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Celiac Disease/Alopecia Relationship?
Hi. My name is Beth and the reason I am writing this is so that I might help someone else with the same problem I had. My scalp had been burning for about 2 years. I went to 3 doctors, 2 naturopath and 1 acupuncturists. The one naturopath helped me by putting me on probiotics and anti-yeast herbs. That helped some, but not all the way. Then I stopped eating wheat, oatmeal/gluten, etc. My scalp burned but not as much. Then, I just got a book from the library called, "Celiac Disease A Hidden Epedemic" by Peter Green, MD and Rory Smith. Anyway, it was a very informative book and Dr. Green said that people who have Celiac Disease often cannot digest dairy or eggs as well. I stopped eating dairy and my head felt better, but still burned a little. Then, I gave up eggs and now my head does not burn!!! My scalp feels much better!!!! Please check this book out from your library or buy it if you have this disease. Most doctors (and I have a good friend who is an MD) know nothing about nutrition or celiac disease. When you have celiac disease, the villi of your intestines cannot work because gluten (in wheat and some other grains) makes it lay flat. Thus, it cannot get the nutrients from the food you eat; thus, your hair falls out - because your body says, "well hair isn't really needed and if I'm not getting nutrients, well I can give it up". I have lost all the hair on my arms, 3/4 (you know where) and 1/2 on my head and the doctors said it was "Normal"!!!! I look around me and notice how many women are losing their hair!!! My grandmother had a full head of hair at 95 years old. Did you know that Wheat has been genetically modified to have more gluten in it? Maybe that is why so many have celiac disease and it is pasting the villii of our intestines down, especially during menopause, when we no longer have the estrogen to protect us???? I hope this will help someone here with this problem. I wish I hadn't had to wait so long. There are a lot of gluten and dairy free foods out there, so don't be depressed. I'll let you know if any hair comes back. I used to have hair that was way too thick and had to have it thinned. Boo Hoo. I really believe that Hippocrates was right when he said, "All disease begins in the gut". I think our bodies want to heal. Sooooooooo go girls and bless you.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth Martof on
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Hi, Well, after reading the book, "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and looking at the book "The China Study". I have become a vegan as well. Since eating dairy and eggs and gluten make my head hurt and after reading excerpts from "The China Study", I am convinced that my "disease" is caused by animal products. My hair is much much better. I think it is growing more and my eyelashes have come back. Yeah!!! And, may I add, it is a wonderful diet. I can eat lots of fruit. For breakfast, I sauteed apples in a little water, added some cinnamon and had a few walnuts; for lunch I have lots of greens either sauteed in water or fresh with carrots and onions and beans (lentils or black) and then a salad for dinner with tomatoes or any other vegetable I have on hand. The only thing I can't eat is soy, as I seem to have an allergy to that. Anyway, I think those two books (you can check them out at your library) are great. I think that "The China Study" should be recommended reading for all health care professionals!!!! Likewise, I don't believe that Alopecia just is about losing your hair, the rest of your health and your life are at stake and if you continue on the same path, you will probably get cancer. I know that sounds harsh to say, but I think your body is trying to tell you that something when you lose your hair. and that something you are doing isn't right. Hopefully, this will help someone here and they will look at the books mentioned or even look at the China Study website.
May you take the "road to better health".
Beth
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Hi Beth - you have talked about "leaky gut" and the yeast - do you know how exactly a doctor would check for that? How do they know if that is the problem? Thanks in advance for your insight.
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Thanks for all your comments Beth -
this is all so interesting - and i am going to continue to check and change all the things \i am doing as like you I am convinced that diet is a major part of my problem - have just discovered that mushrooms are a problem for me... I am avoiding yeast at the moment and am therefore interested in Brewers Yeast thing - as I was told to take that when | had alopecia at 16... hmm I wonder....
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Hi, Ali. I wrote this at another site, but I thought you might be interested:
Hi Chris and Everyone,
I found a book review that I know would interest all of you. It was for a book on amazon and I have nothing to do with the author or anything, but I have found what was said here is TRUE. Please read below:
This review is from: Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic (Hardcover)
I stumbled upon this book when it was first released and it changed my world. I had many of the symptoms relating to Celiac Disease and no doctor had ever suggested testing for the disease.
I was relieved to find the reason for my Alopecia Aerata. My dermatologist never said anything about a possible link to Celiac Disease.
I never saw one reference to Celiac Disease in all the literature I got from the Alopecia Foundation. How could that be?
I am angry at how pregnant women with anemia are handled. The medical world assumes that a young woman presenting with anemia is anemic due to heavy menstrual flows. That is a bad assumption. It turns out my anemic condition was due to an intolerance to gluten. So despite how much iron I ingested, I was still anemic. I gave birth to a healthy baby girl who had language delays and was later diagnosed with Autism. She had "pica" (kids who want to eat paper, ice, chalk etc.) Pica is a sign of iron-deficiency anemia. She also had many other symptoms relating to Celiac Disease but the medical community did not connect the dots because she was thriving. How many children with autism or ADHD have mothers with symptoms of Celiac Disease? Pregnant women are tested for so many things. I believe Celiac Disease should also be on the list.
This is an outstanding book that every person in the medical field should be required to read. Patients should insist their medical providers receive better training. The pharmaceutical companies pay for our doctors to be trained on the latest and greatest drug. They don't have an interest in this area because they can't make any money from telling patients to go gluten-free. Our local Gastroenterology Group receives money from a pharmaceutical company for testing a drug to treat irritable bowel syndrome. Those gastroenterologists are not looking for Celiac Disease in their patients with Irritable Bowel.
I have been trying to create more awareness in my little world. I have bought many of these books to pass on to all of my friends and family.
Anyway, Chris I have become a vegan and am having good luck with my hair. If you want to know more, I'll write to you. Beth
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Recently, I just read that the Physicans Committee for Responsible Medicine does not reccomend using fish oil, stating that it has "highly unstable molecules that can break down and release dangerous, disease causing free radicals". (P. 38 "Engine 2 Diet" by Rip Esselstyn). I have stopped taking fish oil and I have noticed that I do feel better. I am not making this up. In fact, I frequently noticed that I did not feel good after taking fish oil, but thought It was my imagination. I now get my Omega 3's eating walnuts and taking flax. Thus, I am now a total vegan and my hair is NOT FALLING OUT!!!! I read a lot of books and have learned a lot about what is happening to our food. Some that I reccomend are "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman, "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell and "Mad Cowboy" by Howard Lyman. Lyman's book is a real "eye opener" and even if you are eating organic meat and dairy, you aren't totally safe. I also stay away from all green and black teas because the fluoride content has risen in teas over the last 10 years (pollution, etc) and some organic tea companies don't consider fluoride bad because it's in toothpaste and water. "Google" tea and fluoride and you will see. Fluoride hurts your thyroid (hair, etc.). Anyway, I hope this helps someone. Good luck. Beth
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Permalink Reply by Nerida on
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Hi Beth and thank you for the wonderful information. I too have Celiac Disease and I suspected a link between the two conditions myself, and then after seeing the today tonight about the vitamins I was sure there must be a link. I understand what you are talking about with the burning scalp, mine is just like that and really red. Then is all starts to peel just like I have been sunburned. I am going to try to stick to my diet (it is so expensive to eat gluten free) and take the supplements and see what happens...it sure can't hurt.
Thanks again
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Hi Nerida. I hope you try the Eat to Live diet. It isn't really that hard. The only thing I don't do is soy. That is because 93% of the soy grown in this country is GMO and unsafe. I eat a lof of other beans that are organic and eat lots of vegetables and fruit. Fruit is very detoxifying and has a lot of vitamins. Also, I found it interesting that gluten is a protein and so are dairy and eggs and meat, of course. Maybe, we just can't take all that protein?? I read in one of those books that we actually need more vitamins and less protein, and vitamins are in fruit and vegetables and not many are in meat (except B12). Vitamin B12 supposedly used to be in our soil and thus, plants used to have it in them, but factory farming ruined the soil. Thus, I take B12. I also just ordered a used Vitamix so that I can make green smoothies (fruit & veggies mix) when I get hungry. Anyway, I am glad you aren't giving up. Keep at it!! Stay away from too much sugar and don't take too many supplements, just eat well.
Beth
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I picked up the book “Wheat Belly Diet” a few months ago. Since the author mentioned the connection with wheat-intolerance (or full-blown celiac) and autoimmune diseases, it really caught my interest. My husband has rheumatoid arthritis and the author mentioned the connection between RA and wheat many, many times. Then suddenly, there it was – references in the book to connections between alopecia and wheat-intolerance!
My husband and I made a concerted effort to go wheat-free for 3 months. And with only a few inadvertent (and one very deliberate) slip-up, we were essentially wheat-free. I didn’t go completely “wheat-free.” Incidental wheat flour (like in a salad dressing or a soup) I ignored. I only gave up the apparent wheat products like backed goods, crackers, wheat-based cereals.
My bald patches were all growing back in nicely. Then the holidays hit and I went back to eating wheat: turkey stuffing, cookies, sandwiches, Christmas breads. Last week a big (BIG) patch showed up on the back of my head. I have gone off wheat again to see if that wards off further damage.
Just mentioning this, as there very well may be a connection.
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