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Celiac.com 08/08/2023 - If you have celiac disease, you've likely encountered various attitudes from people as you try to navigate the world of gluten-free eating and dining. A nationwide survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Beyond Celiac help to put some detail into the attitudes Americans have toward gluten-free dieters. Those Who eat Gluten-Free are Seeking Attention The poll results indicates that Americans lack understanding and hold misconceptions about celiac disease. The survey, conducted among 2,081 U.S. adults in April 2023, found that 28% of Americans believe that those who eat gluten-free are merely seeking attention. However, for the 3.2 million Americans living with celiac disease, adhering to a strict gluten-free diet is vital to manage this serious autoimmune condition. The survey also highlighted other key misunderstandings about the disease. Only 27% of respondents realized that getting diagnosed with celiac disease is challenging, because many individuals without typical stomach or digestion-related symptoms do not get tested, and are misdiagnosed with other conditions. Only 40% of Americans Aware that Untreated Celiac Disease can Lead Cancer Moreover, only 40% of Americans were aware that if left undiagnosed or untreated, celiac disease can lead to lymphoma, other cancers, additional autoimmune problems, and various life-threatening medical conditions. Another misconception found in the survey was that 43% of Americans thought that attending social events and parties would be difficult for individuals limited to gluten-free food. Beyond Celiac CEO Alice Bast emphasized the importance of increasing awareness about celiac disease. She stated that while celiac disease awareness has improved over the years, there is still work to be done to create a world where people with celiac disease can lead healthy lives without fear of social stigma or gluten exposure. Celiac disease causes damage to the small intestine and results in debilitating symptoms. If left untreated, it can lead to severe long-term health issues such as infertility and certain types of cancer. While research into possible treatments continues, there are currently no medications or cure for celiac disease. Following a strict gluten-free diet that excludes wheat, barley, and rye is the only way for those with celiac disease to manage their condition and live a healthy life. However, it's important to note that even with a gluten-free diet, there may still be health risks associated with the disease. Clearly, more work needs to be done on educating both the celiac patients, and the general public about the facts and risks of living with celiac disease. Read the full report on the survey, including methodology information, at beyondceliac.org

Celiac.com 06/00/2023 - I have been accused of many things in my lifetime—namely talking too much, being overly protective, being the ultimate caretaker—but the accusation I am glad to own is "you never miss an opportunity to talk about celiac disease". How fortunate I am to be so passionate about something and to be able to do something with that passion. Everyone who has traveled the road to diagnosis on their own or with a family member can understand its frustrations. Everyday I talk with people about celiac disease and the delays that most people face when getting diagnosed, about the intricacies of the gluten-free lifestyle, and about how wonderful life is again thanks to their discovery. I feel so privileged to be in a position to educate and enlighten people with celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. One of the primary goals of the Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF) is heightening the awareness of celiac disease in the medical community, with an emphasis in Southern California where the projected population of people with celiac disease is so great. CDF has an outstanding medical advisory board that shares our goal and generously gives their time and expertise to our programs. A past goal of the CDF was to present a clear and positive directive about the gluten-free diet. We accomplished this by partnering with our colleagues, Gluten Intolerance Group™ and publishing the "Quick Start Diet Guide," which is now in its third revision. Each of our organizations is so pleased with the positive response from the entire celiac community regarding this partnership that we are currently developing additional information together. The variety of gluten-free vendors has grown tremendously over the past five years – products are available in health food and specialty stores as well as supermarkets throughout the United States. There are even two walk-in stores in this country devoted exclusively to gluten-free foods. The ability to get products delivered directly to our homes really makes things easier. We now have an Italian restaurant In Glendale, California that prepares and serves gluten-free pizza and pasta. What a treat to sit in a restaurant and be served your very own loaf of gluten-free bread. So, little by little, with each of us talking about celiac disease to our physicians, friends, families, grocers and restaurateurs, we are making our lives easier and helping the lives of people yet to discover that they have celiac disease. Journal of Gluten Sensitivity™ newsletter is yet another opportunity to do what I love and do best. We should each take any opportunity we can to enlighten just one more person about celiac disease!

Celiac.com 11/09/2012 - From their position in the public eye, celebrities can often draw attention to worthy causes, and to advocate for awareness of those causes more effectively than people outside the media spotlight. After being diagnosed with celiac disease in 2008, actress Jennifer Esposito is on a gluten-free diet, and though she's still recovering from the damage to her small intestines, the 'Blue Blood' actress is emerging as a strong advocate for celiac awareness. Like so many others with celiac disease, Esposito suffered for many years with symptoms ranging from stomach upset, exhaustion, joint pain, sinus infections, dry skin and hair, panic attacks, depression, and back pain. In fact, nearly twenty years went by before she had a solid diagnosis. In a recent interview, Esposito told S. Z. Berg that she is still dealing with the "repercussions of improperly being diagnosed over the years." She points to a lack of awareness about the disease for consumers and that fact that only recently "is the medical field paying closer attention." In a line that may be familiar to many people with celiac disease, she points out the long struggle to fully recover, even after adopting a gluten-free diet, noting that even though "many of the stomach issues and other ailment start to subside," celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that requires daily attention. People with the disease, she says, must constantly be aware of what they eat and maintain a healthy lifestyle, along with healthy vitamin and mineral levels. She says that her recovery has been "a long journey... and one that I still am on. The severe panic attacks have subsided as well as the depression, but with one bad meal they are ready and waiting to come to the forefront." Her own struggles have left her "determined to educate and make people aware of the truth about this disease." Ultimately, Esposito had her celiac disease confirmed through blood test and biopsy, but in some ways, that was only the beginning of her challenges. She says she believes that the medical industry needs to focus on "treating the individual person, the whole person, body and mind and not about money and mass studies of a disease." She also bemoans what she calls the "one pill fits all mentality" of the medical profession, along with the fact that nutrition is something that gets addressed only after an individual has gotten diagnosed. She describes this as "negligence," and says that it has compounded the damage, and with it, her difficulties. "My life is dramatically different and my health is a struggle everyday," she says. To help others with their celiac disease struggles, Esposito has created a blog called Jennifer's Way. There, she hopes to help people learn more about celiac disease and share the struggles and triumphs of her journey toward wellness. Her blog includes tips, ideas, and advice on how to get started in this new life. I also share some of my favorite easy and good for you recipes that I've created. She's also founded Jennifer's Way Foundation for Celiac Education to help make sure that going forward there is proper education about this disease in addition to helping to generate awareness to help people live a healthy gluten-free life. Jennifer has a nonprofit organization, Jennifer's Way, to help educate the public about celiac disease. Her Twitter handle is @JennifersWayJE. Developing Story: Breaking news indicates that Jennifer Esposito has been dismissed from her role in Blue Bloods, for reasons she says have to do with her celiac disease. This story is developing, so stay tuned... Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sz-berg/jennifer-esposito-celiac_b_1770642.html

Celiac.com 05/14/2020 - May is Celiac Disease Awareness month. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how we got a whole month, but I'm happy we do. I use this month as a way to bombard my personal social media with facts, figures, memes, infographics, and anything else to let people know more about celiac disease. But really, before we get into the whole Celiac Disease Awareness month pomp and circumstance, I wanted to make an apology. Lately, I've been really hard on scientists studying celiac disease, and I've had some revelations that maybe I've been too hard on them. Celiac disease has been around for millenia. Scientists have found evidence of the disease in ancient bones from Rome. The trigger for celiac was pieced together during bread shortages in World War II in the Netherlands. I want to believe that scientists know a lot about this disease. But I'm not confident that is a fair assumption. Until the early 2000's, celiac disease was thought of as a disease discovered in childhood that could be outgrown. Celiac was thought to be rare in the US, they didn't have the tools to look for celiac, and therefore doctors didn't even screen for celiac. When you talk to people diagnosed before 2005 or so, they will tell you that it was highly unusual to find someone with celiac disease. In the few people I've talked to diagnosed before 2005 or so, they will tell you it was years before they were diagnosed. Typically, they had a family member that was a doctor and did research to find this unusual disease. They will tell you they were diagnosed via endoscopy only because that is all that was available at the time. The Tissue Transglutaminase or TTG test was developed in 1997. In Gut magazine in 2000, scientists talk about the new TTG test and in the introduction they say, "Coeliac disease is one of the commonest underdiagnosed diseases in general practice." Wow! And that was only 20 years ago they were talking about celiac being common and underdiagnosed. Now you have a disease that can be easily screened for and an easy cure—simply eliminate gluten from the diet and all will be well. Gluten is what causes the damage to the small intestine—so removing it should solve the problem. GMO's, Paleo diets, and gluten-free diets are all the dieting rage in the early 20-teens. Gluten-free foods are the fastest growing segment of the food industry. Gluten-free labels start to appear on everything—gluten-free or not until the FDA limits the use of the gluten-free label and requires food manufacturers to list the top 8 allergens in clear bold print on the label for all to see. Wheat is considered one of the top 8 allergens, but the remaining gluten allergens, like barley and rye, are not required to be listed. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity starts to enter the lexicon. This is where someone has a reaction to gluten but tests negative for celiac disease. It is a controversial diagnosis of exclusion as there is no test to confirm NCGS. Food allergy tests also come into vogue during this time. All gluten containing grains are a part of these test and many people show "reactivity" to gluten containing grains. Further fueling the demand for gluten-free foods. In the second half of the 20-teens, drug companies start to realize that this celiac disease might be a gold mine. It is an underserved community with absolutely ZERO pharmacological interventions available for those with celiac disease. The gluten-free diet should cure the disease. Drug companies realize that the gluten-free diet is hard and that people want to be free to not deal with such a restrictive diet. Fast forward through the gluten-free fad of the early 20-teens and we come to today, which is really where I wanted to get to anyway. I don't think we have a clear idea of what celiac disease is, what its long term effects are, how strict does a gluten-free diet need to be to induce healing, and why do some heal on the diet while others move to refractory celiac disease. I think we know the trigger of celiac disease as the dietary consumption of gluten. But we don't know why only about 1% of the people with the genetic markers develop celiac. Scientists have conflicting information about the development of celiac in children regarding the timing of introduction of gluten, breast feeding vs. bottle feeding, and other things. In Sweden there was a huge spike in celiac diagnosis for children born in the 1980's through early 1990's, but they don't know why. I consistently see studies discussing that no matter how hard we try, it is virtually impossible to eliminate gluten 100% from our diets. My answer is duh, but obviously scientists didn't know. I think they thought it was easy to eliminate gluten from the diet. I think they are slowly realizing how much attempting a gluten-free diet affects people health-wise, socially, and economically. I see studies that show that people with celiac disease have a shortened lifespan and others that say that once a gluten-free diet is initiated all risk factors for a shortened lifespan return to normal levels. Let's not even discuss those that move onto refractory celiac disease. I've decided they don't know for sure about the long term consequences of celiac...gluten-free diet or not. My bottom line in all of this very long diatribe, is that they've only really been studying celiac disease for about 20 years. In northern Europe, they have more historical data on celiac than anywhere else, but it is still pretty scant and incomplete. But I've decided we have to give these scientists a break. They are working hard to crack the mysteries of celiac disease. Although I'm disappointed at where we are in the research today, I'm hopeful that we will make significant discoveries in the next 20 years of ongoing research to provide answers to those suffering from gluten-related diseases. But, today, and all this month, is Celiac Disease Awareness Month, so let's put all of these worries behind us and let the world know about celiac disease!

Celiac.com 06/21/2019 - Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune disease in which gluten in food causes the body’s immune system to attack the gut. There is no cure. Celiac disease is a lifelong condition, and the only treatment is a strict gluten free diet. When people with celiac disease accidentally eat gluten, they can have bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pains and lethargy. Symptoms can last several days, and sometimes require medical attention. Ireland has nearly 50,000 celiac disease sufferers among almost 5 million citizens. In an effort to improve menu offerings for Ireland’s celiac sufferers, the Coeliac Society of Ireland is calling on Ireland’s restaurateurs to take their Gluten Free Eating Out Pledge. Launched as part of Coeliac Awareness Week, the pledge is designed to encourage restaurants and cafes to reassure people with celiac disease that they can order gluten-free food with confidence. Under the terms of the Gluten Free Eating Out Pledge, restaurants agree to: Meet the Gluten Free Standards established by the Kitchen Safety Checklist Have staff members complete online catering training Clearly mark all gluten-free menu items with the gluten-free symbol, or offer a separate gluten-free menu What do you think about the idea? Should more restaurants commit to serving safe, reliable gluten-free meals? Share your thoughts below.

Celiac.com 10/07/2011 - In October 2010, Kicking 4 Celiac Foundation Executive Director Craig Pinto made 717 regulation field goals in a 12 hour period to set a Guinness World Record. That success marked the beginning of the foundation's annual “Kicking4Celiac” event, which raises money and awareness for celiac disease. The second annual “Kicking4Celiac” event is set for October 9th, when Pinto will return to the football field at Bethpage High School and attempt a second world record, this one for the “Most Field Goals made in 24 Hours.” Pinto must make a at least 1,000 field goals in 24 hours to break the existing world record. This year’s event will help to grow the foundation's scholarship program, which, beginning in early 2012, will award scholarships to college-bound students with celiac disease. Speaking of last year's event, Pinto said that "the progression mirrored what I went through with celiac disease. The initial mental stress, the physical stress, but the hard work to make it through, and come out on top. It is something I want to continue to do, to break people’s thoughts and stigmas that when you’re diagnosed with celiac disease that your physical abilities will change." Pinto added that the “support from people reaching out was absolutely amazing, and it just showed how strong the celiac community stands behind and supports each other. We’re in this together.”

Celiac.com 04/29/2010 - May is designated as National Celiac Awareness Month. As such, I thought it would be a great opportunity to explore the history of celiac disease. Most people think of celiac disease as a modern day ailment, which predominantly affects those of European descent and in Westernized societies. However in my research, I found that the best place to start when referencing the history of celiac disease, is actually the beginning of humans. In the beginning of humans, known as the Neolithic Period, humans were hunters and gatherers and primarily survived on fruits, nuts, and meat when available. During the Neolithic Period, humans evolved and began cultivating plants which quickly led to the agricultural revolution. With the agricultural revolution came a myriad of food antigens, such as dairy, eggs and processed grains. It was during this time that celiac disease was born. Some 8,000 years after making its debut, celiac was identified and named by a Greek physician known as Aretaeus of Cappadocia. In the first century A.D., Aretaeus documented information about, “The Coeliac Affection.” He named celiac disease, “koiliakos” derived from the Greek word for “abdomen”. In his descriptions of celiac Aretaeus stated, “If the stomach be irretentive of food and if it pass through undigested and crude, and nothing ascends into the body, we call such persons coeliacs”. While a name had been given to the disease, people with celiac still had no idea how to heal from the condition, and were still vastly unaware of the cause for their ailments. It wasn't until the early 19th Century that Dr. Mathew Baillie published his observations on celiac disease which he sited as, 'chronic diarrheal disorder causing malnutrition and characterized by a gas-distended abdomen'. In his observations, Dr. Baillie documented that some of his patients appeared to benefit from eating only rice. However important Dr. Baillie's findings were, they still went largely unnoticed by the medical community until 75 years later when an English doctor known as Dr. Samuel Gee, came into the scene. In 1888 Dr. Gee was working for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in the United Kingdom when he demonstrated a set of clinical trials performed on children and adults with celiac disease. Dr. Gee was quoted as saying, “To regulate the food is the main part of treatment. The allowance of farinaceous foods must be small, but if the patient can be cured at all, it must be by means of diet.” As an example he sited a very sick child that was fed the best Dutch mussels every day during mussel season. The child thrived during mussel season, but as soon as the season was over, the child regressed and died before the next mussel season. In the 1920's, Sidney Hass presented the “Banana diet”. Sydney successfully treated 8 out of 10 children suffering with celiac disease using the banana diet. He claimed to have cured the 8 children that were on the banana diet, but the other 2 children not on the banana diet, died. The banana diet included the elimination of all bread, crackers, potatoes and cereals and for several decades, the banana diet was the only cure for celiac disease. Another important marker in the history of celiac disease were the findings by Dutch pediatrician, Dr. Willem Karel Dicke. In 1953 Dr. Dicke wrote his doctoral thesis for the University of Utrecht based on his observations that the ingestion of wheat proteins specifically, and not carbohydrates in general, were the cause of celiac disease. He was able to exemplify his findings based on bread shortages in the Netherlands during World War II. During the bread shortages, he found that the health of children with celiac improved tremendously. However, when the allied planes began dropping bread to the Netherlands, the same children quickly deteriorated. In the 1960's, it became evident that the best method for testing for celiac disease was to perform a biopsy. However, doctors were urged not to diagnose people as having celiac disease until it was proven that gluten was the cause for the damage. To determine if a patient had celiac disease, a biopsy would be performed to evaluate the damage done to the intestines. The patient would then be put on a gluten-free diet. Another biopsy would then be preformed to determine improvement in the intestines. After improvement the patient would be put back on a gluten diet, and another (3rd) biopsy would be preformed to determine reoccurring damages to the intestine, and thus the presence of celiac disease. This method was used for over 20 years as the best method for testing for celiac disease. Then in the 1980's studies by Dr. Stefano Guandalini, showed that the presence of celiac could be found in 95% of celiac cases by performing a single biopsy. In 1990 these findings helped create the new guidelines for celiac testing which were approved by ESPGHAN (European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology). Also during this time, professionals starting recognizing celiac as an autoimmune disease and also began recognizing the correlation between gluten sensitivity and other autoimmune diseases. Here we are now in the year 2010; thirty years after the medical profession has successfully established the causes, tests and treatments for celiac disease, and thousands of years since celiac first made it's debut. Yet, as far as early diagnosis is concerned, we are still living in the dark ages. In this day and age, knowing what we know about celiac disease, childhood screening for celiac should already be mandatory. It's almost as if, when doctors were told in the 1960's to hold off on celiac diagnosis until they knew undoubtably that gluten was the cause for damage to intestines, they were never told, 'okay, now it's safe to diagnose for celiac'. Unfortunately, many (if not most) doctors still don't know how to appropriately diagnose patients for celiac disease, and therefor they continue to 'hold off' making celiac diagnoses, or misdiagnose regularly. Enforcing mandatory celiac screening in school age children has potential to eliminate the unnecessary suffering of millions of children and adults worldwide. My dearest hope is that we all get to see mandatory celiac testing in this lifetime. If you would like more information on “Celiac Awareness Month,” please check out the links below. The following links are trusted sites that also provide suggestions on how you can get involved and contribute to celiac awareness in your community. Celiac Disease Foundation Celiac Sprue Association Celiac Disease Timeline: Agricultural Revolution - celiac disease is born 1st Century A.D.- Aretaeus named celiac, “ koiliakos” 1st Century A. D.- Aretaeus documented“The Coeliac Affection.” 19th Century- Dr. Mathew Baillie published his observations on celiac 1888- Dr. Gee established the correlation between celiac and diet 1920's - Sydney Hass successfully treated celiac patients with “the banana diet” 1953 - Dr. Willem Karel Dicke confirmed wheat protein to be the cause for celiac disease 1960's - Biopsy established as the most accurate test for celiac 1980's - Dr. Stefano Guandalini established a single biopsy test for celiac 1990 - ESPGHAN established new guidelines for celiac biopsy testing Sources: Impact America's Silent Epidemic

Celiac.com 11/13/2014 - An anonymous donor has made a $2 million dollar contribution to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA). The donation is the largest in the organization's history, and will support the NFCA’s mission is to raise celiac disease awareness, promote research and testing testing, and improve the quality of life for celiacs eating a gluten-free diet. Since 2003, the NFCA has worked to promote celiac disease research and awareness. The grant will help to ensure support for the NFCA as it looks to increase research and awareness into the future. Stay tuned for updates on how the NFCA supplements or expands its ongoing efforts on behalf of people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance.

Celiac.com 04/13/2012 - There is a disease that affects one in every hundred Americans and causes physical and mental agony yet once it’s diagnosed, it can be easily treated with a change in diet and without the administration of drugs. You maybe haven’t even heard of it. You would think that the sufferers of this disease would be rather lucky to have such an easy treatment option available to them, right? As a matter of fact, it turns out that this disease—celiac, or coeliac, disease—may be easy to treat, but it’s very difficult for doctors to diagnose, and for the very reason that doctors haven’t heard of it either. It’s estimated that three out of every hundred of the people with celiac disease has been diagnosed. Only three out of every hundred! So why is it that most celiacs suffer without diagnosis? Low awareness in this country means low awareness in the medical community about this disease. If you’re like most Americans, you probably haven’t even heard about it before you read this article. With celiac disease, a component of wheat, barley, and rye, called gluten, causes an immune reaction that attacks the intestine and can affect the entire body. Another reason for difficulty in diagnosing celiac disease is the fact that doctors usually miss the diagnosis because they don't realize how variable the disease can be. There are numerous gluten intolerance symptoms. People with celiac disease aren’t able to properly absorb essential nutrients because the villi, the absorptive fingers in the small intestine, have been damaged or destroyed. Other symptoms and problems caused by this autoimmune disease include diarrhea, fatigue, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, distention, weight loss, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, vomiting, short stature, iron deficiency with or without anemia, failure to thrive in infancy, poor performance in school, delayed puberty, infertility, recurrent miscarriage, elevated liver enzymes, Down syndrome, Sjogren's syndrome, canker sores, arthritis, depression, osteoporosis, vitamin deficiencies, tooth discoloration and dental enamel defects, skin disorders, autism, nerve and balance problems, irritability in children, seizures, and migraines. Additionally, there seems to be a slightly increased risk of lymphomas and gastrointestinal cancers. Many symptoms of celiac disease look like many other diseases, sicknesses, etc so it is very deceiving. Doctors don't think of celiac disease, as it isn’t stressed in medical school or doctors are taught that the symptoms of the disease are always dramatic, which isn’t true. Doctors are, however, becoming more aware of the disease. However, it takes an average of four or more years before the correct diagnosis of celiac disease is made in the very small percentage who are correctly diagnosed at all. Celiac disease is easy to test for. Simple blood tests detect the disease over ninety percent of the time. The diagnosis is then confirmed by an upper endoscopy; a small, flexible tube is slipped into the mouth of the sedated patient, down his esophagus and stomach and into the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum, where biopsies are taken and then examined for changes seen in celiac disease. Even simpler than testing for diagnosis is the treatment of the disease—a gluten-free diet. It is challenging and requires a lifestyle change, but with more and more gluten-free substitutes and gluten-free recipes available, adopting a gluten-free diet and gluten free cooking is easier than ever. There's research into developing a pill that would help people with celiac disease, as well. A few years ago I had many painful symptoms and bouncing from doctor to doctor with no diagnosis. I finally happen to fall into the hands of a doctor who very much knew about celiac disease and tested me for it. It took a lot of time and determination, and most people aren’t able to devote themselves to this degree. It’s really not right that millions of people are suffering from this disease with no diagnosis. A disease that can treated so easily yet the diagnosis for which is so elusive, when simply educating doctors in its symptoms would bring these people such relief. While efforts are surely being made to get the U.S. government to fund research and to raise awareness for this disease, there are some things you can do yourself besides just writing your representatives, which I highly suggest you do. If you were to send out this article to a hundred people or speak to the same number of people about this subject, chances are, you would come across a sufferer of celiac disease and you would change that person’s life. Better yet, post it on a blog or forward it to friends and have them forward it themselves. In this way, you may be able to contact many more than a hundred people. The increased awareness will lead to increase relief.

Celiac.com 10/24/2011 - Shannon Ford, of Miami, Florida has been crowned Mrs. United States 2011. Mrs. Ford received the crown from 2010 winner Rachel Juillerat. The award is particularly noteworthy for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Two years ago, Ford was diagnosed with celiac disease, and she now maintains a gluten-free diet. Contestants for Mrs. United States are judged on personality, charitable commitment, evening gown and swimsuit, a judges’ interview and dramatic final live question. In her new role as Mrs. United States, Ford will make appearances across the country, charity events and speaking engagements. By promoting her platform, “1 in 133 – Raising Awareness for Celiac Disease," Ford also hopes to increase celiac disease awareness and to advocate for better labeling of our nation’s food supply. Of her new title, Ford says: “Being Mrs. United States is a huge responsibility. I’m excited to get back to Florida and get to work.” She is scheduled to begin make appearances across the nation, with her first stop being a benefit luncheon for the Easter Seals. Mrs. Ford earned her B.A. in Psychology from Florida International University. She currently works as a human resources manager for major wealth management company. She also serves as a Miami Dolphins ambassador, chosen from former Dolphin cheerleaders to represent the organization and advocate community service. Ford married her husband Ray after dating him for 15 years. They are both avid runners, and Shannon Ford has competed in numerous half and full marathons. Source: Open Original Shared Link

Celiac.com 09/13/2010 - Happy National Celiac Disease Awareness Day! Here at Celiac.com we sometimes forget this special day because to us every day is Celiac Awareness Day! For those who don't know, each September 13th is the official "National Celiac Disease Awareness Day" due to United States Senate Resolution (S.Res. 563), which was adopted in 2006. September 13th was chosen for this important day because it is Dr. Samuel Gee’s birthday—who was the first medical doctor to discover a link between celiac disease and a person's diet, way back in the late 1800's. He once said "if the patient can be cured at all, it must be by means of diet." Celiac.com hereby proclaims that forthwith on this day EVERYONE should eat gluten-free—and everyone should also be sure to hug a celiac! Oh, and don't forget to give thanks to Dr. Gee before eating that gluten-free food—after all, if it weren't for him we would probably all be pretty miserable right now! More information about Dr. Samuel Gee can be found at: https://www.celiac.com/articles/77/1/The-Celiac-Affection-in-Children-1---Edinburgh-Med-Journ-Vol-XXXV-NOIV-Oct-1889-pp-321-330/Page1.html http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1312.html http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=7101&inst_id=8 Source: http://www.csaceliacs.org/documents/CeliacAwarenessDaySamuelGee.pdf

Celiac.com 05/17/2010 - Scott Adams and Ron Hoggan went on live radio last Saturday on the Love By Intuition Show with host Deborah Beauvais (Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network) in support of Celiac Disease Awareness Month. The show is broadcast live from Boston, MA on 1510 AM Revolution Boston, a progressive 50,000-watt station reaching 5 states locally, and on Energy Talk Radio in San Francisco, and it reaches over 1,000,000 listeners. The show will be re-broadcast several times and will hopefully reach many more listeners. The podcast is attached and can be downloaded or listened to from our server. Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network is holistic healing radio network with an eclectic group of radio hosts all with the common goal to help humankind by offering different modalities or programs combined with tools to bring awareness, joy and love to their listeners. Their vision is to continue to syndicate the Network of shows by having additional affiliates both terrestrial and Internet.