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gluten sensitivity makes woman try to kill her parents
doctors consider link between the brain and celiac disease after woman shows schizophrenic-like symptoms.
dec 24 2020
3 minute read
is there a connection between celiac disease and psychiatric disorders? getty
a previously healthy 37-year-old woman had doctors in search of the missing ingredient when a sudden psychosis turned her life into something out of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde.
the woman, whose case was documented in the new england journal of medicine , had been working on her phd when she began experiencing delusions that she was the victim of a vast conspiracy in which friends and strangers were acting out roles in a game that featured her as the central character. the delusions quickly escalated, according to live science , and she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after threatening her family. doctors diagnosed her with a psychotic disorder but the powerful medications they prescribed had little effect.
follow up appointments began to shed some light, however, and her patient’s weight loss, thyroid issues and vitamin and mineral deficiencies led doctors to believe she had celiac disease . the rare autoimmune disease — which causes the body’s immune system to launch an attack on the small intestine in response to the presence of gluten — has not typically been associated with psychiatric symptoms. it affects roughly one in 100 people worldwide.
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doctors told the woman to follow a gluten-free diet, instructions she promptly ignored because her delusions led her to believe they were plotting against her. her downward spiral accelerated and she soon lost her job, her home and almost her life after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. the behaviour landed her back in a psychiatric facility where she was no longer able to avoid her gluten-free orders. her symptoms slowly began to improve alongside her new diet.
this case, and others like it, have alerted doctors to the psychiatric and neurological implications that may be at play when dealing with celiac disease. “the psychiatric side of things hasn’t been really extensively explored,” marios hadjivassiliou, a neurologist at sheffield teaching hospitals nhs foundation trust, told vice . “it’s plausible, but it’s not been something that has been reported extensively. unless you do big population studies, it’s difficult to say how commonly celiac disease and gluten sensitivity could be implicated in psychiatric problems.”
without gluten in her system, the patient was once again fully functional and aware of the bizarre toll the family of proteins was taking on her psyche. while in this state, she would consciously avoid gluten because “she didn’t want to go to ‘that place.’” during the few instances she accidentally consumed gluten while still under observation, however, her symptoms would quickly take her back there.
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the process linking celiac disease to the brain and nervous system remains unclear but alessio fasano, one of the doctors that treated the woman, has a theory. when gluten enters the intestines, the body’s immune system gears up for war, he said. part of the fallout from this war is an inflammation that usually remains restricted to the field of battle. but if these immune cells leave the battlefield and circulate into other areas — such as the brain — inflammation may follow there as well.
unfortunately, plans to study their intriguing patient in a controlled environment fell apart after the woman accidentally consumed more gluten — her delusions returned and she was jailed after attempting to kill her parents.
while her case had an unhappy ending, it opened avenues of future study for people suffering from celiac disease and schizophrenia. the woman’s experiences were an incredibly rare occurrence, fasano said, but they may hold important implications for certain people.
“a gluten-free diet is safe and doesn’t have side effects,” said emily deans, a doctor of evolutionary psychiatry, in psychology today . “i don’t see a good argument against giving it a try for anyone with schizophrenia who is willing to give it a go, at least for three months. the worst thing that happens is you find you are not one of the gluten-sensitive schizophrenics, and you’ve gone without bread and pasta for a little while.
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“the best thing that happens is that your symptoms get better, possibly quite a lot better.”
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca
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