Relapsed Schizophrenics: Earlier Discharge from the Hospital After Cereal-Free, Milk-Free Diet
F. C. DOHAN M.D.1, and
J. C. GRASBERGER M.D.2
1 Associate Professor, William Pepper Laboratory of Clinical Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Medical Research Scientist, Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, Philadelphia, Pa. 19129
2 Assistant Chief of Staff (Psychiatry), Veterans Administration Hospital, Coatesville, Pa.
Routinely treated schizophrenics, who on admission were randomly assigned to a diet free of cereal grains and milk while on the locked ward, were discharged from the hospital about twice as rapidly as control patients assigned to a high-cereal diet. Wheat gluten secretly added to the cereal-free diet abolished this effect. These and previous findings suggest that cereal grains may be pathogenic for those hereditarily predisposed to schizophrenia just as they are for celiac disease, a disorder that may be genetically related.
