From: Polly
Date: 8/27/00
Time: 2:10:46 AM
Remote Name: 209.179.244.71
The housekeeper wave keeps the small intestine clear of bacteria. It is a strong contraction of the bowel, which occurs inbetween meals -- lasting 5 to 15 minutes -- and cleans the small intestine. It is also called the migrating motor complex. The wave is thought to be initiated by the central nervous system, but may be implemented in part by a burst of the hormone motilin. Erythromycin and some of the other antibiotics are thought to improve this wave motion by their ability to elicit the production of more motilin. See http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/gi/motilin.html
Susan Owens, an autism researcher, mentions several things that are known to arrest the housekeeper wave or to interfere with the hormone motilin. (See http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/autism/owens.htm) These are
1. Excessive histamine caused by allergies or caused by an immune attack against parasites will arrest the housekeeper wave.
2. Low serotonin in the gut will stop the housekeeper wave. (This seems a contributing cause for many cases of fibromyalgia. Serotonin is made from the amino acid tryptophan. Certain bacteria in the gut degrade tryptophan. Low levels of tryptophan are often found in fibromyalgia patients.)
3. Dysregulation could be caused by opiates (e.g. endogenous opiates from a reaction to inflammation or dietary opiates from things like undigested wheat gluten.)
4. The MOTILINCCK receptor regulates the hormone motilin, which is required for the housekeeper wave. Susan Owens doesn't mention if MOTOLINCCK is dependent on the level of sulfates or not, but she does imply that this is a possibility. If so, a lack of sulfates could account for the missing housekeeper wave. Sulfates could be low because sulfates are lost with infections and inflammation of the gut.