Epilepsy and Other Neurological Disorders in Coeliac Disease

Coeliac disease is a not uncommon disorder with a prevalence of approximately 1 in 200. Many correlations exist between the central and peripheral nervous systems and the small bowel. However, the ‘idiopathogenetic’ causes which link these systems remain mostly unclear. This book has been produced following a meeting in San Marino, Italy concerning epilepsy and other neurological disorders in coeliac disease. The book is divided into nine parts covering all aspects of neuropsychiatric disease in coeliac disease: gluten intolerance; pathophysiological mechanisms; epilepsy and coeliac disease and the epidemiology of these two disorders; the aetiopathological basis in correlation of epilepsy and coeliac disease; differential diagnosis; neuroradiological findings and psychiatric and neurological disorders in coeliac disease. Although each part is divided into several chapters, each part is in fact a collection of short papers. There is therefore considerable overlap particularly in the introduction section of each paper, but also between papers within the same part and other parts of the book. As there is no introduction or overview to each part there is no apparent continuity between parts. At the end of the book is a further selection of 25 brief ‘poster-like’ abstracts some of which are again repetitive and may have been better incorporated into the appropriate parts of the book. As this book is a product of work presented at an International Meeting it may not represent the true ‘state of the art’ worldwide because it only reflects the work of contributors at the meeting. As a result some important issues are only mentioned briefly. For example, the book devotes a large amount of space to the relationship between epilepsy and coeliac disease including information on epidemiology and differential diagnoses of other diseases with cerebral calcification which may exist with epilepsy. The part on possible aetiopathological mechanisms between the two disorders is particularly brief, containing four exceptionally diverse papers and only one paper discusses potential genetic mechanisms between these two disorders. The parts on neurological and psychiatric disorders in coeliac disease are also relatively small. Although this is a useful resource for those requiring some knowledge of neuropsychiatric disorder in coeliac disease, including psychiatrists, (despite the title not carrying any reference to psychiatric aspects of coeliac disease) it is likely to be of most interest to those working in this specialized area.