Gluten Intolerance and Asthma - Is There A Connection? -
Gluten-Free Society
The incidence of people
suffering with asthma in the U.S. continues to grow. Interestingly
enough, so does the incidence of people being diagnosed with gluten intolerance.
Because asthma can be an autoimmune reaction, the next question is – Are the
two related?
According to a new study
in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, there is a strong correlation.
Source:
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Baker’s Asthma
Baker’s Asthma dates
back to an observation from 1700.
Bakers exposed to large amounts of flour dust suffered respiratory symptoms
that mimicked asthma. This was the first known historical connection between
grain inducing asthma. The reaction was later discovered to be an IgE
response. IgE is an acute antibody produced by the body’s immune
system. The antibody causes the release of immune chemicals called
histamines. These histamines are responsible for the shortness of breath,
wheezing, coughing, and other allergy symptoms.
Asthma is Extremely Common and on The Rise
According to EPA
statistics, approximately 8% of the U.S. population have asthma. The common
thought is that asthma is caused by genetics, airborne allergies, and the over
emphasis of hygiene (hygiene hypothesis).
The common medical
solution is the use of steroid inhalers, and immune suppressing allergy
medications. Many patients are told that the asthma is something they will have
to medicate for the rest of their lives. The downside to this – chronic steroid
use causes vitamin and mineral deficiency,
bone loss, and contributes to diabetes. Allergy medications increase the risk
for infection and reduce the immune systems ability to fight pathogenic invaders.
Skin Testing for Allergies is Limited and Incomplete &
Misleading
Many doctors perform
skin testing for environmental allergies like dust, mold, pollen, etc.
Unfortunately, food allergies are rarely looked at as a cause for asthma.
If they are investigated, they are usually limited to wheat, soy, peanut, and
milk. Measuring wheat allergy is not the same thing as checking for
gluten sensitivity. This leads to a lot of confusion among
patients. Additionally, skin testing can yield false negative results.
Even more unfortunate is the fact that skin testing only measures on type of
antibody. There are four more antibodies that contribute to allergy
reactions. See the diagram below for more information on this.
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Gluten Free Diet Commonly Improves Asthma
In my practice, I
commonly see patients who have been previously diagnosed with asthma. After
identifying gluten sensitivity and/or other food allergies with advanced lab testing,
these patients always show dramatic improvement. As a matter of fact, for most
of them, medication becomes unnecessary.
These patients’ immune
systems are so busy fighting their food, that they don’t have left over immune
resources to fight the environment. Add to that the fact that gluten can induce inflammation
in the lung tissue.
With more than 20
million cases of asthma, an estimated 30 million people with gluten
sensitivity, and an estimated 1 million with people with celiac
disease, wouldn’t it be prudent to investigate the possibility of an overlap?
Shouldn’t doctors test for gluten sensitivity as a standard part of practice
for every patient with asthma?
Know someone who could benefit from this article? Share it…
In good health,
In good health,
By : Dr. Osborne – The Gluten
Free Warrior
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