Silent Coeliac Disease is the damage to the small intestine (which is typically found in traditional coeliac disease), but without any obvious symptoms.

As the obvious symptoms are not present people can go for years, often decades without being diagnosed, while coeliac disease slowly but silently eats away at their health.

The initial signs of Silent Coeliac Disease include:

• Anaemia
• Osteoporosis
• Some types of autoimmune disease

Data presented from a recent study in the US suggests that:

Coeliac Disease is a gluten reaction in the immune system that causes damage to the small intestines & malabsorption of nutrients, sometimes without any obvious symptoms but with severe complications.

Recent research from the U.S. provides some interesting indicative data suggesting Coeliac Disease occurs in:

• 1 in every 167 healthy children
• 1 in every 111 healthy adults
• 1 in every 40 symptomatic children
• 1 in every 30 symptomatic adults
• 1 in every 12 first – and second-degree relatives of coeliacs

No related posts.

Celebrations and social get-togethers can be difficult for gluten free dieters. Delicious snacks, wholesome meals and enticing deserts make it hard to resist gluten.

Consider this your gluten free party plan:

1. Talk to your host.

Before the party, try talking to the host about your dietary concerns.  Make sure he/she understands you’re not trying to create more work for the cook. You just want to understand what dishes to avoid come the night of the party.

2. Volunteer to bring a dish.

By bringing your own gluten free food item, it allows you to eat something with complete confidence.

3. Snack ahead of time.

Depending on the type of social gathering, you may be able to eat dinner before you go. Filling your stomach before you get to the party will stop you from its gluten temptations.

4. Eat salad and vegetables.

Exercise some common gluten free sense. Think about what’s safe and what’s not. Salads should be fine (just watch out for croutons). As should plain vegetables. True, neither is likely going to be the most interesting food available, but they will be the safest.

5. Drink Well.

It’s a party, so you’re likely to have a drink or two. You can’t have beer, but wines, soft drinks and distilled spirits can all be consumed

6. Chip Bowl Protocol.

Chips are one of the most common party snacks. Simple is always safe.  Avoid chips with flavouring (unless you know they’re gluten free). Plain potato and corn chips will be safe.

7. Dessert.

You should avoid cake and biscuits  (unless you know for sure). Gelatin, fruit, sorbet and most ice creams will be fine.

8. And The Rest.

Crackers are a no-no, but cheese is fine.

Sandwiches should be left alone, however you can have sliced meats (ham, turkey, chicken etc).

Having celiac disease or wanting to exercise gluten free diet is not a party killer. As always just be careful. If you’re not sure, leave it.

Following the above tips will go a long way to ensuring you can celebrate and maintain your gluten free well-being.

No related posts.

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease such as gluten sensitivity, these are the basic treatments that are most likely to occur.

The first step doctors will take is to identify targeted nutritional needs.
All doctors will perform check-ups, using various methods but they’ll all achieve the end result of gaining a comprehensive understanding of your nutritional deficiencies.   

The Gluten Free Diet:

Many doctors will prescribe a gluten free diet to you even if you haven’t had a blood test confirming you have a gluten sensitivity, if you’ve been unsuccessful with other treatments. Doctors will usually keep you on a gluten free diet for at least three months, so they are able to see the results effectively.

The Casein Free Diet:

Doctors will often prescribe a casein free diet for patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders like Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

The Paleolithic Diet:

If a doctor puts a patient on a gluten free diet, they’ll also often put the patient on a Paleolithic diet as it will also help treat an autoimmune disease. The Paleolithic diet consists of replacing grains from the diet with fresh, natural foods. The foundations of this diet are that our ancestors had a diet that was close to a Paleolithic diet rather than the high carbohydrate, processed foods many people consume today.

Dietary Supplementation:

Most doctors will prescribe dietary supplements either orally or intravenously to you, in order to help you restore your health a lot faster.

Detoxification:

On top of prescribing dietary supplements to you, doctors will also usually prescribe you supplements that are specifically designed to help remove toxins from the body.

The treatments may sound difficult as you might see it as a severe change, but the results will far outweigh the food sacrifices you’ll make as you’ll feel healthy, happy and energetic.

No related posts.

In 2004 a research study was published examining the link between gluten sensitivity and severe headaches.

The research was focused around “soft” neurologic conditions such as headaches in young adults and children. Headaches were the most commonly found neurologic disorder in the 111 patients with celiac disease. Out of the patients in the study; 64.5% with headaches had late onset symptoms of celiac disease or were gluten sensitive, and 35.5% had the early infantile form of celiac disease.

The study broke down the type of headaches the study participants experienced:

• Migraine 45.1%
• Non-specific 35.5%
• Tension-psychogenic 19.4%

Sixteen study participants were put onto a gluten free diet which relieved them of there symptoms.

Imagine the results if all patients who showed gluten sensitivity (not only the ones diagnosed with celiac disease) had been placed on a gluten free diet.

Another study conducted in 2001 followed 10 patients who suffered severe headaches and who all had MRI tests suggesting inflammation of the central nervous system, were each found to be gluten sensitive. These patients were told to start a gluten-free diet and all but one patient found relief. Seven out of the 10 patients recovered completely from their headaches, while 2 experienced partial improvement. The one patient who continued to suffer from headaches? Well he refused to try the gluten-free diet.

The next case from the study illustrates the power of a gluten-free diet.

A 50 year old man whose medical history did not show a disposition towards migraines experienced unexplained headaches for 4 years. When his headaches increased in severity and frequency, he agreed to take a blood test, which showed that he had anti-gliadin antibodies.

When he started on a gluten-free diet, his balance improved and his headaches disappeared completely. But 2 years later his symptoms had returned. When questioned, the man confessed he had stopped following a gluten-free diet. Another blood test was taken and this confirmed the return of anti-gliadin antibodies.

The results convinced the man that gluten was the reason for his headaches. He took up his gluten-free diet and has remained headache free to this day.

If this isn’t enough evidence to show that gluten can be the reason for headaches consider the following case.

One patient said that he had suffered from migraine headaches for more than 10 years. Neurologists that were consulted could find no cure, and the migraines continued to intensify so much that he had to take early retirement. By 2002 his 3 headaches a week had increased to an almost non stop headache, during one particular month he was headache free for only 3 days. Migraine medications did not work to help the patient’s pain.

The patient’s family doctor then suggested a gluten-free diet. The headaches slowly became less frequent and after several months he was 98% headache free.

Gluten-free wins again.

When parents discover they have an autistic child they often take drastic measures including drugs to control or offset their child’s autistic patterns. The Autism Research Institute (ARI) in the US, collected information provided by more then 23,700 parents who completed the questionnaire. ARI wanted to find out which remedies were the most effective in treating autism.

They found that one of the most effective treatments was following a special diet: removing gluten and casein from the autistic child’s diet, with 65% of parents reporting that their child got better.

Parents themselves report excellent results from a gluten-free, casein-free diet (Casein is the major protein in milk).

No related posts.

The most common type of anaemia is Iron Deficiency Anaemia. Iron is an important part of haemoglobin which is the oxygen-carrying pigment in the blood.

Your blood usually gets iron from the food you eat and by reusing the iron in old blood cells. When your blood is not gathering enough iron from you food you become anaemic, symptoms of anaemia include being easily tired, fatigued, or prone to other illnesses.

Well before the sensitive blood tests that we have today, that detect gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease, some doctors realised that iron deficiency anaemia could be caused by coeliac disease. A case from 1994 demonstrates this.

A 40 year old woman ha suffered from iron deficiency anaemia for 2 years without her doctors being able to determine the cause. Multiple endoscopic examinations had not revealed any abnormalities of her gastrointestinal system. Iron supplements had no effect, and eventually her doctor performed a biopsy revealing she had coeliac disease. She started a strict gluten free diet and her bloods iron levels increased. Her anaemia went away.

Researchers reported in 2001 that coeliac disease was diagnosed in 13.7% (26 out of 190) of people who had iron deficiency anaemia. These individuals were put on a gluten free diet, to determine there progress they were tested at 6, 12 and 24 months after going on the diet.

After 6 months on the gluten free diet, 77.8% of the patients had recovered from anaemia; only 27.8% had reversed their iron deficiency. After 12 months all but one patient recovered from anaemia and 50% had recovered from iron deficiency. After 24 months only one individual was still anaemic.

These results lead the researchers to conclude that screening for coeliac disease should be done in adults with iron deficiency anaemia. Adhering to a gluten free diet allows the intestine to heal, and as a result the anaemia goes away after 6-12 months.

A more recent study published in 2004 discovered a different rate of coeliac disease, 2.8% of 105 people with iron deficiency anaemia then the first study. The authors make a similar conclusion, that the ability to treat coeliac disease is why it should be a suspected cause of unexplained iron deficiency anaemia.

So, are you are tired and possibly achy all the time, and can’t figure out why? Go gluten free and see what happens.

No related posts.

In this video I discuss the relationship between organic food and celiac disease and touch on the importance of soil quality.

Best Regards
Paul Smith
glutenfreehealth.net

No related posts.

People with celiac disease can’t eat gluten, which is found in many everyday foods, such as bread. Find out more by this video about gluten free food for kids.

The gluten-free diet presents unique challenges for children with celiac disease and their families. Prior to diagnosis, children may be quite ill, suffering from poor growth and developmental delay.

Upon accurate diagnosis and treatment, children usually improve quickly; however despite rapid improvement of  celiac symptoms, compliance with diet may be less than optimal, putting the child once again at risk for the complications of untreated celiac disease.

Because children may feel uncomfortable being singled out as “different,” a diet that calls attention to their condition, and thus their differences, presents a unique challenge to parents and caregivers trying to meet the treatment
guidelines.

Frequent follow-up and monitoring, along with educational resources and support groups can aid families in maintaining a gluten-free diet and provide creative ways to deal with the challenges inherent in a gluten-free lifestyle.

Paul Smith’s video about celiac disease and kids.

No related posts.

Celiac disease could be at least four times more common today than it was 50 years ago, according to a new study from University of Minnesota.

This study has been conducted in United States, but it’s a fair demonstration about the terrible fact – Celiac Disease is on the rise.

One of the common suggestions is that celiac disease is on the rise due to increased diagnosis and awareness.

However this latest study, published in July/2009 in the Gastroenterology’ journal, suggests that increased awareness and better diagnosis might not explain rising numbers of celiac disease sufferers.

According to the website http://www.nutraingredients.com/

“Researchers examined 9,133 frozen blood samples taken from US Air Force recruits between 1948 and 1954 for the antibody that people with celiac disease produce in reaction to gluten, and found that only about one in seven hundred tested positive, or 0.2 percent.

They then compared this to rates of celiac disease among 12,768 people who either had similar years of birth (i.e. were born around 1930) or who were of a similar age to the original donors at the time of sampling (i.e. young adults today). The rates of celiac disease were 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent respectively, or a 4 to 4.5-fold increase. “

The study named “Increased Prevalence and Mortality in Undiagnosed Celiac Disease” were conducted by:

Alberto Rubio–Tapia, Robert A. Kyle, Edward L. Kaplan, Dwight R. Johnson, William Page, Frederick Erdtmann, Tricia L. Brantner, W. Ray Kim, Tara K. Phelps, Brian D. Lahr, Alan R. Zinsmeister, L. Joseph Melton, Joseph A. Murray.

No related posts.

There are many good people online writing about Gluten Free and health, Coeliac and Celiac disease and symptoms related to the disease.

This is one more of my weekly posts about articles I’ve been reading and I think are worth your time to read.

Tesco asks for ideas from coeliacs |
Living gluten free? Celiac or Coeliac disease? Need to avoid gluten? Raising a gluten free child?Absolutely astonished this morning to see that one of Tesco’s buyers has posted on the gluten free message board, asking what the gluten free community would like to see in store.
http://www.free-from.com/blog/

Family focuses on gluten-free diet benefits
Hawke’s Bay Today – Hastings,New Zealand
It may be hard for most kids to imagine not having a piece of birthday cake at a friend’s party, never buying lunch from the school tuckshop and never enjoying takeaways.
But for the Wilson siblings of Taradale it’s a life they’re just learning to cope with.
For Georgia, 12, it’s especially hard as she has never had any symptoms of coeliac disease, which tests have shown she has a severe case of.

Childhood Diabetes on the Rise in Europe
Truthdig website
Auto immune diseases in general — Celiac, the colitis’s, Lupus and so on — tend to be familial, though not necessary hereditary in the strictness sense.

NICE backs serological testing for celiac disease
Healthcare Republic (press release) – London,UK
Persistent gastrointestinal symptoms and prolonged fatigue are among symptoms that should alert gp’s to a possible diagnosis of celiac disease.

Wal-Mart gets Points for Labeling Gluten-Free
By AmyLeger
If those marketers are reading this post — we celiacs would love to see more of this! I thoroughly enjoy the fact that we can have a box of augratin potatoes now! They may not be the best for us, but I haven’t purchased them in 10 years

Best Regards
Paul Smith

www.glutenfreehealth.net

No related posts.

There are many good people online writing about Gluten Free and health, Coeliac and Celiac disease and symptoms related to the disease.

This is one more of my weekly posts about articles I’ve been reading and I think are worth your time to read.

1)Gluten Free Trina
Presents a new support group, it says “There are many support groups for those with various food intolerances, this is a nice place to share and help others along the way.”

2)Glutenfreetrina
It’s a new support group where users share their experiences with gluten free food and it’s benefits for a health life.

3)Gainesvilletimes.com
Writes in details about Celiac Coeliac Disease and supermarkets that have created special sections for gluten-free foods

4)Msceliacsays.blogspot.com
Ms. Celiac writes a delicious story about gluten Free, celiac coeliac and Starbucks.

5)GlutenFreeMom
It’s a great blog. Please check it out and subscribe

6)The View, interviews Dr. Peter Green about Celiac Disease and it’s symptoms.

<object width=”425″ height=”344″><param value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/4v-9U8GbLu0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/4v-9U8GbLu0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowScriptAccess=”always” width=”425″ height=”344″></embed></object>

Best Regards

Paul Smith
GlutenFreeHealth.net

No related posts.