D deficiency and it's suspected role in schizophrenia and other psychosis. The role of vitamin D in regulating our seasonal rhythms, our anti-inflammatory responses, our neurotransmitters and our glucose metabolism make it a very likely suspect in producing our sunshiny dispositions.

Vitamin D can be taken in supplemental form, as once you are deficient, it's highly unlikely that you'll bring your vitamin D levels back up via sunlight. A nutritionist or nutritionally trained doctor can help you with that.

As it's night here now, we may just have to sing ourselves happy. I think Jimmy Cliff can manage that. Here's to you Vitamin D :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jsw_r0hILQ&feature=related

The article discussed here was Ubbenhorst A, Striebich S, Lang F, Lang UE. Exploring the relationship between vitamin D and basic personality traits. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011 Jun;215(4):733-7.

We'd like to thank our good friends at Time for Wellness for bringing this article to our attention and wish them a little more sun in the UK. Check out their fantastic blog here
http://www.timeforwellness.org/blog

Internet Addiction changes the Brain

The internet is a fabulous tool, it makes my life a whole lot easier. I love being connected to distant friends, listening to great music and podcasts, seeing great talks and reading great information. So you imagine how upset I was when the internet told me that the internet may be bad.

To clarify, we're talking about too much of a good thing. Researchers have suggested that internet addiction may be a real, diagnosable phenomenon and that it may be more common in adolescents. The problem is increasing so rapidly that it may not be long before terms such as internet addiction disorder, problematic internet use and pathological use may enter diagnostic language right next to substance use disorder or depression.

When addicted to the internet, individuals may find themselves neglecting social activities, work and school as well as experiencing negative psychological and social affects. High use of the internet has been associated with anxiety, hostility and depression. Even more than that, unrealistic expectations for life and love may be created by the fantasy offered by the internet.

It may be tempting to think that the problem is not that serious - after all, how bad can the internet be? A recent study has shown that the brain structure of individuals with internet addiction have microstructure changes that lead to functional impairments in cognition. A different study also showed a link between internet addiction may be related to increased interpersonal anxiety and psychosis.

Those adolescents with problems at home or at school were more likely to become addicted to the internet. Also, individuals who relied on the internet for entertainment or social interaction were more likely to become addicted.

Healthy use of the internet is an important skill for everyone to learn.
1)Setting time limits and boundaries on internet use is important to help develop appropriate use.
2)Social interaction is important for general health - texting is not a form of talking - and time spent in direct conversation with friends is a vital component of health.
3)Adults need to remember that children and adolescents learn from their behaviour - ask yourself when the last time you turned your mobile phone off was? Can you let the phone ring?

In short, the rate at which technology is advancing isn't necessarily a good thing. Myths regarding multitasking being possible or improved performance abound, leading many to grab the latest trend with both hands. There is a lot we still need to learn about how technology is affecting us. One thing is for sure, spending time with loving family and friends IS good for us. Why not text them and set a time to get together - in real life?

Interested in internet addiction? Here are some articles. Don't spend to long on line though!

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0014703
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0019660
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0020708