Have you read the transfixing and totally engrossing 4-part epic series called
Twilight (recently released last weekend as the movie on Nov 21st -- same director of the Nativity story)? The final book in the series is called Breaking Dawn -- the final showdown between a mythical class of werewolves and immortal good/moralistic/'vegetarian' vampires. The wolf that's been in my thoughts lately is Robb Wolf and a
blog from his archives about a medical condition called Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (PCT) which closely *hee* resembles
Vampirism.
And naturally... it's represents yet
another silent wheat-related celiac condition.
Of course!!
Triggers are described by
Elder GH et al (J Inherit Metab Dis. 2005;28(3):277-86.) and
Powell LW et al (J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 1999 Sep;14(9):838-43):
--exogenous estrogen, ie oral contraceptives, HRT, Premarin, pesticides, etc
--environmental factors that include alcohol and hepatotropic viruses (like hepatitis C) and fatty liver/NASH/steatohepatitis
What about wheat/gluten/grains/rice/maize/corn??
The general population this tends to affect are those of Northern European ancestry and among indigenous persons of the Asia-Pacific region (including Taiwan where my relatives are originally from, the Hakka people). PCT may also rarely affect other populations like the Bantu in South Africa (see end). Iron overload and higher blood Hct (hematocrit) are commonly the first signs other than photosensitivity (intense blistering and burning of the skin on exposure to sunlight). Since my 20s I've had a problem with being in the sunlight which I'd originally attributed to being inadvertently lighter and fairer from being indoors (spending several semesters in college recovering hard after one single semester of partying + academic probation at Cal Berkeley). I used to notice that the skin would erupt in red raised blistering-itchy witchy rashes wherever the UV-wavelengths kissed more than 10-20 minutes worth on the neck, belly, ribs, back or thighs (despite 35-50 SPF sunscreen). Several of my fair skinned Asian girlfriends experience the same sunsensitivity (and thus abhor the sun). Did my high wheat-intake have anything to do with PCT-related dermal eruptions (croissants, cafeteria food, cafe goodies, endless mochas/lattes, etc)?? I discussed with several Dermatologists my situation and of course promptly got the blank conventional-medicine stare. (they did however promptly prescribed sunscreen (duh) and potent halogenated steroid creams which really didn't help much)
If one becomes iron overloaded in the liver which effectively removes iron from systemic circulation, could one have crazy cravings for iron/meat/heme-sources... in the form of ... B - L - O - O - D ?
The only solution I've ever come across for my pseudo-vampirism and fear of the daylight was Robb's blog. (no... I never
bit anyone or went for the jugular intentionally)
Other triggers that Robb discusses for this oddity of conditions is wheat and gluten (and dairy/opioid peptides) and an intimate association with hyperinsulinemia and glucose intolerance. Curing this individual of PCT is also discussed! For the first time in several DECADES she was able to travel and enjoy broad daylight after adopting the Paleo diet and doing Crossfit.
Wheat/gluten actually disturbs many metabolic, mitochrondrial and enzymatic pathyways including one of the most potent pathways: synthesis of vitamin D in the skin. Loren Cordain has data on this topic and it's clearly discussed from Cordain's own unpublished research in one of his newsletters according to Robb when I spoke to him (which requires a fee -- I have not indulged myself yet -- sorry) but
HERE Peter of Hyperlipid (the biochem brain/KING) discusses the potential link between vitamin D deficiency and wheat intolerance/celiac.
Here is a new curious article describing how celiac children went from a deficient vitamin D state to 'normal' blood vitamin D concentrations after 6-mos of a gluten-free diet (Ventura A et al.
Bone Metabolism in Celiac Disease J Pediatr. 2008 Aug;153(2):262-5; email me for the full PDF -- unfortunately they do not detail the final 25(OH)D concentration). I'm thankfully recovered now! This past summer I spent many hours laying out in the sun with no burning and nearly no photosensitive reactions (just mildly once in the early part of the summer -- when the hormones were still affecting perhaps). I was off exogenous wheat and synthetic hormones (levonorgestrol) and the vitamin D levels were normalized for 9-12mos (25OHD 60 to 80 ng/ml).
Is our global wheat-dominant (and industrialized rbGH-milk) lifestyles killing our Vitamin D concentrations? What will the downstream long-term consequences? Can we afford them?
Break the Dawn Remix
Gosh.. must be hard being Michelle Williams
Like beef c-a-k-e-s...? the beefier the better
**fangs bared DROOLING**
Courtesy of Youtube.com
Diet and alcohol effects on the manifestation of hepatic porphyrias.
Cripps DJ. Fed Proc. 1987 Apr;46(5):1894-900.
Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is the most frequently reported type of porphyria. The average patient is male more than 40 years old with a history of alcohol consumption. In women the incidence of PCT has increased with use of estrogens for birth control. The cutaneous features are those of chronic porphyrin photosensitivity on the light-exposed area of the skin: pigmentation, hirsuitism and fragility, and vesiculobullae, which has prompted the expression bullosa actinica et mechanica. One-third of the patients have glucose intolerance. PCT has been reported frequently among the Bantu people in South Africa as resulting from combinations of alcohol and cooking in ironware. The average patient has a higher than normal hematocrit, which is used as a guide to treatment by phlebotomy ranging from 8 to 14 units removed every 2-4 wk. Chemically induced PCT has been reported with chlorinated hydrocarbons, the best-known of which is hexachlorobenzene (HCB). Porphyria was noted in more than 3,000 patients in southeast Turkey between 1955 and 1961, because of consumption of seed wheat treated with HCB. In addition, more than 1,000 children under the age of 1 year died because HCB was transferred from the mother, either via the placenta or through breast milk.
PMID: 3556614
Celiac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis in three patients with porphyria.
Reunala T et al. Dig Dis Sci. 1981 Jul;26(7):618-21.
Celiac disease was diagnosed in one patient with variegate porphyria, and dermatitis herpetiformis in two patients, one with acute intermittent porphyria and the other with erythropoietic protoporphyria. The probability that celiac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis should occur in three patients with porphyria in Finland is less than 0.2%. Neither a consistent HLA pattern nor any other explanation can be offered for the association between these diseases.
PMID: 7249897
Celiac disease in patients with variegate porphyria.
Peters TJ et al. Dig Dis Sci. 2001 Jul;46(7):1506-8. (no abstract)
A case of variegate porphyria with coeliac disease and beta-thalassaemia minor.
Rebora A et al. Dermatology. 2004;209(2):161-2. (no abstract)
Our liver (
here's a past blog entry) certainly filters literally everything that we eat. Are all liver conditions predominatly just wheat-related afflictions (infectious, autoimmune liver diseases, metabolic diseases, congenital liver diseases (Wilson's disease, porphyria, hemochromatosis))? Are we entirely genetically maladapted to deal with grains and wheat? Some of us may be more on the 'spectrum' then others genetically. It appears to me that wheat behaves like other environmental toxins like occupational chemicals by pathologically affecting porphyria and heme synthesis (Doss MO.
Porphyrinurias and occupational disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1987;514:204-18).
Will more cases and recognition of silent celiac disease occur in the coming years? Or more sunburns and fear of sunlight? More pseudo-vampires? Will the dogma of 'whole grains' continue to be promulgated by the processed food industries and blindly accepted by statin-pushing-pediatricans, dermatologists, physicians, academians, the ADA, the AHA, and government entities like Medicare, the USDA and other deeply bought-out groups?
Dr. Davis is accurately, stunningly correct as usual. For Y-E-A-R-S.
Develop a wheat-deficiency!
Protect your coronary arteries... and ALL your organs including the
largest organ, your
glorious skin!
-G (aka 'ggglll' on the TYP forum)
P.S. For you Twilight fans out there, does Dr. Davis remind you of anyone?? Humble and charismatic, moralistic Carlisle? The physician, healer, center/creater of the immortal band of vampires who eschew their natural prey/food source? Dr. Davis abhors (non-emergent) invasive interventional cardiovascular procedures (which he was trained to master and perform). You see why I am a Twilight- and TYP-FREAK.
