Celiac article in the PI

[Guest guest]

This was written in our local paper ... it's a good summary of

some of the current thinking (though it only goes into classic

" celiac " , not all the issues of gluten intolerance in general, which is more

widespread). A couple of things are interesting ... first, the

person diagnosed is a young child (the usual case) and second,

the family cooks special foods for her (even though this requires

special counter scrubbing etc) rather than go GF themselves, which

would be far, far easier. That's really common in the celiac group ...

they'll cook special for the kid for years and years, even though

the rest of the family may be getting sick too. Makes you think

how addictive the stuff is.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/169871_glutenfree21.html

Her parents, and Mark Fisher, saw her become irritable and clingy. She

complained of frequent tummy aches. At her 24-month doctor visit, her weight and

height percentages had dropped from the 95th to the 50th percentile. As the

stomachaches became more severe, she would vomit every time the family sat down

for a meal, and diarrhea set in on a family road trip. They also realized that

her arms and legs were skinny, but her belly was distended.

The Fishers had just switched to a new pediatrician who correctly suspected that

had celiac disease, also called gluten intolerance and celiac sprue, a

condition that affects children and adults. It can be triggered at any age and

is characterized by an immune reaction to the protein gluten, found in wheat and

several other grains.

They quickly removed gluten from her diet and saw a major improvement within

four days. " We had this other kid back, " says 's mom. Her stomach pain

subsided and she began to gain weight again. They credit their pediatrician with

a quick diagnosis and note that many children and adults suffer for years

without being diagnosed

....