The following piece was written by Ronald Hoggan who is a teacher at Queen Elizabeth High School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
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The Polish one is: Kozlowska, Z.E. Results of Investigation on Children with Coeliakia Treated many Years with Gluten Free Diet Psychiatria Polska 1991; 25(2): 130-134.
The German one is: Paul, et. al. EEG-befunde Zoeliaki-kranken Kindernin Abhaengigkeit von der Ernaehrung Zeitschrift der Klinische Medizin 1985; 40: 707-709.
The first indicates that 71% of celiac children, when newly diagnosed, demonstrate EEG abnormalities. Now please note this caution: I HAVE NO TRAINING IN THE INTERPRETATION OF EEG READINGS.
Nonetheless, when I compare the authors descriptions of the EEG abnormalities in celiac children, and the abnormalities in children who have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, there are some startling similarities.
Paul, et. al. are paraphrased by Reichelt et. al. in THE EFFECT OF GLUTEN-FREE DIET ON GLYCOPROTEIN ATTACHED URINARY PEPTIDE EXCRETION Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine 1990; 5: 223-239.
They say: In celiac children provocation with gluten after diet causes alarmingly high frequency of EEG changes that persist up to a year (Paul et al 1985).
I would urge (those with ADD) to be very careful to avoid contamination in (their) diets, and I would ask you to consider some alternatives to stimulant therapy (Ritalin is a brand name of the most commonly used stimulant.).
The concept of drugging a child to facilitate learning is upsetting to me, especially when there is cause to suspect that, on the Gluten-free diet, she may improve without intervention. I know that she is falling behind now, but if her experience is similar to mine, many of my ADD type symptoms did go away during the first year. I will also forward a part of report that was forwarded to me, that showed that vitamin B-6 supplementation was as beneficial to a group of children with attention deficits, as Ritalin was. Especially in celiac disease, where vitamin deficiencies are so common, that seems a viable alternative.
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