Gluten encephalopathy

Clinic

• It is one of Gluten related neurological symptoms
• Other most common neurological symptoms of coeliac disease are Gluten ataxia and Gluten neuropathy.
• Ataxia includes clumsiness, loss of balance and uncoordinated movements leading to a tendency to fall and slurred speech.
• Neuropathy causes numbness and tingling, usually affecting feet and hands, but it can affect other parts of the body.
• Other neurological symptoms can include headaches, sometimes associated with “foggy brain”, slow thinking and cognitive difficulties.
• Gluten related neurological symptoms can exist even if there is no gut damage.

Sign / Symptoms

• Severe headaches,
• Brain fog,
• Slow thinking and cognitive difficulties such as memory loss

 

Prevalence

• In a study of patients with newly diagnosed coeliac disease, who had gone to a gastroenterology clinic, around three out of five had neurological symptoms including severe headache (42%), balance problems (24%) and sensory symptoms (12%).

OpenQuestion

Is it a metabolic complication of Gluten on brain or an immune related disease?

This would be the main question since the first cause a static diseas and the second leads to a dynamic one which could be treatable

Here there are some research whoes question is the undearneath mechanism of Celiac

Non celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a syndrome characterized by a cohort of symptoms related to the ingestion of gluten-containing food in subjects who are not affected by celiac disease (CD) or wheat allergy. The possibility of systemic manifestations in this condition has been suggested by some reports. In most cases they are characterized by vague symptoms such as ‘foggy mind’, headache, fatigue, joint and muscle pain, leg or arm numbness even if more specific complaints have been described. NCGS has an immune-related background. Indeed there is a strong evidence that a selective activation of innate immunity may be the trigger for NCGS inflammatory response. The most commonly autoimmune disorders associated to NCGS are Hashimoto thyroiditis, dermatitis herpetiformis, psoriasis and rheumatologic diseases. The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported; it could be a characteristic feature that could help the diagnosis and be simultaneously managed. A possible neurological involvement has been underlined by NCGS association with gluten ataxia, gluten neuropathy and gluten encephalopathy. NCGS patients may show even psychiatric diseases such as depression, anxiety and psychosis. Finally, a link with functional disorders (irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia) is a topic under discussion. In conclusion, the novelty of this matter has generated an expansion of literature data with the unavoidable consequence that some reports are often based on low levels of evidence. Therefore, only studies performed on large samples with the inclusion of control groups will be able to clearly establish whether the large information from the literature regarding extra-intestinal NCGS manifestations could be supported by evidence-based agreements.