Brain Allergies

The Brain Is Made from the Food We Eat
The concept of brain allergies should be credited to orthomolecular doctors, although some earlier work had been done on PKU and other inborn errors of metabolism lead to mental retardation and sometimes death. In PKU the brain is allergic to protein because the amino acid phenylalanine accumulates and poisons the brain. The patient is put on a very strict low protein diet. This diet treats the disease.

This clipart came from Yahoo! Reference. It show a medial view of the cerebral cortex. It may be that schizophrenia involves a brain allergy. This may also be true of other psychiatric diseases.

Shown here is a clipart of phenylalanine metabolism from High School Hub. High School Hub is a network of educational wesites. The website used here was www.people.virginia.edu. Three inborn errors of metabolism are shown. This author (Olson) is interested in PKU.

This author (Olson) feels that schizophrenia involves brain allergies to amino acids in the diet. The cover shown from alibris.com is a book about schizophrenia by Eve Johnstone et al.

Here is a book by Birchwood & Jackson covering the neurobiological factors in schizophrenia. Again the image is from alibris.com, which is one of my favorite websites (because of the huge amount of information available).

Shown here is Dr. Rudolph Virchow, a brilliant German scientist from the 19th century. Virchow advocated "cellular pathology", meaning that he felt that diseases should be studied on a cellular level. Later on Nissl and Alzheimer became famous for following this approach. In the 20th century Pauling advocated a molecular approach. Pauling felt that diseases needed to be attacked on a molecular level. There is truth in both approaches. Studying the cell gives clues as to what is going on with the molecules.

This clipart is again from Yahoo! Reference. The Sylvian fissure, which separates the frontal lobes from the temporal lobes, is shown. There is massive evidence that schizophrenia is a brain disease. Neuropathology studies have shown ballooned, pyknotic, and disintegrating cells. Stevens (1982) published a brilliant study in Archives of General Psychiatry. She found "fibrillary gliosis" in the substantia innominata, the amygdala, the hypothalamus, the thalamus, and other areas. Gliosis suggests a toxic factor.

This clipart is from the same Virginia site, which consists of slides for a biology class. Methionine metabolism is shown. A metabolic defect is homocystinuria, which is shown on the slide. This is another inborn error of metabolism with psychiatric symptoms, most likely caused by the accumulation of methionine and other amino acids. In PKU there is an accumulation of phenylalanine.

This cover is from alibris.com. There is a gluten theory of schizophrenia based on the food allergy demonstrated in celiac disease. According to this theory milk is to be avoided because of the amino acid glutamine. Gluten in wheat is to be avoided because of its amino acids. It seems that there are psychiatric (as well as gastrointestinal) symptoms in celiac disease.

In all fairness it should be mentioned that there are many alternative theories. One is the neurodevelopmental theory, illustrated in this book cover from alibris.com. However, there is massive evidence that the neurodevelopmental theory is wrong. Gliosis is a frequent neuropathology finding in schizophrenia, and it is incompatible with the faulty neurodevelopment theory. Gliosis suggests a toxin.

This cover from Alibris shows a new technique endorsed by Nasrallah. It allows the visualization of chemical reactions in the living brain.