In 1994 I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which led me to create Celiac.com in 1995. I created this site for a single purpose: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living happy, healthy gluten-free lives. Celiac.com was the first site on the Internet dedicated solely to celiac disease, and since then it has become an invaluable resource to people worldwide who seek information about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet. In 1998 I created The Gluten-Free Mall, Your Special Diet Superstore! which was also another Internet first—it was the first gluten-free food site to offer a shopping cart-style interface, and the ability for people to order gluten-free products manufactured by many different companies at a single Web site.
Source: Scandinavian Journal
of Gastroenterology, 18:(2):299-304, 1983 Mar.
Authors - Hallert C., Astrom J., Walan A.
Signs of mental depression are typical in adults with coeliac disease. The response to treatment was evaluated in 12 consecutive patients by means of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), with surgical patients serving as controls. The coeliacs reported no change in depressive symptoms after 1 years gluten withdrawal despite evidence of improvement in the small intestine. When re-tested after 3 years, however, after 6 months of 80mg/day of oral pyridoxine (vitamin B6) therapy, they showed a fall in the score of scale 2 (depression) from 70 to 56 (p less than 0.01), which became normalized like other pretreatment abnormalities in the MMPI. Cholecycstectomy in the control subjects produced no alterations in the MMPI profile. The results indicate a causal relationship between adult coeliac disease and concomitant depressive symptoms which seems to implicate metabolic effects from pyridoxine deficiency influencing central mechanisms regulating mood.