Newsgroup: sci.med
Subject: Re: Prader-Willi Syndrome
From: Ron Hoggan
Date: Tue, 03 Sep 1996

On Sat, 31 Aug 1996, Debbie (ducky at shadetree.com) wrote:

>I am seeking information about Prader-Willi Syndrome.
>I have a patient who has survived long past the expected
>lifespan of a Prader-Willi sufferer. The Prader-Willi
>research center in Pennsylvania has been unable to give
>us any information about what we can expect to see in a
>patient who has lived this long with the disorder. I
>would appreciate any information about the disease itself

Hi Debbie,
I am not a doctor. Nonetheless, if you will refer to Dr. Paul Black's article in the Nov/Dec 1995 issue of Scientific American: SCIENCE & MEDICINE, pages 16 to 25, he clearly indicates that opioids will attach at the HPA axis. Since Prader-Willi is a hypothalmic-pituitary disorder, opioids may be involved. Since this area of the brain, as Black points out, is not protected by the blood brain barrier, exogenous opioids might be involved. Further, Zioudrou et. al. in "Opioid Peptides Derived from Food Proteins" _Journal of Biological Chemistry_ 1979; 254(7): 2446-2449, have clearly demonstrated that opioids can be derived from gluten and alpha casein. Additionally, Husby et. al. "Passage of Undegraded Dietary Antigen into the blood of Healthy Adults" _Scand. J. Immunol._ 1985; 22: 83-92, have demonstrated the means (permeable intestine) by which such opioids enter the bloodstream.

May I suggest that you get antigliadin antibody blood testing? If positive, follow-up testing for celiac disease might be in order. Regardless of the outcome of the cd test, a gluten-free, casein-free diet might aid in this person's survival.

I hope this is helpful.

Sincerely,
Ron Hoggan