Posterboy's Blog

To Whomever Might Read This,

Celiac.com Sponsor (A13):
This is metaphor only …not intended to diagnosis or treat anyone but to educate….

There is an old joke told about Jaguar cars in the 1980s’ and early 1990s etc… that you needed two to drive one…
Kia might have been in/on that same boat…when first introduced in circa 1992 but since the early 2000s IE this Millennium or so….

They have improved tremendously….and truth be told soooo have Jaguar’s ….but you might still want to have more than one on hand….if you still want to drive one etc…

This is because both Medicines (Jaguars)/Vitamins (KIAs) etc… often work better in pairs…the strength of a team can be described best in this phrase….two can do the work of three….it is additive…

So two often in medicine and with vitamins ….everyone who reads my posterboy blog posts know I have over emphasized (probably) Niacin…over the other B-Vitamins….

See this blog post about how and why supplementing with B-Vitamins might be helpful for those still suffering with GI problems on a gluten free diet…

And why I still think it is a good theory…one I admittedly can’t prove (easily) or at least is hard too….
So I punted that strategy….sometimes a punt is a good play…

Or why B-complexes are a better play than a monotherapy/star regimen…because teamwork and health/life work’s better when we work together… When we get low in B-Vitamins we develop something called the “Hidden Hunger”…commonly found in 3rd world countries….but it has a KIA problem in the US…still here…but rarely recognized…

See this link about how Biofortication called “Enrichment” in which white bread has helped keep this hidden hunger in check mostly in the US….unless we have too much stress or other stressors like sickness that can trigger a Secondary Pellagra diagnosis

Open Original Shared Link

I also recommend this article on “enriched” white bread and why it was called “Wonder Bread” in it’s day…because it really was wonderful in it’s day…

Open Original Shared Link

as it turns out there is a reason why “enrichment” programs included Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Niacin….because we get really sick when we don’t get enough…

the biggest issue today is we have forgotten what these Vitamin deficiencies look like today in the US because almost nobody alive today has seen what they look like….except in history or text books…

(K) B1 aka Thiamine has a Knowledge problem…
(I) B3 aka Niacin has an Image issue
(A) B2 aka Riboflavin has an Awareness Issue

Vitamins have the same problem as KIA’s today…most don’t even know they exist…if they do they have an Image problem…still left over from the 1940s and 1950s etc.…(vestigial) …or if they have overcome their image problem ….most are not even aware…KIA still sells cars in the US because they though they failed ….when Daewoo left the US….think the way a healthy person doesn’t need Vitamins today…

A hard image to fight for sure….

What I am trying to say….in an around the barn kind of way….get yourself tested for these deficiencies…you might still (probably) have them today… and don’t even know it…

The Global Concerns with B Vitamin Statuses and their hidden hunger link has the standard test for these B-Vitamin deficiencies… This link says it well….

“Pellagra an Almost Forgotten Differential Diagnosis of Chronic Diarrhea More Prevalent Than We Think in US”
Open Original Shared Link

this paper was from last month (October 2019) in the US….

And there was one (another case study) the month before too in September…

Entitled “Pellagra in the USA: unusual manifestations of a rare entity”
Open Original Shared Link

Now two cases in two months is not rare…just rarely looked for …today….remember the Knowledge, Image Awareness problem..

And I will focus my attention to this (KIA)  research going forward…

The abstract in it’s entirety….

Pellagra in the USA: unusual manifestations of a rare entity:  Abstract

“The case involves a 62-year-old female native of the USA with a history of bipolar disorder and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who presented with intractable diarrhoea. Prior to the index admission, she was admitted to the intensive care unit and required pericardiocentesis for an idiopathic pericardial effusion with tamponade physiology. Following discharge, she suffered intractable diarrhoea and represented for medical evaluation. She had a painful, swollen tongue as well as persistent hypoglycaemia and required glucose infusions. She had adrenal function testing which revealed adrenal insufficiency. Vitamin testing revealed normal B12 and folate levels but undetectable levels of thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. Her symptoms and signs resolved entirely with appropriate vitamin supplementation. Niacin (vitamin B3) is essential for multiple metabolic pathways, and severe deficiency may cause clinical syndrome of pellagra which is most commonly associated with diarrhoea, delirium and dermatitis. Additional physiological derangements may include adrenal insufficiency, insulin hypersensitivity and pericarditis.”

Pickuped by count them ONE news outlet/agency….you probably never heard of it…an Awareness issue for sure…

Note: she had already tried the Jaguar method of multiple medical referrals’ …..and they still had one sick patient….all well supported by the medical community…

And after trying the KIA (vitamin) model ….her symptom’s improved…

And why I have shared my story on/in my posterboy blog post’s to try and help those still suffering…few listen about 1 in 7 if I am lucky…about as many as the number of news outlet’s that picked up this abstract….Pellagra has an Knowledge, Image and Awareness issue…Pellagra Sine Pellagra aka Ariboflavinosis -- a Riboflavin deficiency has an even bigger Awareness Issue!

I have tried hard to education on the Awareness side,……but the Image is still faded to most people….having little or no knowledge of any one having being diagnosed with Pellagra in their lifetimes….when It does happen…nobody recognizes it…

Except when one or two Intrepid researches (in as many months)….go looking for it …they find it…

Yes KIA’s are still being made today…they even have a high performance STINGER model that goes toe to toe with Jaguars and BMW’s today….but most people are just NOT aware of KIA’s even today despite them having been sold for 25+ years in the USA…people just don’t recognize them when they see (them/it (Pellagra) unless they start looking for it (Pellagra or more commonly Pellagra Sine Pellagra)…two intrepid researchers in the last two months have figured this out…

****** This is not medical advice and should not be considered such. Results may vary. Always consult your doctor before making any changes to your medical regimen and verify with appropriate testing if these things are so for you ….but if you have intractable GI problems or (chronic diarrhea see link above) for 6 months or more (after going gluten free) your doctor’s should test for or you yourself should encourage your doctor’s to test you for B Vitamin deficiencies…if you still feel being gluten free still has not helped your GI symptom’s….which improve for most people on a gluten free diet in that time frame…and long enough to be considered intractable or IE chronic for most people…

2 Tim 2:7 “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” this included.

Posterboy by the Grace of God,

P.S…I must stop for now headed out to do farm work one of the 4F's in my life…if I have time I will update this with a part 2…probably in a month or two…about the complicated manner in which Pellagra presents itself in a nod to KG….the patient had B1, B2, and B3 deficiencies…not an easy uncomplicated B3 deficiency alone by itself…NO man or Vitamin is an Island….