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Tourette's Syndrome is a relatively common childhood neurological condition. Its signs are so distinctive and so peculiar, that even lay people can diagnose it. This is what happened about a year ago, when a worried mother brought her nine year old son to my office for consultation. He was a pleasant cooperative lad, a bit pale with dark circles around his eyes, but within a few minutes he was grimacing and his face was twitching in a manner typical of Tourette's. His mother reported that his tics had begun gradually four years previously and were getting worse. In addition he was at times "barking" in a strange way. She had done some reading and already had made the correct diagnosis. Interestingly, the boy had also developed asthma over the same time period (4 or 5 years). His mother said that he had trouble breathing at birth and had been susceptible to lung infections all through his childhood. He also had infant colic and recurring ear infections as a young child. I had been reading not long before about the association between many neurological diseases (e.g. polyneuropathy and cerebellar ataxia) and gluten sensitivity. The boy's family history revealed many relatives with cancers (stomach, pancreas, blood, thyroid, breast and lung), depression and alcoholism ‐ all markers of gluten sensitivity. Physical examination was unremarkable except from the pallor and above-mentioned darkness around the eyes ("allergic shiners"). Autonomic response showed a response to milk powder, indicating a sensitivity to dairy products. An enterolab stool analysis was performed which was strongly positive for antigliadin IgA and moderately positive for antitissue transglutaminase IgA and anti‐casein IgA. Genetic testing showed the presence of one celiac and one gluten sensitive gene. Treatment was strict avoidance of dietary gluten and dairy products, supplemental vitamin D, B12, magnesium, other intracellular minerals and a probiotic. Within a few weeks, the Tourette's signs decreased and within a few months, they were almost gone. A surprise extra benefit was that his asthma also disappeared. However a sudden relapse came four months later. The asthma was the first to reappear; then the tics. The onset of the tics seemed to coincide with the use of an Atrovent (ipratropium) inhaler. This time, an interference field was detected in the left lung. This was treated with neural therapy. The response was immediate cessation of both the tics and the asthma. This lasted about a month until he caught "the flu" and again had a relapse of the Tourette's and the asthma. Once more neural therapy of the left lung arrested both the asthma and the Tourette's ‐this time for three months. This most recent relapse coincided with treatment with nitrous oxide gas for a dental procedure. A left lung interference field was again found and treated by neural therapy. This case is interesting for two reasons. First: the response to dietary gluten and dairy elimination, and second: the response to treatment of the interference field in the lung. As mentioned in a previous newsletter , gluten acts as a neurotoxin in some gluten‐sensitive people. In recent years research has been accumulating supporting the hypothesis that Tourette's is an autoimmune disease. A very recent paper from Russia reports the discovery of antibodies to caudate nucleus proteins and a more than 6 month remission in symptoms in 7 patients after transfusion with immunoglobulins. Epidemiological studies show that Tourette's is more common in celiacs, but there is little other evidence in the peer‐reviewed literature on the relationship between gluten and/or dairy sensitivity and Tourette's syndrome. However in the popular literature there are numerous reports of successful treatment of Tourette's syndrome by dietary manipulation. The relationship between the interference field in the lung, asthma and the Tourette's symptoms is much harder to explain. However a fundamental observation in the practice of neural therapy is that interference fields can be found anywhere in the body and can produce symptoms anywhere in the body. The brain is no exception. I have never identified an interference field related to Tourette's syndrome before, but have occasionally seen interference fields triggering epilepsy. Teeth are likely culprits. I would suggest that all medical conditions with a dynamic component should be searched for interference fields. And this applies to neurological diseases as well. Sincerely, Robert F. Kidd, MD, CM |