Celiac Disease continues to get featured in more high profile places.   The most recent is Kentucky.com, who has posted that Celiac Disease is a growing problem.

I’m not sure I would classify it as a growing problem, but I think there is a problem with people having the disease and not knowing it.  Here is an excerpt from their post:

According to everything I’ve read, celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in the small intestine that is aggravated by gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley.

But after talking to Jan Falwell, who suffered unknowingly with celiac disease most of her life, I soon learned there is far more to it.

Falwell thinks she’s had the disease for more than 40 years, probably triggered by mononucleosis when she was 18.

”About 50 to 60 ­percent of the population has the gene“ that causes the ­ailment, she said, ”but there usually has to be a trigger like an operation or stress or pregnancy.“

Falwell, 60, was fortunate to be diagnosed three years ago by an Irish physician practicing locally who ­recognized the symptoms because he was familiar with the disease.

The disease is ­diagnosed more frequently in Europe. Children in Italy must ­undergo a test for the ­disease before entering school, she said.

But in the United States, she said, doctors aren’t taught how to recognize the symptoms. Plus, the ­symptoms are many, varying from one patient to another.

Where there is weight loss and diarrhea for one patient, another will have weight gain and constipation. Other symptoms are gas and bloating, fatigue, dryness throughout the body, weakness, headaches, vomiting and a failure to grow in children, to name a few.

Celiac disease is often misdiagnosed as food ­intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome. Doctors can order blood tests to check for certain antibodies that signal the disease, but Falwell said the disease usually is advanced by the time it can be detected in the blood. A positive blood test could then lead to an endoscopy and biopsy for confirmation.

Long-term health ­problems such as iron ­deficiency anemia, ­osteoporosis, ­vitamin ­deficiencies, intestinal ­cancers, and diabetes can result if left untreated.

”It wipes out the villi in the small intestines,“ Falwell said. ”Mine looks like flat linoleum instead of a shag rug.“

It is through the villi that the body absorbs nutrients. Once nutrients are no longer absorbed, myriad ­physical problems can occur.

Pharmaceutical ­companies are starting to show interest in the disease, and a new pill that helps prevent the leakage of gluten into the small intestines is being tested.

Click over to get the read the rest of the article.

I’ve heard speculation in the past that various diseases can cause hair loss, but this is the first I’ve seen in print.   According to the Stop Now Hair Loss blog:

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!

When you attend Celiac events, are there are overwhelming number of women there compared to men? According to a post at Newswise, Celiac Disease affects twice as many woman.

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!

A big reason that many people with Celiac Disease remain undiagnosed is due to being misdiagnosed.  The most common mis-diagnosis is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

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.”

Today I ran across an interesting post over at Brand Week that I thought I would share with you.  It is about General Mills and their gluten free Rice Chex.  While this is exciting news, this is just one of many major changes with large companies who are starting to be more conscious of the needs of people with Celiac.

The interesting thing about the article is some statistics they site, and the fact that many people are going to a gluten free diet even without a gluten sensitivity.  Here is an excerpt:

The cereal company’s announcement late last month comes on the heels of data from Mintel Consumer Intelligence, Chicago, that shows gluten-free new-product launches have grown significantly over the past several years.

New products bearing the gluten-free banner have more than tripled since 2004, reaching 700 in 2007, per Mintel. Through April, 341 more gluten-free products have launched. Sales of gluten-free products will hit $1.7 billion by 2010, per Spins.

I think this is great, but in the future it will only get better!