Wednesday 5 November 2014

Fibromyalgia: It's the food, again! (probably).

From http://stickmancommunications.co.uk/Keyring-Card-Fibromyalgia

Serendipity strikes again! On Facebook, I saw https://www.facebook.com/PaleoDietNewZealand/posts/763653980371516 . That linked to Fibromyalgia and non‑celiac gluten sensitivity: a description with remission of fibromyalgia.

For people unfamiliar with scientific terms, here are some definitions:-
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity: A reaction to gluten, not due to Celiac (Coeliac in the U.K.) Disease.
Remission: (medicine) An abatement or lessening of the manifestations of a disease.

So, is Gliadorphin-7 (formed during the digestion of gluten) to blame?
Probably.

Could Beta CasoMorphin-7 (formed during the digestion of A1 cow's milk) also be a problem?
Possibly.

Is Increased/Excessive Intestinal Permeability allowing the above large molecules to pass through insufficiently tight junctions?
Definitely, maybe.

Is there really no cure for Fibromyalgia? It's possible to tighten-up insufficiently tight junctions. Insufficiently tight junctions can be caused by:-

1. Insufficient sun exposure, causing hypovitaminosis D. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=%22Vitamin+D%22[All+Fields]+AND+%22tight%20junction%22+AND+hasabstract[text]

2. Excessive consumption of oils high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. See Dietary Fat Can Modulate Intestinal Tight Junction Integrity.

3. Excessive consumption of Wheat. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=%22Wheat%22[All%20Fields]%20AND%20%22tight%20junction%22[All%20Fields]%20AND%20hasabstract[text]%20AND%20%22humans%22[MeSH%20Terms]

4. Excessive exercise. See Shedding Some Light on the Leaky Gut <> Exercise Connection. Plus: 20+ Things You Should or Shouldn't Do to Protect and Restore the Integrity of Your Intestinal Wall.

5. Lack of dietary Sulphur. See Sulphation and Autism: What are the links? A good source of sulphate is Epsom Salts.

See also Physiology and Immunology of Digestion.

And finally...
If a science person ever tells you "Increased/Excessive Intestinal Permeability a.k.a. "Leaky gut" just doesn't exist because, you know, I'm a scientist.", point out that it's an Appeal from authority fallacy, and demand that they provide high quality evidence to support their statement.

Because, you know, I'm a retired Electronic Engineer! :-)

4 comments:

billy the k said...

Fibromyalgia—a minority view:

"I suspect that few people suffering from persistent chronic pain suffer in silence.  I further suspect that their narrative of distress depends on the listener...We have no data on how these unhappy people select a confidant, but their cultural setting is likely to influence this decision.  If they are seduced by the blandishment of "scientific" or pseudo-scientific medicine, they will choose a physician or some other health practitioner.
As we have seen, the medical contract demands specific treatment for the cause of the pain, though the treatment provided, seemingly rational or not, is unlikely to have a scientific grounding.  Such supposedly scientific treatment acts abound, generally predicated on a circularity of argument.  The symptoms are ranked, a specific pathology is postulated, and a neologic diagnostic label is applied that reiterates the presenting symptoms...All the while, the treatment act is plying the patient with intimations about the pathophysiology of the painfulness,

This sequence of events shows how individuals suffering persistent widespread pain learn to be patients with "fibromyalgia."  The clinician can find no specific cause for the complaint of persistent widespread pain but feels compelled to discern that the patient dislikes being poked at particular body sites.  Since fibromyalgia is defined as a state of chronic widespread pain and tenderness at certain points, the clinician pronounces, "You have fibromyalgia."  Any clinician who applies the fibromyalgia label and promulgates a treatment act on that basis must disregard the observation that putatively diagnostic "tender points" are related to generalized pain and pain behavior.  Fibromyalgia denotes nothing more than persistent widespread pain.  However, in the labelling, the patient is forever changed.  As the patient learns more about fibromyalgia, her narrative becomes laced with the new knowledge, which is then recited with an objectivity that approaches the dispassionate."

[from Chapter 7: "Medicalization of the "Worried Well." in: Nortin M. Hadler, M.D. The Last Well Person. (2004) McGill-Queen's Univ. Pr.
p. 134-135]   

(note: Dr Hadler is Prof. of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology @ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
and Attending Rheumatologist, UNC Hospitals)

Nigel Kinbrum said...

"Medicalization of the "Worried Well." implies that FM is in the patient's mind, as there are no obvious physical symptoms. I suspect that if Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferers had painful joints but no swelling, they'd probably be prescribed http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amitriptyline , one of the medications used to treat FM.

One FM sufferer is a nurse, who tells me that it's not just tender points, but intermittent cripplingly-severe fatigue, plus the things mentioned in the graphic at the top of my post.

Another FM sufferer told me that she was fine until she had "a severe stomach upset", after which it started.

"I suspect that few people suffering from persistent chronic pain suffer in silence."
I had no idea that so many of my Facebook friends (all female) had FM until I posted a link to the study & then the above post, as most of them were suffering in silence. Is it coincidence that the author of the book that you quoted from is male?

Nigel Kinbrum said...

If a GP/MD etc can't find anything wrong by doing blood tests, it's assumed that the patient is exaggerating the severity of their symptoms and that it's a mental issue. Cue the anti-D's. I was prescribed Fluoxetine in September 2001 when my GP couldn't understand my thyroid blood test results (TSH below RR, FT4 & FT3 low, but within RR) and I had to wait 'till November 2002 (I went private) to see an Endocrinologist. I had to discontinue anti-D's, as they made me feel even more weird than usual.

I feel that Hadler is minimising patients' suffering as "You've got aches/pains/fatigue etc, 'cos you're getting old. Suck it up." However, FM doesn't only afflict older people. What if Hadler's wrong, and there is an underlying pathology, which current blood tests can't detect? That would majorly suck.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Hi Raz,

If Einstein cited a quality study on ALS to support what he said about it, he could be more correct than a self-professed "expert" in ALS. I have no relevant qualifications in Diet, Nutrition & Fitness, so I present what I consider to be quality studies. I also expose what I consider to be poor studies posing as quality studies. I almost certainly get stuff wrong, which is why I like receiving comments.

Facebook, Twitter, other blogs, personal enquiries & emails give me ideas for things to research on PubMed. Which reminds me...

Cheers, Nige