[Lisa16]

I caught the tail end of this story when I turned the radio on this morning and I had to find it on their website. It is rather badly written (ie "people with the disease are four times more likely to die than people without the disease"-- ha! Are we not all going to die one day? Sheesh! That is the part that made me look it up. The other funny part concerns the man's theories)

I pulled it off the MPR website. Enjoy! It is at least good for a laugh:


Mayo research suggests gluten allergies more common
by Sea Stachura, Minnesota Public Radio
July 1, 2009


Rochester, Minn. — Celiac disease -- an allergic reaction to gluten - is four times more common today than it was 50 years ago, according to research conducted at the Mayo Clinic.

Mayo gastroenterologist Joseph Murray says one in 100 people now have the disease.

He says doctors had thought the marked increase was a result of better screening, but the research suggests that celiac disease is truly becoming more common, paralleling other diseases like type one diabetes or allergies.

Murray says that suggests this could be an autoimmune response, or it could be that something has changed about gluten.

"When it's not busy fighting infections in our environment it's up to no good and turns on ourselves or create autoimmunity. That's one theory," he said. "Celiac disease is unusual in that we know the environmental trigger for the disease. You have to eat gluten, the protein from wheat, barley or rye to get the disease. So another possibility is that something changed about gluten."

People with untreated celiac disease are also four times more likely to die than people without the disease. Murray says people of all ages can develop the disease.

[lovegrov]

Note that they say people with UNTREATED celiac are more likely to die. I was nearly dead at age 46 before they diagnosed mine. And if they hadn't found the cause, I have no doubt I wouldn't be alive now.

richard

[kenlove]

Sure is written badly-- Almost makes me wish their was a blog for it so we can see those who fight celiac and are members of this forum do not die <G>

Lisa16, on Jul 1 2009, 04:41 AM, said:

I caught the tail end of this story when I turned the radio on this morning and I had to find it on their website. It is rather badly written (ie "people with the disease are four times more likely to die than people without the disease"-- ha! Are we not all going to die one day? Sheesh! That is the part that made me look it up. The other funny part concerns the man's theories)

I pulled it off the MPR website. Enjoy! It is at least good for a laugh:


Mayo research suggests gluten allergies more common
by Sea Stachura, Minnesota Public Radio
July 1, 2009


Rochester, Minn. — Celiac disease -- an allergic reaction to gluten - is four times more common today than it was 50 years ago, according to research conducted at the Mayo Clinic.

Mayo gastroenterologist Joseph Murray says one in 100 people now have the disease.

He says doctors had thought the marked increase was a result of better screening, but the research suggests that celiac disease is truly becoming more common, paralleling other diseases like type one diabetes or allergies.

Murray says that suggests this could be an autoimmune response, or it could be that something has changed about gluten.

"When it's not busy fighting infections in our environment it's up to no good and turns on ourselves or create autoimmunity. That's one theory," he said. "Celiac disease is unusual in that we know the environmental trigger for the disease. You have to eat gluten, the protein from wheat, barley or rye to get the disease. So another possibility is that something changed about gluten."

People with untreated celiac disease are also four times more likely to die than people without the disease. Murray says people of all ages can develop the disease.

[Takala]

Oh, gee whiz, that is pathetic.

There is possibility the reporter was so clueless that he or she misinterpreted, but oh, wow, that's bad.

Uh, no, we don't know the environmental trigger for the disease. Not everybody with the genetics that they have found associated with it, so far, starts reacting to the wheat family. Wheat isn't making everyone go celiac. It could be anything else, I thought, infection or pollution or toxins.

He ought to look at the spread of Lyme disease and tick bites, for instance.

Overall, the American diet has changed tremendously in what is put into pre packaged manufactured food now, a tremendous amount of processed starch from grains, used as fillers.

It could be a synergistic effect from diets combining regular wheat with genetically modified corn and soybeans- although I am rather pessimistic that there would ever be a study that would be able to show a negative human health effect from GM grains, because of the enormous hostility of the companies which breed and market them to this possibility. It could be that humans are exposed to so many chemicals like pesticides or herbicides in groundwater, or air pollution from coal fired plants dumping mercury into the air which ends up in the water, or a reaction to changing ground/soil conditions, changing pH, ammonia runoff in streams, warmer temperatures.... who knows.

More of our parents survived to reproduce us.

The article makes it sound like we're just dropping like flies, if it's not read carefully. Oh well, another day, another misconception!

[Lisa16]

Oh, I was particulary amused by the doctor's idea the the "gluten itself has changed."

It is a protein with a specific molecular structure and that specific structure defines it.

If this is the state of the research at Mayo, we are all up to our necks in doo-doo!

[lovegrov]

Lisa16, on Jul 1 2009, 08:43 AM, said:

Oh, I was particulary amused by the doctor's idea the the "gluten itself has changed."

It is a protein with a specific molecular structure and that specific structure defines it.

If this is the state of the research at Mayo, we are all up to our necks in doo-doo!

Joseph Murray is one of the top celiac experts in the U.S., possibly in the world. He's contributed immeasurably to our understanding of celiac.

As I said before, he said that people with UNTREATED celiac are four more times likely to die early, not people with treated celiac. I'd say he's probably right.

richard

[Takala]

Rondar2001 has a link up to a much better write up of this from a Canadian site. It sounds like the MPR writer or editor was not quite up to speed on the topic.

Of course, the first sentence is a doozy, but it's an improvement.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/...evalence_090701

Quote

Celiac disease four times more common that in the 50's

"Celiac disease, when gluten in the diet attacks the lining of the stomach, is four times more common than it was in the 1950s, according to new research, which also found a link between having undiagnosed celiac disease and a higher risk of death.

It's the attack of the Wheat Protein Ninja. Run ! Run !

No, you goombah copy editors, it's an auto immune reaction where my own body is attacking itself. The article at least gets it correctly.

Quote

"(Celiac disease) now affects about one in a hundred people," Murray said. "We also have shown that undiagnosed or 'silent' celiac disease may have a significant impact on survival. The increasing prevalence, combined with the mortality impact, suggests celiac disease could be a significant public health issue."
___
"Some studies have suggested that for every person who has been diagnosed with celiac disease, there are likely 30 who have it but are not diagnosed," Murray said. "And given the nearly quadrupled mortality risk for silent celiac disease we have shown in our study, getting more patients and health professionals to consider the possibility of celiac disease is important."

They're comparing Wyomians at an Air Force Base in the '50's to Olmsted County Minnesotans, I wonder if and how the demographics changed or are they still mostly of Scandinavians/Northern Europeans ?

[Lisa16]

lovegrov, on Jul 1 2009, 12:03 PM, said:

Joseph Murray is one of the top celiac experts in the U.S., possibly in the world. He's contributed immeasurably to our understanding of celiac.

As I said before, he said that people with UNTREATED celiac are four more times likely to die early, not people with treated celiac. I'd say he's probably right.

richard

Richard-- it's not the doctor, it's the reporter.

[Lisa16]

Thanks takala for posting the longer version that actually details the research. I appreciate it.

:-)