Celiac disease =/= gluten sensitivity (WSJ article) page 2

[apple]

JenniferK--I have Crohn's and diabetes. I was given the same advice when I was diagnosed with Crohn's. AND I was LITERALLY handed insulin and a candy bar when diagnosed with diabetes. Oh, it was cleverly disguised as a "low glycemic protein bar" to keep my blood sugars level, but it was peanut butter and chocolate. Candy.

I had even asked my GI doctor to look for celiac signs when he did my colonoscopy, but he never once mentioned it afterward. I have the feeling he found Crohn's and then just quit looking for anything else.

[Pitter]

I had even asked my GI doctor to look for celiac signs when he did my colonoscopy, but he never once mentioned it afterward. I have the feeling he found Crohn's and then just quit looking for anything else.

He probably should have told you that he wasn't going to be able to check for celiac...you need an endoscopy since it affects the small intestine, not the colon. I hate it when doctors just ignore instead of having a conversation. grr.

I think this is one of those things where the science just isn't able to keep up with what's going on in the real world. A ton of people are having intolerance symptoms (even if they were always fine before) and people are trying gluten free diets, feeling awesome and telling their friends. I guess that makes it a "fad diet", but if people are feeling better, so what? Of course lots of people don't know why they're doing it and are just replacing wheat with other grains. I did it that way 10 years ago and no surprise my GI symptoms didn't go away while I was relying on corn and rice. I therefore decided it wasn't really gluten and brought it back into my diet.

Interesting that the article says that they estimate celiac at 1% of the population and intolerance at 6%. I would put money on intolerances being more like 40%.

[Horsewoman]

He probably should have told you that he wasn't going to be able to check for celiac...you need an endoscopy since it affects the small intestine, not the colon. I hate it when doctors just ignore instead of having a conversation. grr.

I think this is one of those things where the science just isn't able to keep up with what's going on in the real world. A ton of people are having intolerance symptoms (even if they were always fine before) and people are trying gluten free diets, feeling awesome and telling their friends. I guess that makes it a "fad diet", but if people are feeling better, so what? Of course lots of people don't know why they're doing it and are just replacing wheat with other grains. I did it that way 10 years ago and no surprise my GI symptoms didn't go away while I was relying on corn and rice. I therefore decided it wasn't really gluten and brought it back into my diet.

Interesting that the article says that they estimate celiac at 1% of the population and intolerance at 6%. I would put money on intolerances being more like 40%.

Yeah I think they are massively underestimating.

[DFH]

It would be good if more study were done to see about a possible link between gluten and inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's and Ulerative Colitis (UC).

I had UC from 1986 to 1991, and had to have surgery for it. I'm on a site for people living with it, or living after it (a lot of people get a replacement colon called a j-pouch). Discussions of gluten are very common there. Some people report being tested negative for gluten intolerance, but they stop it and feel better anyway.

When I was seeing a doc for UC, wheat or gluten was never even mentioned. I pressed the doc for an explanation of why this disease happens, and he said the cause was unknown. Uh huh.

It's always been a pet theory of mine that a lot of people get these diseases due to gluten, or at least it lowers their resistance and contributes to it.

[Blackcatbone]

It would be good if more study were done to see about a possible link between gluten and inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's and Ulerative Colitis (UC).

Check out the link I posted on the first page. Alessio Fasano is one of the top Celiac researchers in the world. He's linked not only IBD but also AI disorders and other diseases to gluten. Some of the paper is a bit too heavy for me but most of it is quite readable.

[Pitter]

Check out the link I posted on the first page. Alessio Fasano is one of the top Celiac researchers in the world. He's linked not only IBD but also AI disorders and other diseases to gluten. Some of the paper is a bit too heavy for me but most of it is quite readable.

It will be a huge step in the right direction when we can better link UC and Crohns to wheat and other environmental triggers. I will never forget seeing my first Crohns patient in the hospital- a cute 16 y/o boy who had just had part of his bowel removed and asked me if there was anything different he should eat. All I was allowed to say was that food choices haven't been connected to recurance of flare ups.

[Suzan]

It's interesting looking back through our family history at how many people (on both sides!) died of "abdominal cancer" before they started pinpointing it further. I have one aunt who is definitely celiac - I've been tested, but it was while I was gluten-free. I'm actively refusing to get an official diagnosis, because I'd like to be able to do silly things like get life insurance in the future. The only treatment is a gluten-free diet, and I don't need a prescription for that!

My father died from colon cancer when he was 58 years old. When I was tested at Entero Lab for gluten sensitivity, I also did their dna test. Turns out that both my parents carried the celiac gene.

[Griff]

I was pretty happy to see that article, too. It's one step away from 'Whole wheat is good for everyone except these weird coeliac types who can't eat because there's something wrong with them (but not with it, obviously, because it's a Whole Grain which is a sacred food)' and towards reality. Hooray.

What you said, and then some.

[ProtoAlex]

It will be a huge step in the right direction when we can better link UC and Crohns to wheat and other environmental triggers. I will never forget seeing my first Crohns patient in the hospital- a cute 16 y/o boy who had just had part of his bowel removed and asked me if there was anything different he should eat. All I was allowed to say was that food choices haven't been connected to recurance of flare ups.

Actually both UC and Crohn's occur at a statistically significant higher rate in diagnosed celiacs. From what I can remember the correlation increases the longer the person has been undiagnosed for.

[Twibble]

My father died from colon cancer when he was 58 years old. When I was tested at Entero Lab for gluten sensitivity, I also did their dna test. Turns out that both my parents carried the celiac gene.

My aunt died 2 weeks ago after a long fight with ovarian cancer (also very common in our family) at about the same age. She refused to have DNA testing done due to possible ramifications for her daughters, but I would have loved to see the results of that test...