Diagnosis & Awareness

     Much talk is given to the trials of dealing with Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance in today's society. However, it seems that only lip service is given to the diagnosis of the problem. Awareness seems to be growing everyday as far as the number of people that realize their issues and putting a finger on the root cause.

     Celiac has been linked to a great number of issues such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, hair loss, arthritis and even Autism. For so many years, we were taught that many of these problems were just a part of "growing older". With the rise of diagnosis in young children, that old adage just doesn't work anymore. In my travels, I have come across a great number of people, strangers and old friends alike who have been diagnosed as a Celiac or gluten intolerant after many years of thinking they had a lot of bugs, flu, chronic fatigue, or "food poisoning".

     They attributed the first two things to interaction with other people, their fatigue to not being 18 anymore, and the food poisoning to that new restaurant they had been wanting to try since it opened. In a way, they DID have food poisoning, just not from old chicken or a questionable sell by date on the wrapper. We have all gone straight home from the restaurant and hugged the bowl once in a blue moon.... That's not to say it never happens, just that we finally have a name to associate with some of the issues we face.

     I don't believe in blaming everything on one or two problems, but it is great to see a heightened awareness from those suffering with Celiac Disease and gluten issues. And many people are leading much better lives after removing the gluten from their diet.

     Now the race is on to bring more awareness to the medical community to diagnose and treat the problems. Sometimes these things happen slowly but when the public is more informed, the tide can turn much quicker.

Let us know about your stories......