Headaches and gluten sensitivity
An article published in the medical journal Neurology (2001; 56(3):385-8) describes ten patients who presented to a clinic complaining of migraine headaches. They all also had other neurological symptoms varying from loss of balance (vertigo), to sensory impairment, however, none of these people had any digestive disturbances.
When tested with MRI and EEG, all of these individuals showed abnormalities in the brain that could explain their symptoms. The author also tested them for intolerance to gluten as part of their evaluation. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, oats, rye and a few other grains. Every one of the ten patients tested positive for gluten intolerance. All recovered completely when they eliminated gluten from their diets. In addition, their EEG and MRI abnormalities vanished. Interestingly, each of these individuals had the same genetic trait, suggesting that there may a genetic predisposition to gluten intolerance. Gluten allergy has been linked with autism, ADHD and migraine headaches in addition to celiac disease, a severe intestinal and neurological disorder.
