Gluten intolerance NIH conference

[Guest guest]

There have been some interesting

developments on the Gluten intolerance

front ... because of some recent studies, it

is now being considered a much bigger problem

than anyone thought. The NIH is having a meeting

this June to discuss the issue ... which I imagine

is going to result in more press coverage and, it

sounds like, better food labelling.

http://www2.gastrojournal.org/scripts/om.dll/serve?action=searchDB & searchDBfor=a\

rt & artType=fullfree & id=as0016508503019619

The appreciation that CD is one of the most frequent chronic conditions of

humankind and that it can represent an unparalleled model of immune-mediated

disease that can pave the way to crucial information on the pathogenesis of

other autoimmune diseases has recently revitalized the interest of the

scientific community in this disease. Consequently, the National Institutes of

Health is organizing a consensus conference on CD that will be held in June

2004. Further, for the first time, industry, media, support groups, and the

American scientific community have combined their efforts in a National Task

Force to promote a food labeling bill that will clearly identify products as

gluten-free, so facilitating the challenging task of CD patients to adhere to a

correct diet. The next vitally important step will be to educate primary care

and specialty physicians as well as the general public about the common

occurrence of CD in all of its forms, and the availability now of powerful

case-finding serologic screening tools.

See also:

The iceberg cometh

http://www2.gastrojournal.org/scripts/om.dll/serve?action=searchDB & searchDBfor=a\

rt & artType=fullfree & id=as0016508503018791

Serological testing can provide health care workers with vital and illuminating

information. A dramatic example (Lancet 1999;354:9179) includes a recent study

of blood samples from nearly 1000 Bedouin children that revealed 5% of subjects

had positive EMA serology. Many of these children were malnourished secondary to

what was presumed to be poor calorie intake. Those subjects with biopsy-proven

CD who restricted wheat from their diet demonstrated significant clinical

improvement. In the present studies, EMA and hTTG tests allowed identification

of not only symptomatic individuals but also those with silent disease. In

addition, Maki et al. show the strong correlation between EMA and hTTG testing.

-- Heidi