Celiac disease awareness is growing, but misinformation still abounds. Here are 15 celiac disease facts every doctor, patient and member of the public should know.

1. 1 in 700 –

The average prevalence of celiac disease in the United States 1950. (Mayo)

2. 1 in 100 –

The average worldwide prevalence of celiac disease across all races today. (NIH) The average prevalence of celiac disease in the United States today. (Mayo)

3. $8,500 – The average annual estimated healthcare cost of each person with untreated celiac disease in the United States. (Cigna/Columbia Celiac Disease Center study) Read More »

May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Here are 10 quick facts you can pass along to your friends and family to help increase awareness.

1. Celiac Disease is not an allergy. It is an autoimmune disorder triggered by eating gluten in wheat, barley, rye and oats.
2. You cannot “grow out” of celiac disease. It is a lifelong condition.
3. The most common “look” of celiac disease is…totally normal. Not fat. Not skinny.
4. Celiac Disease is the most commonly “missed” diagnosis in medicine. Over 85% of people with celiac disease go undiagnosed.
5. Celiac Disease damage is cumulative. The longer it goes on, the worse symptoms and associated conditions become.
6. Celiac Disease is real. It has existed for thousands of years, but has grown in prevalence. Tests have only recently been developed to detect it.
7. Undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease costs billions of dollars each year in treatment for symptoms and complications as well as lost productivity.
8. Celiac Disease is COMMON, affecting an estimated 1 in 100 persons. That said, it was thought the prevalence was 1 in 5,000 less than 10 years ago and 1 in 15,000 before that. The true prevalence may be higher.
9. Celiac Disease symptoms can present at any age. 9 months. 9 years. 90 years. Often, symptoms present early, but are not recognized.
10. Celiac Disease tests are not pass/fail and not foolproof. Tests should be administered again if symptoms persist because a “negative” can become a positive at a later date.

You may have heard that gluten can cause over 300 signs, symptoms, associated disorders and complications. This is true and we were the ones who brought this to light in our 2007 medical reference, Recognizing Celiac Disease.

This video uses our Gluten Free Works Health Guide to show you how gluten causes hundreds of health problems in a cascading effect.

What started as the printed book in 2007, has developed into an all encompassing online health manual that we know can revolutionize how celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and healthcare are treated by professionals and people at home.

Subscribe to the Gluten Free Works Health Guide to recover your health and stay healthy.

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. About 99% of this essential nutrient is contained in bones and teeth with the rest being in blood and other tissues. Calcium is needed for strong bones and teeth and for nerve conduction, muscle contraction, heart muscle function, blood pressure regulation, glycogen to glucose conversion, initiation of blood clotting, many hormone actions, many enzyme activities and making acetylcholine, an important chemical for nerve transmission. Calcium plays a part in the prevention of colon cancer.

Most importantly, calcium opposes phosphorus as a buffer to maintain the acid-alkaline balance of the blood and is critical for milk production in the nursing of infants.

Calcium absorption in the small intestine is complex and has specific requirements.  Read More »

Humans have been eating bread for thousands of years. Like this meme says, it seems like gluten reactions are exploding. So, what is going on? Are more people reacting? Is it being better diagnosed? This video explains!

Osteoporosis, or brittle bones, is a generalized bone disorder involving the slow loss of bone mass throughout the skeleton that results in diminished bone mineral density (BMD). Thinning, fragile bones maintain normal cell appearance but have a rapid turnover so that more bone is taken up and removed than is laid down. The result is bone weakness that predisposes people with osteoporosis to fractures.

Osteopenia refers to the progression of bone tissue loss in the range between normal to osteoporosis.

What are Bones?

Bones are dynamic structures made up of living connective tissue and certain minerals. Connective tissue provides the shape of bones and holds calcium phosphate mineral for hardness and Read More »

[Editor’s Note: Article first published Jul 2, 2008]

Dentistry Blog

By Tammy Davenport, About.com Guide to Dentistry since 2005

Celiac disease causes the body’s immune system to damage and attack the small intestine upon consumption of proteins in barley, rye, wheat and possibly oats. Since there are no specific blood tests to determine if someone has Celiac disease, doctors use blood tests to look for certain autoantibodies and biopsy the small intestine to look for traits of Celiac disease. Nancy Lapid, our Guide to Celiac Disease, points out that certain dental conditions are more common in people with this disease, which puts dentists in a good position to help notice when a patient might Read More »

[Editor’s Note: This video is from 2007, but it is still true. Celiac Disease research still lags other, less prevalent conditions. Yet, it is the easiest to treat, requiring a gluten-free diet and nutrient replenishment. The focus has been on the Gluten-Free Diet. Let’s shift it back.]

 

Doctors are missing over 95% of people with celiac disease – over 3 million in the United States.  That’s more people than autism or Type 1 Diabetes, yet celiac disease receives a fraction of the funding of these diseases.  Lives are being destroyed every day, when a simple change in diet could cure them.  Let’s get the word out…

Read More »

Finding out you have Celiac Disease is a big transition. Often it’s a good one that leads to feeling great, yet initially it’s a lot of information to take in at once to understand what you need to do for your health. Much of it is because we’re been eating one way for 15, 30, 50 or more years and it can be overwhelming to to instantly unlearn everything we’ve done and change overnight. Wouldn’t life be easier if you could take a doctor or dietitian home as a portable reminder of the basics? And so the Celiac Disease Video Project was born.

See below for videos of Dr. John Snyder, Chief of the Department of Gastroenterology at CNMC in DC, Dr. Gary Kaplan, Medical Director of Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine and Cheryl Harris, MPH, RD Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist discussing testing, diagnosis and follow-up, eating a gluten-free diet and a short segment on when it’s not Celiac. Though there are an increasing number of videos out there on people’s stories of diagnosis and ways to make a gluten-free pie, this is the first of its kind to do a run-down of the medical and diet basics by healthcare professionals. The Celiac Sprue Association has been kind enough to support the project. Read More »

May is National Celiac Disease Awareness Month, so it seems appropriate to share some medical facts about this autoimmune disease that just might shock you.

These facts come from Dr. Tom O’Bryan who is is a nationally recognized speaker and workshop leader specializing in gluten sensitivity and celiac disease.  Dr. O’Bryan’s specialty is in teaching the many manifestations of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease as they occur inside and outside of the Read More »