ADD and gluten: should all children go gluten-free?

I have just been to a seminar given by Prof Michael Huss (Dr. med. Dipl.-Psych).

He is a world expert on ADD/ ADHD. However, he is not at this stage looking at the potential of gluten causing some of the harm in the children involved his ADD program. My prediction is that if all of his patients went on a gluten-free diet, that he would see enormous improvements.

Children with ADD/ ADHD are often sent to me to investigate about diet and management.

Over the years, I have found that many (about half) have high IgG-gliadin antibodies (also known as AGA, Anti-Gliadin-Antibodies). And these children substantially improve on a gluten-free diet.

Interesting!

Here are some article to back this up.

Niederhofer H, Pittschieler K.; A Preliminary Investigation of ADHD symptoms in Persons With Celiac Disease; Journal of Attention Disorders, 2006 Nov;10(2):200-4.

"In Italy, Niederhofer and his researchers evaluated 132 patients with celiac disease for ADHD symptoms. The ADHD symptoms in their study participants showed significant improvement after six months on a gluten free diet: “ADHD-like symptomatology is markedly overrepresented among untreated CD patients and that a gluten free diet may improve symptoms significantly within a short period of time”.

Yes, children lost many of their ADD symptoms on a gluten-free diet.
Zelnick N MD, et al; Range of Neurologic Disorders in Patients With Celiac Disease; Pediatrics vol 113 no 6 June 2004.

"In Israel, Zelnick and colleagues evaluated 111 patients who had celiac disease for neurological symptoms. They showed a definite relationship between celiac disease and ADHD. About 20% of the patients had learning disabilities and ADHD."

ADD is linked to gluten sensitivity in some children.

Some Studies on the Effectiveness of Diet on ADHD

This link gives a lot of background information.
http://members.cox.net/harold.kraus/gluten/anno_symptoms_files/ADHD.htm

Wow! Imagine if all of the children with ADD symptoms went onto a gluten free diet? Gluten is certainly causing our children a lot of trouble.

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