In our last blog, we talked about the symptoms in people that signify a leaky gut or irritable bowel. These can include bloating and/or flatulence after eating, stomach pains, bouts of constipation or diarrhea, or a person might even notice undigested food in their stool.
Our bodies don’t always present these indicators, and sadly “silent symptoms” actually exist. And those patients who show the silent symptoms are typically diagnosed years later with Celiac or Crohn’s Disease. Research has shown that the majority of Celiac/Crohn’s Disease patients have silent symptoms for leaky gut syndrome, but show symptoms of other conditions, like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid gland disease.
Patients with Celiac and Crohn’s Disease genes, HLA DQ2 and HLA DQ8, are usually only diagnosed with an autoimmune condition such as Celiac/Crohn’s Disease, multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis only after they are recognized as “sick” by the traditional medical community. As we have shown, this means that the patient has been suffering for longer than necessary, and their disorder or disease has not been managed properly. And those that have the silent symptoms are also the patients who are diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer, so this is no small matter.
Part of the problem is that you can’t base the health and integrity of the gut from symptoms alone. If a person is struggling with any health condition, it means that the integrity of the gut has been breached, since the gut is 70-80% of the immune system. If the immune system is working efficiently, no chronic health conditions will be present.
Not only are Celiac/Crohn’s Disease (CD) and thyroid gland disorders both autoimmune conditions, a majority of CD patients also suffer from thyroid symptoms. Many of the patients with Celiac/Crohn’s Disease have been put on thyroid hormones to help regulate their symptoms, but every few months the symptoms return and they are forced to visit the doctor again to have their medication adjusted. Why? Because they are not looking at the root of the problem: Gluten.
And no, we aren’t talking about gluten because it’s the latest fad or health craze. Did you know that gluten is as dangerous to the thyroid patient as it is to the Celiac or Crohn’s Disease patient? Strangely, gluten and the thyroid gland have an extremely similar molecular structure, and if when undigested gluten slips into the bloodstream, the immune system responds by destroying it.
How does gluten get into the bloodstream?
Good question. And the answer lies in that sinister culprit, leaky gut syndrome, which creates the overly permeable intestinal wall that allows gluten to slip through. When the immune system marks the gluten for destruction, it is unwittingly marking parts of the thyroid gland for destruction also, because of their similar molecular structure.
So, every time the CD patient consumes gluten, they are not just aggravating their CD symptoms, but they are also destroying their thyroid gland and inflaming thyroid disorder symptoms.
It is our experience that most autoimmune patients are sensitive not just to gluten, but also to milk (casein), soy, yeast and eggs. The only way to know for sure that your body is able to consume these substances is to have proper, diagnostic testing. The proper diagnosis is critical, but proper treatment is even more crucial.
That’s why we strongly encourage all patients with a gluten intolerance or Celiac/Crohn’s Disease to be screened for an autoimmune thyroid disorder, and for those with an autoimmune thyroid disorder to be screened for gluten intolerance and CD.
If you are concerned that you have an autoimmune disorder, we can help you learn how to support your immune system, Celiac/Crohn’s Disease and thyroid symptoms without drugs, hormones or surgery. Please call Dr. King now on (714) 731-7680 or use our schedule a consultation form.
