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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Celiac Disease
Educate me about this.
I'm not trying to start a debate but why is it that this disease has become such a hot topic in the past couple of years? My uneducated guess is because that fad diets of gluten free are really hot and have brought it to the forefront and my worry is that doctors slap this diagnosis too quickly.
Talk to me.
Re: Celiac Disease
duplicate post
They actually do a significant amount of tests to diagnosis this disease including blood tests to look for gluten antibodies and malabsorption, stool tests, endoscopy and they biopsy the intestine at times.
Sorry, my computer spazzed on me-- anyway, I don't know what the cause of an increase in diagnosising this has been-- maybe some people self-diagnosis themselves? I've heard from others that they've cut gluten out of their diet and have felt completely different (and perhaps don't actually have the diagnosis but have just gone on symptoms from talking with other people).
The gluten free diet fad may be a contributing factor, but if you actually look at GI disorders, they have very similar symptoms-- diarrhea, cramping, nausea/vomiting, etc. It's very easy for people-- as well as their doctors-- to mistake these symptoms for an actual disorder. The gluten free diet may have been an easy way for people to try to fix their distress and then when it worked, they were able to finally have a connection that could help them get diagnosed with celiac disease.
It's actually not surprising to me, though, that celiac disease exists-- milk intolerance is getting more press, too, and if you think about it, both celiac disease and lactose intolerance are both disorders of the digestive tract in which someone's body can't process a specific protein. In the case of celiac disease, the body's immune system also attacks a body part because of this inability to digest a protein (so many diseases-- like ALS, Lupus, MS, etc.-- are now believed to be part genetic and part environmental trigger-- like exposure to a toxin or a virus-- that then kicks the body's immune system into attacking itself).
And if you think about it-- humans began as hunter-gatherers. We were not originally engineered to eat foods that required farming and processing. As people evolved culturally, it's not unreasonable to see an imperfect biological evolution. Perhaps those of us with genetics that trace back to the first agricultural/farming communities have a better tolerance for breads and milk, while those who trace back more to the hunter-gatherers have a higher tolerance of meat. Combine that with the introduction to all sorts of chemicals in our foods and environments, our bodies may be evolving and changing too slowly to compensate or fight these newer "ingredients."
So anyhow, those are my thoughts on it.
Like mesa said, they have to test your blood in order to diagnose, so I think the diagnoses are pretty accurate (unlike the increase in developmental disorder diagnoses -- like ADD or Aspergers -- which are somewhat more subjective).
I was guessing that the increase in Celiac instances is similar to the increase in peanut allergies (overly-antiseptic environment), and it looks like I may be right; that is one hypothesis. Environmental factors definitely seem to play a roll. Here's an interesting article about it:
http://discoverysedge.mayo.edu/celiac-disease/
I agree with all of this. The testing for a Celiac's disease diagnosis is pretty in-depth. I have noticed an increasing number of people in my life who consider themselves to be "gluten intolerant." They came to this conclusion by cutting gluten out of their diets for a couple of weeks and noticing a difference in energy levels. I'm not sure how many have discussed the issue with a doctor.
One thing I've observed about these two groups of people is that people who have been diagnosed with Celiac's disease can't eat or touch ANY products with gluten or that have been exposed to gluten (food, children's paints, etc.) while those I know who are gluten intolerant can still touch products with gluten in them. This is totally my own anecdotal observation though - I'd take it with a grain (or two) of salt. :-)
I think we are just hearing more about it, as well as it being a fad diet. But yes, there is a genetic test to determine if one has it. Looking back, its likely that kids 30 or 40 years ago labeled "failure to thrive" may have had undiagnosed celiacs since we didnt know that it existed.
My 17yo cousin has Celiacs. She was diagnosed at the age of 12, but only after years and years of GI trouble. She hardly grew at all in nearly 5 years and since switching to a gluten free diet she has shot up over a foot and a half. It is likely that her dad has it as well, though he only occasionally goes GF when it is convenient and he never passed the 5 foot mark.
Some people without Celiacs also claim that a GF diet has helped whatever ailments plague them. I say if it works then good for them. The wheat substitutes however, are usually higher calorie, often not tasty and quite expensive. My cousin lived with us last summer, and while it was sometimes a challenge, cooking for her was really not that difficult.