It would be to difficult to compile a complete list of these products, but here are some things you should look for if you are living gluten free:

• Lotions, creams and cosmetics (primarily for those with dermatitis herpetaformis).
• Stamps, envelopes or other gummed labels.
• Toothpaste and mouthwash.
• Some medicines contain gluten.
• Some brands of rice paper.
• Laxatives.

Can you think of any non-food or drink items that contain gluten that I might have missed?  Let me know in the comments below!

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As the diagnosis continue to grow, so does the attention focused on the disease by doctors, so I wouldn’t be surprised if even more people than previously thought have some form of gluten sensitivity.

Another benefit that comes with the disease getting more attention is the attention provided by cooks, restaurants, and even large corporations, who are looking to capitalize on this with gluten free products.  Here is one story of how far things have come in the last decade (from the Current Argus):

Once considered a rare condition, celiac disease or gluten intolerance is becoming one of the most common genetic conditions in the world, with a wide range of symptoms that can range from digestive problems to depression.

The disease cannot be cured, only controlled through careful diet.

For sufferers in Carlsbad, there is much help to be found through the local Celiac Disease Support Group.

The group offers good information on alternative food choices as well as recipes and general information on how to cope with the disease and diet. However, members agreed, the emotional support is probably the most important offering at the meetings.

Angie Madl was diagnosed eight years ago. For her, the support group has meant a great deal as far as the sharing of important information she might not have found on her own. What keeps her coming back is the camaraderie of knowing others who suffer from the same disease.

“I was diagnosed too late,” Madl said, noting she wasn’t given any information or told what to do.

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Today I noticed a post about Balancing Food and Fun at Disney World, which includes an interview with Joel Schaefer, Disney’s Special Dietary Needs Manager.  In the interview, they discuss Disney’s committment to people with special dietary needs.  Here is the main part relevant to those of us with Celiac Disease:

My child has celiac’s disease. Are there kid-friendly options for her? I would love for my child to be able to experience Mickey Mouse waffles and a safe cookie or brownie.

We have a variety of options for Guests with celiac disease and most locations have gluten-free pancake and waffle mix. You will need to contact us ahead of time to see what locations can accommodate your request.

Click over to check out the full interview.

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Wheat is among the most common triggers of food allergy and sensitivity. People suffering from reactions to wheat or its constituent proteins gluten and gliadin often suffer from diarrhea, stomach pain, and other gastrointestinal discomforts. A condition called celiac disease is also characterized by intolerance to gluten and gliadin, found in wheat, rye, barley, oats; similar proteins are also found in buckwheat (a grass seed) and millet. Not all people experiencing reactions to wheat and other gluten/gliadin foods have celiac disease. Patients with celiac disease experience diarrhea, foul-smelling, greasy stools, and weight loss, due to multiple vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. They also have damaged small intestine tissue folds (known as jejunoileal fold pattern reversal) caused by exposure to wheat proteins. The liver is also damaged in celiac disease. A recent report in the Journal of Pediatrics states that one out of every 33 children in the United States may have this disease.

Despite some diagnostic differences, celiac disease appears to share many of the causes of other food allergies, including genetic susceptibility (particularly to people from northern and central Europe and northwest India), enzyme deficiency, and intestinal permeability. Children who are not breast-fed and who are introduced to cow’s milk early are at higher risk than other children for developing celiac disease. Additionally, celiac patients also tend to become lactose deficient, leading to lactose intolerance; they also frequently develop multiple food allergies, due to leaky gut.

Celiac disease has also been linked to Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, schizophrenia, thyroid problems, and hives. Women with celiac disease are at a higher risk for experiencing reproductive problems, including infertility, miscarriage, and low-weight-infant births. Celiac disease is also implicated in bone loss and osteoporosis. In one recent study, 86 newly diagnosed celiac disease patients were placed on a gluten-free diet for one year. These patients, including postmenopausal women, showed a significant improvement in bone mineral density and bone metabolism compared to the control group that did not undergo the elimination diet.

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What is the difference between celiac sprue and gluten sensitivity?
Gluten sensitivity implies that a person’s immune system is intolerant of gluten in the diet and is forming antibodies or displaying some other evidence of an inflammatory reaction. When these reactions cause small intestinal damage visible on a biopsy, the syndrome has been called celiac sprue, celiac disease, or gluten sensitive enteropathy. (Nontropical sprue and idiopathic steatorrhea are other terms that have been used for this disorder in the past.) The clinical definition of celiac sprue also usually requires that there is clinical and/or pathologic improvement following a gluten-free diet.

In the past, celiac sprue could only be diagnosed after somebody developed certain symptoms like diarrhea, weight loss, or growth failure in children. A biopsy would be performed and if abnormal and typical of celiac sprue, and if a gluten free diet brought resolution of diarrhea, weight gain, or growth, only then would a diagnosis of celiac sprue be made. However, recent advances in diagnostic screening tests and application of these tests to people at heightened risk or to general populations have allowed detection of celiac sprue, sometimes even before damage to villi has occurred. This latter scenario is often called gluten sensitivity.

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Here is an excerpt from their post:

Thanks to the research of Diter von Wettstein and a new grant of nearly $1 million from the National Institutes of Health, millions of people around the world suffering from Celiac disease have new reasons for hope.

Dr. von Wettstein, who is R.A. Nilan Distinguished Professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Washington State University, will use the four-year, $837,000 NSF grant to advance his research to develop gluten-free wheat varieties safe to eat by people with Celiac disease.

NIH has declared urgency
“Medical experts at the National Institutes of Health have declared urgency in dealing with the most food-sensitive intestinal condition in humans, and require faster and more decisive methods such as transgenic breeding,” Dr. Von Wettstein said.

Dr. Von Wettstein, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and his team have discovered a fully viable, lysine-rich mutant which lacks gliadin-type proteins in barley, showing the way to make Celiac-safe wheat. Lysine is an amino acid essential for an optimal diet, but typically deficient in wheat.

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Over at APhAnet they recently tackled the question, how much gluten is to much gluten?  A couple key points from this article:

Key point: There is insufficient evidence to suggest a definitive threshold of gluten intake for patients with celiac disease (CD); however, less than 10 mg of gluten daily is unlikely to cause significant mucosal abnormalities.

Finer points:A systematic review of 13 clinical trials evaluating CD patients and gluten intake tolerance revealed that patients who consume more than 200 mg of gluten daily for a minimum of 4 weeks are likely to develop intestinal changes. Only three randomized, controlled trials were identified in this review.

Overall, studies were conducted in four continents and assessed gluten intake ranging from 1 to 200 mg/day for periods of 1 week to 8 years. Endpoints varied and included quality of life, mucosal histology, and symptoms. Investigators were unable to conduct a meta-analysis because of the significant heterogeneity in study design, quantity of gluten ingested, length of gluten exposure, and assessment of gluten effects among the clinical trials.

And also:

What your patients need to know:Tell patients with CD to avoid gluten to minimize symptoms. Encourage these patients to consume products that are naturally gluten-free. Explain that even products labeled “gluten free” typically contain the protein, albeit in small amounts. No one knows for sure how much gluten is too much for CD patients, but less than 10 mg daily is generally well-tolerated. Tell patients to be aware of how much gluten their body can tolerate and adjust their consumption accordingly.

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Although future hair loss cannot be predicted one hundred percent, new genetic research and advanced medical tests now allow to reveal your chances for contracting alopecia later in life. Baldness in the coming years can be determined by a number of ways, including the analysis of personal health status and family history, or the application of recently invented folliscope technology or genetic testing.

Personal health factors, such as illnesses, smoking, nutrition, hormonal status, and even medications you take, can play a big role in assessing your risks of contracting baldness.

Certain diseases, including metabolic syndrome and diabetes; polycystic ovarian syndrome; low thyroid function; depression and other mental illnesses; and celiac disease, are now named among those triggering the destruction of healthy hair follicles and facilitating hair loss.

Click over to check out the whole article!

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Many people haven’t ever heard of celiac disease, but for the millions of people unable to eat bread, cookies, pizza crust and pasta, it’s a reality they have to live with every day. Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disorder that wreaks havoc on the body’s intestines when foods containing gluten are consumed. It affects roughly twice as many women as men. In the United States, it affects two million people or about one in 133 people.

It may seem like an easy condition to manage, but gluten is a protein found in many grains and is in a multitude of foods that include wheat, rye, barley or oats. When foods with gluten are digested, an immune reaction is triggered that damages the surface of the small intestine, resulting in the body’s inability to absorb needed vitamins and nutrients from food.

The other problem is that celiac disease is difficult to diagnose. “In the United States, many cases remain undiagnosed because symptoms vary from person to person and because physicians have not been adequately trained in what to look for,” reports Alessio Fasano, M.D., professor of pediatrics, medicine and physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and director of its Center for Celiac Research, in the center’s newsletter.

Celiac disease can develop at any time in a person’s life. It is more common in Caucasian people and those of European descent. If a family member has the disease, the risk for other members increases, as well. Celiac disease is associated with other autoimmune conditions, including lupus, Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and thyroid disease.

Click over to check out the rest of the article!

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According to a recent published report at Medical News Today, it looks like testing for Celiac Disease will now be required prior to an official diagnosis with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.   This site is setup for the United Kingdom, however, so it is unclear to me if this is for the UK only or not.

Here is an excerpt:

The new guidelines regarding the diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) announced recently by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) could ensure this should no longer happen by introducing new diagnostic criteria, which ensures testing for coeliac disease should be undertaken before a final diagnosis of IBS is made.

Patrick Kirby, director of Xtritica, the midland based healthcare company that promotes the Biocard Celiac Test In the UK, an easy to use home screening test which can aid the detection coeliac disease within 15 minutes, says: “We very much welcome these new guidelines which will help to speed up the diagnosis of coeliac disease. Many of the symptoms are similar to those of IBS, but it is good to know that patients will now be tested automatically for coeliac disease when previously this may have been missed. Hopefully, fewer people will now have to suffer unnecessarily, often for many years, and will avoid enduring serious digestive problems and associated health problems of coeliac disease.”

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