One gastrointestinal disorder that appears to be linked to neurological disorders is gluten sensitivity.

But most cases of gluten sensitivity are clinically silent and may go undiagnosed for a lifetime.

Parkinson’s patients may benefit from a gluten-free diet. In one case, doctors found a dramatic improvement in Parkinson’s symptoms when a patient was placed on such a diet.

Gluten sensitivity is strongly associated with schizophrenia and cerebellar ataxia (inflammation of the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls muscle coordination) It has also been linked to:

• ALS

• Dementia

• Acute severe encephalomyelitis

• Hallucinations

• Psychosis

• Intractable seizures

And there is a strong possibility that gut permeability is more common than suspected. In fact, many physicians are completely unaware of the condition.

This oversight can mean a lifetime of unnecessary suffering for patients.

One of the most comprehensive ongoing studies concerns the relation between undiagnosed blood infections and neurodegenerative diseases.

Many of these blood infections come from translocation of bacteria from infected gums or an inflamed gut.

In one study, researchers examined the red blood cells of patients with Parkinson’s disease and those of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

There were bacteria in almost all of the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients blood samples, compared to bacteria rarely being found in normal people’s blood samples.

Using electron microscopes, the researchers found cocci and bacilli types of bacteria in the Parkinson’s patients, and only bacilli in the Alzheimer’s patients.

Most such studies depend on using typical culture techniques, yet microscopic examinations are 100 times more accurate.

In many cases, these bacteria can assume L-forms, which are essentially invisible on microscopic examination and are difficult to culture.

 Using special techniques, these L-forms can be converted to typical-looking bacteria.

Others have found bacteria in blood samples of 71 percent of patients with diagnosed diseases and only 7 percent of healthy individuals.

Obviously, translocation of bacteria from the colon as well as from the mouth (as can occur with periodontal disease) is happening much more often than originally suspected.