LUPUS [SLE] AND THE DEBUNKING OF AUTOIMMUNITY AS A CAUSATIVE FACTOR IN DEGENERATIVE DISEASES

Thanks to Jonathan Wright’s newsletter Vol 9 issue 3 for March of 2002 the following info has been brought to light.

Dr Wright’s last newsletter supports my long held opinion that the drive to develop drugs rather than identify causes of disease has led the junk science enthusiasts down blind alleys causing them, among other things, to wrongfully pin the blame for many degenerative diseases on the autoimmune system.

Dr Wright’s report also points out why my personal habit of taking unresponsive patients off dairy and grains has had such a high success rate for almost thirty years. Having practiced in an area that was once heavily populated with dairy farms made me aware of the disastrous effects of milk early on. One of the first strange things I learned at Chiropractic college was that milk was bad for humans. It was only later that I became aware that the Famous Dr Spock also recommended against drinking cow’s milk.

Having been grounded in the poison/malnutrition causes of degenerative diseases rather than the germ theory, I personally never accepted the idea of our immune system being a causative factor in their production. Such a stupid notion clashes with my idea of how innate intelligence functions. The most astonishing thing about the subject is how few people see the stupidity of the commonly held views. Of course the fact that those views are held by the highest educated among us helps keep them in vogue.

THE IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS

The out of print book by Reading and Meillon [available in used book stores] “Your Family Tree Connection” originally published in Australia under the title of “Relatively Speaking” describes the success of Dr Reading, an Australian doctor who cured a hundred Lupus [SLE] patients by [among other things] taking them off all grains except RICE and CORN.

Dr Wright discussed the connection between a Lancet article recently reporting a link between the genetic marker HLA-B8 and 17 diseases with what he had learned from Dr Reading. All but one of the 17 diseases [Celiac Disease] are thought to be autoimmune diseases. Dr Wright deduced that if dietary restriction of gluten cured the one gene-linked disease known to have an external cause that perhaps all of the gene-linked diseases had an external cause and that it might just be gluten sensitivity!

I would bet on it!!

Here is the list of the diseases linked to the gene that might respond to restriction of gluten containing foods. My advice is that ANY patient with one of the following diagnoses be taken off ALL grain and ALL dairy products until their involvement is ruled out.

Addison’s Disease
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia
Celiac disease
Childhood asthma
Chronic autoimmune hepatitis
Dermatitis herpetiformis
Grave’s disease
Insulin dependent (type 1) Diabetes mellitus
Lupus erythematosis
Myesthenia gravis
Pernicious anemia [100% also suffer total lack of stomach acid]
Polymyalgia rheumatica
Scleroderma
Sjogren’s syndrome
Thyrotoxicosis
Ulcerative colitis
Vitiligo 

Dr Wright recommends the tTG test for gluten/gliadin sensitivity, a measure of tissue transglutaminase and supposedly the most sensitive test now available. Information from a website is included below for your convenience.

Other tests are the endomysial antibody test [EMA] for short lived antibodies and the antigliadin antibody [AGA] test for the longer lived IgA and IgG antibodies.

Be sure the patient has consumed gluten containing foods right up until test day or the tests might show negative even in gluten sensitive people.

Here is the info on Gluten research from the website:

Research Update

Currently, the Center for Celiac Research is involved in the following critical research areas:

1)  Multi-Center Serological Screening Study to determine prevalence of Celiac Disease in the United States

The largest epidemiology study ever performed in the USA is close to an end.. Our preliminary data involving 13,000 subjects indicates similar results as reported in our last update; however, we hope to have our final data available from the study by the end of the year.

We will not be scheduling any further group screenings or accepting individual blood samples for research purposes. Please refer to our home page for information on scheduled group screenings in your area (Blood Screening Calendar), and for information on how to submit an individual celiac blood sample through our Celiac Clinical Laboratory (Instructions for Individuals).

2)  New Diagnostic Assay to develop a non-invasive diagnostic test for CD

Our scientists have been able to develop a more sensitive, non-invasive, and specific test for Celiac Disease based on the use of tissue transglutaminase. We were able, for the first time, to clone the human tTG gene. Our preliminary results show that the human TtG assay performs much better than the commercially-available tests (including anti-endomysium antibodies and gunea pig-based transglutaminase assay).

3)  New Dot-Blot Assay

We have developed a human tTG dot-blot test based on the detection of anti-tTG antibodies in serum or in one drop of whole blood, which can be carried out within thirty minutes.  The preliminary results of the dot-blot assay indicate that the assay is as reliable as the human tTG ELISA test, making the diagnosis of Celiac Disease possible at the physician's ambulatory site.

If the sensitivity and specificity of these tests can be confirmed on a large scale, a case can be made on the possible discontinuation of the invasive intestinal biopsy procedure as the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of CD.  This would result in early identification and treatment for patients with CD at a significant cost savings.  We will continue to validate these innovative tests during the future blood screenings.

To receive updates on our research, please submit your name and address to Pam King, Director of External Affairs.