8 replies to this topic

[Candy]

Has anyone been able to get the pills that are supposed to digest gluten ? I know about it from an article on this celiac.com website that I read about a year ago. Some medical place in the state Maryland was the one that mentioned it , and I'm sure it exists , but no one seems to want us to have it, or else it would have been offered to us all. I think it was brand new when it was mentioned last year. Maybe they have to test it or something. I wouldn't use it all the time like people think -I would use it occasionally when I eat pizza,pretzels,doughnuts,and Christmas bread stuffing,which isn't every every day,more like every two months. AND I wouldn't have to worry abouting eroding my small intestine and such.

[tom]

I believe you're talking about AT-1001, from a company (Alba Therapeutics) started by a U of Md Dr.

It's in testing now.

I was surprised to find that they're measuring its effectiveness with a test for the extent of permeability in leaky-gut.
From what I've read, it's more a treatment for leaky-gut - both repair & prevention I believe - than something more directly related to celiac or gluten, tho I do think leaky-gut is directly related to celiac. Uh-oh, that doesn't make as much sense as I'd hoped it would.

Anyway, it may turn out to be a very helpful drug in recovery from celiac damage, but is probably at least a couple yrs away. I've seen mention of it as a potential "cure", but to me, that's highly misguided.

[Silly Yak Pete]

A pill to toterate gluten would be a miracle pill. I hope it would be more effective then the lactose enzyme pills that we lactose suffers have to take.

[JennyC]

I don't think that any pill that breaks down gluten is a practical solution to celiac disease. Celiac disease is not like lactose intolerance! If Lactaid does not digest 100% of lactose consumed the worst that will happen is stomach cramps and diarrhea. If the gluten digesting pill does not digest 100% of the gluten, then it will set off an autoimmune response in the body. I very much doubt that any drug company will guarantee you that any enzyme supplement is 100% effective. With all the complications that can arise when a person with celiac disease continues to eat gluten, there's no way I would ever consider giving it to my son, unless he accidentally ate some gluten. (We usually don't even know he's had gluten until the next day, so the pill would still be of little value.)

I just needed to vent!

[ravenwoodglass]

A pill to toterate gluten would be a miracle pill. I hope it would be more effective then the lactose enzyme pills that we lactose suffers have to take.

You may be sensitive to casein and not to lactose, in which case the lactose enzyme pills are not going to help at all. You may need to eliminate casein and not lactose, not easy I know cause I am there right now. There are lots of replacements for cheese and stuff that are lactose free but even a lot of stuff that says dairy free has casien.

As to the enzyme pill, my health food store has a product called something like glutenese digestive enzymes. It states clearly on the bottle that it is not for celaic. I don't take them but my DH does. He eats breakfast out almost every day and while he is knowledgeable about CC issues he does not like to mention the need for seperate cooking etc and just orders his eggs off the grill. He was getting CC constantly which effects him more neurologically than GI wise. He does not take it to be able to eat gluten but he does seem to be much less 'twitchy' from CC lately. He is on his second bottle and normally has to be really pushed to even take a vitamin so he must be noticing some difference himself.

[Gemini]

Jenny.....couldn't agree with you more! I highly doubt a pill will ever come about for celiac disease because it would have to stop the autoimmune reaction and doctor's just haven't even come close to conquering that monster. Look at the treatment and vaccines for AIDS....they have made strides but the bottom line is the immune system can adapt to meds they try and they are never completely effective.

I sometimes cannot understand why, aside from the money aspect of it, people have such a hard time with going and staying gluten-free. There is just so much good food out there that can replace whatever you crave. I don't know about anyone else but even if there was a complete cure, the thought of eating fast food or a donut makes me want to barf. I was way too sick to ever want to eat that crappy food again! I can't even stand the smell of fast food.

[threeringfilly]

I know this is an older thread, but I thought I might add my 2 cents...

I used to work with a little girl who was autistic, and her parents had her on a gluten-free casein-free diet, and I could definately see the difference in her when she was completely gluten-casein-free as opposed to when she ate anything with gluten or casein.

Her mom would buy an enzyme from http://www.houstonni.com/ that she would have before having any gluten or casein - such as when they ordered pizza and or went out to eat. She would keep as much gluten or casein out of her diet as possible, but these enzymes helped.

They didn't cure her, but I remember it helping.

I also found this site http://www.enzymestu...m/dietsgfcf.htm
Which seemed to have some pretty interesting information about studies and stuff.

Then this site: http://www.enzymestu...robiotics.htm#2
Which described the enzymes and probiotics.

I remember writing down the name of the exact enzyme she used, it's just a matter of finding that little piece of paper...

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Has anyone been able to get the pills that are supposed to digest gluten ? I know about it from an article on this celiac.com website that I read about a year ago. Some medical place in the state Maryland was the one that mentioned it , and I'm sure it exists , but no one seems to want us to have it, or else it would have been offered to us all. I think it was brand new when it was mentioned last year. Maybe they have to test it or something. I wouldn't use it all the time like people think -I would use it occasionally when I eat pizza,pretzels,doughnuts,and Christmas bread stuffing,which isn't every every day,more like every two months. AND I wouldn't have to worry abouting eroding my small intestine and such.

Candy, from what I've read, it seems as though that pill is supposed to avoid reactions to cross-contamination; it's not a license to eat poison, not even every two months!

Unfortunately for us, there are studies that show that even eating a crumb a month is enough to cause visible villi damage in celiacs. That means that every time you cheat, you are triggering your immune system to destroy part of your body.

You can MAKE gluten-free pizza, doughnuts, and Christmas bread stuffing EASILY, and if you use the right recipes, it really does taste as good as the gluteny stuff. And Kinninkinnick makes gluten-free pretzels that taste exactly like--pretzels, and I have to fight my gluten-eating husband for them. Come to think of it, Kinnikinnick also makes really good chocolate doughnuts, too.

[debmidge]

From what I know and read about these new discovery, Zonulin, which is still in Human Clinicial Trials, is that it's going to work on the molecular level; it won't work like lactose pills. It's supposed to stop a "t" cell response (or something like that).

http://www.celiac.co...ease/Page1.html

http://www.albatherapeutics.com/