Wheat-gluten sensitivity and mental symptoms
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley (and possibly oats) that gives dough its sticky quality. An inability to digest these grains is called celiac disease. Estimates for those having celiac disease are generally thought to be 1% of the population, or about 1 in 100. It may be more, since not everyone displays significant symptoms.
Studies have shown celiac disease to be inordinately high in groups of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Removing gluten from the diets of those diagnosed with schizophrenia often results in a significant improvement of behavior.
A study of schizophrenics by Dr. William Philpott showed allergic responses as follows: Wheat (64%), Mature corn (51%), Pasteurized whole cow milk (50%), Tobacco (75%), and Hydrocarbons (30%). Ninety-two percent of the patients showed allergic responses with an average of ten items per person causing reactions.
Symptoms of celiac disease can include mood swings, depression, anxiety, irritability, compulsive behavior, learning difficulties, delusions, hallucinations, incoherence, disorganization, stupor, hyperactivity, and other mental disorders, which can be misdiagnosed as schizophrenia or other mental illness.
An antibody blood test will show if the system is responding negatively to gluten. Positive diagnosis of celiac disease occurs only with an endoscopic biopsy (analyzing a tissue sample from the small intestine) which is the only way to distinguish it from food allergies or other issues. One should consult a non-psychiatric medical doctor for the antibody screening test and full diagnosis.
[Some information taken from Twenty-Nine Medical Causes of “Schizophrenia†which is excerpted from Nutrition and Mental Illness by the late Carl C. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., M.D.]
Psychiatrists remain committed to calling “schizophrenia†a mental
disease despite, after a century of research, the complete absence of objective proof that it exists as a physical brain abnormality.
Also, psychiatry clings tenaciously to antipsychotics as the treatment for “schizophrenia,†despite their proven risks and studies which show that when patients stop taking these drugs, they improve.
Psychiatrists not only admit that they have no idea what causes the symptoms characterized as schizophrenia, but also they have no scientifically validated proof whatsoever that it even exists as a discrete physical illness.
The word “schizophrenia” comes from the Greek skhizein ‘to split’ + phren ‘mind’. A useful definition of “schizophrenia” could be: an idea that one is two persons, which is remediable by a discovery of the life continuums being dramatized by the individual. A life continuum is the phenomenon of an individual’s tendency to carry on the fears, goals, habits and manifestations of others who have failed, departed or are dead. [definition from L. Ron Hubbard, 1952]
There are solutions to mental disturbances that avoid the serious risks and flaws inherent in psychiatry. Download and read the CCHR reports Schizophrenia – Psychiatry’s For Profit ‘Disease’ and What is the Alternative to Psychiatric Drugs.
DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of physicians or health care practitioners. It is also not intended to diagnose or prescribe treatment for any illness or disorder. Anyone already undergoing physician-prescribed therapy should seek the advice of their doctor before changing dosage or stopping treatment.
This is an interesting post, however I’d like to raise a few points.
Firstly, at the current stage of knowledge, there are two possible groups of people who experience symptoms when eating gluten which do not occur on a gluten free diet: one is celiacs, as you say and the other is what are generally called non-celiac gluten intolerants (though all of them may, in fact be part of a broad spectrum of disease which may in the future be labeled as celiac disease) – most of whom do not present with the characteristic intestinal lesions used as a diagnostic for celiac disease.
You referred to food allergies in your post. This is an old term now no longer used in favor of “food intolerances”, because the term allergy implies direct involvement by the immune system, and most food intolerances do not trigger the immune system directly, although incorrect digestion may produce a substance which does – however, simple allergy tests will not pick these up.
The definition of schizophrenia given by you is incorrect, and seems to be very similar to the common view in the 1950s. Schizophrenia is not split personality, and no modern psychiatrist would define it as such. It is a disorder in which the sufferer experiences hallucinations – which can be auditory, visual, tactile or any combination of these. Schizophrenics may also at some stages experience paranoia and exhibit certain characteristic behaviors which those of us who have known them over a number of years will recognize immediately. As for the paranoia, it’s my belief that anyone afflicted with constant hostile voices and visions (for some reason they do always seem to be hostile – perhaps people with friendly voices don’t regard it as a problem) would become paranoid!