Migraine Awareness Week: 6 September

Are you plagued with headaches?  Migraine Awareness Week runs from the 6th of September.

We’ve all had a headache.  Most of the time they’re not very serious, drink some more water or exercise lightly and it can go away on its own.  It’s estimated that two-thirds of the Western population experience a headache from time to time, and one in four people will get a headache fairly regularly.  Along with back pain, headaches are actually one of the most common medical complaints.

But as any chronic headache sufferer will tell you, not all headaches are the same.  There are actually 180 different types of headaches, with the symptoms varying from throbbing pain or an unbearable hammering in the head and others complain of tension behind the eyes or in the forehead. More than 90% of headache patients suffer from either a tension headache or a migraine.

Migraine headaches are a complex neurological picture.  People affected usually suffer from long-lasting and intense headaches.  Migraine headaches cause throbbing or pulsating pain, usually on only one side of the head.  They may impact a person’s vision or eyesight, can interfere with sleep, work and other everyday activities, and may occur as often as several times per week or as rarely as once or twice a year.  A migraine most often begins at puberty and mostly affects those aged between 35 and 45 years.

Common Symptoms of Migraine:

• Throbbing, pulsating or pressing pain
• Nausea/Vomiting
• Aura
• Extreme sensitivity to light and sound
• Lethargy

Headaches or migraine have many causes, with food being a fairly common trigger.  Chocolate, cheese and wine are often suspected (in the case of Histamine Intolerance), but headaches can also be caused by delayed food allergy.

If your headache is caused by a delayed food allergy…

With a delayed food allergy the body triggers a defense response by the immune system against certain foods.  If the small intestine is damaged due to stress, infections or medications, other food constituents that cannot normally enter the bloodstream are able to do so.  These food constituents are identified as foreign bodies by the immune system and so-called IgG antibodies are formed to counteract them.  These antibodies bind to the food constituents and trigger a reaction by the immune system.  This causes inflammations in the body, which may result in headaches whenever that trigger food is consumed.  If you are unknowingly consuming a trigger food fairly regularly, chronic headaches can occur.

It is important to identify exactly which foods are your personal triggers as everybody is different.  An ImuPro IgG food intolerance test will pinpoint which foods are causing you inflammation and give you the tools you need to effectively change your diet and stop the inflammatory processes.

 

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17 May: World Hypertension Day

Hypertension, Inflammation and IgG Antibodies

Hypertension is the leading preventable cause of premature death worldwide, affecting roughly 1 in 3 people.  Over time, high blood pressure can damage important organs such as the heart, blood vessels, the brain and the kidneys, and can lead to myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral arterial occlusive disease, retinal damage and kidney damage resulting from the damaged vessels caused by high blood pressure.

Inflammation is a major indication of hypertension with mounting evidence suggesting that chronic, low-grade inflammation contributes to cardiovascular disease.

Click here to read scientific news and studies on Hypertension and Inflammation.

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Crohn’s Disease and IgG Food Allergy

Crohn’s Disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory condition commonly affecting individual sections of the gastrointestinal tract; most often the transition of the small intestine to the colon. The inflammation may cover the entire intestinal wall and even organs outside the intestine such as joints, eyes and skin.

Like ulcerative colitis, CD can be painful and debilitating with sufferers experiencing diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, low energy and fatigue. Symptoms will often flare up for periods of time and then go into remission.

What causes Crohn’s Disease?

Though the cause of Crohn’s Disease is still largely unknown, a particular genetic profile may predispose a person to develop CD.

Recent studies indicate that food can trigger inflammations leading to CD flare-ups, so a diet based on the elimination of inflammatory foods can be a useful supplement to the standard drug therapy (anti-inflammatory medications such as corticosteroids).

Diagnosing Crohn’s Disease…

There is no single test for the diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease.  Several examinations will usually be conducted including blood analysis, stool, ultrasound, colonoscopy or gastroscopy.  To ensure the right therapeutic steps, the extent and the severity of the inflammation needs to be defined.

Crohn’s Disease and IgG Food Allergy

Food as a trigger of Crohn’s disease has long been discussed in literature. As CD is an inflammatory disease, IgG antibodies could also play an important role in the disease when other factors can be excluded.

There are various recent published studies performed on control groups where increased markers of intestinal inflammation and abdominal symptoms were found. The authors of these studies concluded that foods with raised IgG antibodies can provoke symptoms and stimulate inflammation in patients with Crohn’s Disease.

To view and download these studies, please click here

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Inflammatory Arthritis Testimonial

Jennifer – Perth, WA

Hi Cassie,

I’ve been meaning to email you to let you know about my experience with the ImuPro test.

I have had inflammatory arthritis for nearly 20 years and have been taking biologic drugs for about 15 years. For the last couple of years I’ve struggled with the effectiveness of these medications leading to more flares and my disease becoming increasingly unstable. On top if this I recently have been experiencing a lot of stomach issues related to the disease but not able to be treated.

When I started the elimination I was suffering from a particularly bad flare-up. Within 3 days I noticed improvement and within 5 days was back to normal. This has never occurred without medical intervention and a very precarious cocktail of some hefty drugs and can take months to get back on track.

I’m absolutely thrilled with the outcome and wished I done this years ago. I’m still on my core arthritis medications but my goal was to get back to stability and allow the medications to work. That has been achieved and the stomach issues have vastly improved also.

I had always suspected for a while that food was exacerbating my symptoms but had no idea where to start. If I’d tried this myself I would’ve failed and given up.

I have recommended this to pretty much everyone I know, including my rheumatologist. I know a few have taken it up and I’m sure more will.

Thanks again for your assistance this has truly been life changing.

Best regards

Jennifer

Perth, WA

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Tuesday 29 October: World Psoriasis Day

Psoriasis – an inflammatory skin disease

Psoriasis is a skin disease that causes raised, red, scaly patches to appear on the skin. The skin cells of people with psoriasis grow at an abnormally fast rate, which causes the build-up of psoriatic skin damage. At the same time, the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy skin cells. Usually, the affected skin areas are outside of the elbows, knees or scalp, but they can also appear in other areas – such as the eyelids, ears, mouth and lips, hands, feet and nails. The immune system and genetics play major roles in the development of psoriasis and usually there is a trigger that causes the psoriasis to flare-up. However, scientists still do not know exactly what causes psoriasis. According to current studies, psoriasis affects approximately 2% of the world’s population, and more than 450,000 Australians suffer from the disease. Psoriasis must be treated by investigating the underlying causes, taking into account that this disease is frequently associated with other serious health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and depression.

Nutrition plays an important role in psoriasis

There are certain skin disorders where food-related aspects are involved in the origin of the disease such as psoriasis, acne, dermatitis or urticaria. Health experts and researchers agree that several nutritional strategies for the management of psoriasis are promising (such as fasting, vegetarian diets or diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil). A healthy lifestyle combined with weight loss is beneficial for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis, and a close cooperation between nutritionists and dermatologists is necessary for the management of psoriasis. In addition, many health care providers agree that a diet based on a test for delayed food allergies – such as ImuPro – is helpful for the treatment of patients suffering from psoriasis.

Why choose ImuPro for the management of psoriasis?

IgG is a defence protein generated by our immune system that can recognize a foreign substance (also called antigen). This antigen is identified by the immune system as an invader, having the potential to harm the body. To combat this, the body releases an inflammatory reaction designed to destroy the antigen.  This is how the body fights bacteria or infection.  Sometimes, food or food components (proteins or parts of proteins) are mistakenly identified also as invaders by the immune system that generates food specific IgG antibodies. They are combined with food particles and induce an inflammatory response. In the exact same way as a scratch or wound on your skin gets red and inflamed, the immune system’s effort is to get rid of the invading bacteria or dirt in the wound. But a food-mediated immune reaction remains unseen as it occurs inside your body. Continuous and repeated consumption of the same foods triggering these IgG-mediated hypersensitivity reactions may promote and maintain these silent, overlooked and painless chronic inflammations. IgG-mediated food hypersensitivity can therefore be a trigger factor for the development of diseases where inflammatory pathways are involved, such as psoriasis.

A few years ago, ImuPro undertook a clinical observation study, to collect evidence on the efficacy of ImuPro testing in patients with very different conditions that may indicate food intolerance. These included psoriasis, neurodermatitis, headaches/migraines, overweight/obesity, fatigue, rheumatic diseases or gastroenterological complaints. A total of 938 patients participated in this trial and 2/3 of the patients with psoriasis noted an improvement of their disease symptoms when they avoided IgG-positive foods for a period of 8 weeks. Other researchers discovered that some psoriasis patients have increased IgG antibodies against gluten (the wheat protein). When these patients followed a gluten-free diet, a very significant improvement of their symptoms was observed.

For these reasons, it can be expected that a test for the detection of IgG-mediated food hypersensitivity, followed by the ImuPro change in diet concept, could be helpful for the management of psoriasis.

Read Scientific News on Skin Disorders by Dr Camille Lieners here

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Saturday 12 October: World Health Day for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Are daily joint pains affecting your life?

If you’ll pardon the pun, living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a real pain.  Sometimes a change in diet can greatly improve chronic complaints and provide much needed relief.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that occurs when your immune system (which usually fights infections) starts to mistakenly attack the cells that line your joints, leaving the joints swollen, stiff and painful. This process can lead to permanent damage of the joint, cartilage and bone. Sadly there is no cure for RA but there are some things you can do to relieve the symptoms.

It is unclear what triggers this particular problem with the immune system. Health experts and researchers have suggested that certain types of food can cause rheumatoid arthritis by triggering inflammation, and a growing amount of evidence has shown that delayed food allergies may be associated with RA.

The goal is to improve the joint pain and swelling, enhancing your ability to perform day-to-day activities.

Using ImuPro testing will help identify your personal trigger foods. By guiding your change in diet, ImuPro can help you alleviate or reduce your rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and get you back to enjoying life pain-free.

Ask your doctor or therapist about ImuPro and get tested today.

Sources:

1. Sima Sh. FARID Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies and their clinical utility in rheumatoid arthritis International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases 2013; 16: 379–386
2. Francis Coucke Food intolerance in patients with manifest autoimmunity. Observational study. Autoimmunity Reviews 17 (2018) 1078–1080
3. Grygielska J, Kłak A, Raciborski F, Mańczak M. Nutrition and quality of life referring to physical abilities – a comparative analysis of a questionnaire study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Reumatologia. 2017;55(5):222-229.
4.  Ioan-Facsinay A, el-Bannoudi H, Scherer HU, et al
   Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies are a collection of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies and contain overlapping and non-overlapping reactivities Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2011;70:188-193.
5. Li, Jianjie et al. “The Pathogenesis of Rheumatoid Arthritis is Associated with Milk or Egg Allergy” North American journal of medical sciences vol. 8,1 (2016): 40-6.
6. Hvatum M, Kanerud L, Hällgren R, Brandtzaeg P. The gut-joint axis: Cross reactive food antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis. Gut. 2006;55:1240–7.
7. Richard s. Panush Food-induced (allergic) arthritis, Inflammatory Arthritis Exacerbated By Milk. Arthritis and Rheumatism, Vol. 29, No. 2 (February 1986)
8. Gamlin L1, Brostoff J. Food sensitivity and rheumatoid arthritis. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 1997 Nov;4(1-2):43-9.
9. Comed ImuPro Application Study, 2002-2008; evaluated by Mediveritas Institute for Medical Studies, Munich

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Eczema Testimonial from Jemma in New Zealand

Kai, 5 years old – New Zealand

I have 4 young boys, 3 of which have varying degrees of eczema. We had tried everything from creams to gut healing to Karen Fischer eczema diet, gluten free, dairy free, supplements, probiotics- EVERYTHING! My 4 year old son Kai’s eczema was becoming so severe he actually stopped thriving. We initially started using the steroid creams/regime prescribed by the doctor but he was declining every day. After 6 months of trying every cream natural or otherwise, changing washing powders/cleaning products to eczema friendly ones, we were referred to the hospital. They came up with more steroid cream and an IgE allergy test which came back positive to cats, grass and dust mites being the worst. No IgE allergies to any foods tested – dairy, nuts, eggs, soy, fish etc. We had no cats and he didn’t go outside on the grass. I bought all the anti-dust mite bedding (so expensive), he had a new bed and all 100% cotton sheets, duvets, pillows etc. 60 degree hot washes every other day, no soft toys, vacuumed every day, but it never made any difference.

 

Getting more and more desperate I came across the Karen Fischer eczema diet. I started all 3 boys on it, initially after 3 months all 3 boys skin cleared to about 90% and they were really clear for about 2 months, then the eczema starting coming back again for all of them despite still being on the diet 100%. The boys were actually miserable because the diet was so restrictive and their skin was terrible and Kai was in a constant torment of itching especially at night. He would wake every hour for at least 30min in these itching episodes. My husband or I had to sleep with him so he didn’t scratch himself apart, which he managed to do anyway. He lived in cotton tights, socks and cotton long sleeve tops – I had to sew the ends of the sleeves together so he couldn’t scratch. His skin didn’t actually look as bad as you can imagine, probably because we took so much care keeping it moisturised. We had weaned him off steroid cream and emulsifying ointment because we had got to the strongest steroid cream and none of it worked.

They all went back to eating a more relaxed diet because it was Christmas 2018 and they were all miserable. Kai just kept getting worse. A friend of mine whose daughter had been in the same situation was at her wits end. She had also been to skin specialists and everything else like me, but her daughter was getting worse. She came across a nutritionist who was an old friend. She got her the ImuPro test along with supplements specific for her after her results. Her daughter cleared to perfection! So that’s when I decided to do it too. I went through the same practitioner and did your test. We also got supplements specific for Kai. Vit D, Vit E oil (couldn’t have fish oil because he was intolerant to fish from his test), probiotics and a gut healing powder without gluten, soy etc. We put all the kids on Kai’s ImuPro recommended diet because it was easier to cook that way and it was fairer on Kai.

After a week Kai had stopped itching during the day. He still itched at night but only woke 3 times. He just got a little bit better and better every day. After about a month on the ImuPro diet and on Kai’s 5th birthday, he wore shorts and a t-shirt for the first time! His skin was about 70% better after a month on ImuPro. We kept him from starting school until term 3 because we were focusing on getting him better and stronger so he could cope. I think he had actually stopped growing during the time he was so unwell.

Fast forward 6 months and we have a totally different child. His skin is clear 99% of the time (sometimes has little tiny flares), he is happy and was able to start school. No more bloody sheets or uncontrollable itching (although he still itches at night even though his skin is clear, it’s like it’s become a habit), no more 4 x a day daily creaming in lotions. His eyes are full of life and he is thriving. He is still avoiding all trigger foods. I am so grateful beyond words for the life-saving service you provide. I recommend you to everyone I come across with unexplained eczema.

 

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