Effects of Dietary and Nutritional Management of a Pediatric Patient with Motor Tic Disorder. A Case Study

Purpose: This case is to describe the response to dietary and nutritional intervention of a pediatric patient diagnosed with Motor Tic Disorder. Food sensitivities especially those to the protein in gluten such as gliadin have long been implicated in health issues regarding the intestinal mucosa leading to malabsorption issues for the patient. The research over the last several years has been looking to the extraintestinal effects of these proteins and linking their effects to other organs such as thyroid, joints, and the brain. The difficulty, however in the clinical setting to determine if these proteins or some other food substance may be causing the symptoms is in both the testing and the patient compliance once testing is done. The concept of hidden food allergies i.e. delayed sensitivity IgG mediated reactions is not a new one but due to the intricacies of the immune system much less understood. However, the IgG mediated form of reactions is the more common vs. IgE mediated and by some estimates as much as 50% of the US population suffer from them. Currently the literature offers little regarding food sensitivities and the effect on motor tic disorder.