Researchers looking at the anxiety factor of celiac disease

[trents]

https://www.beyondceliac.org/research-news/View-Research-News/1394/postid--114197/?utm_campaign=Research Opt-In&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72478196&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8cBCeWpQSG8tjxT3AC5kO9JlVU9sKiGcArKDefDbz0UI0-FrJiSWvmuEAJ7HWszix_3WVyFj1AaK8h8iqwb5bG0LBdew&_hsmi=72478196

A potpourri of issues discussed in this article but here are some things that stood out to me: "Similarly, in Robert’s multinational study reviewing biopsies of patients done initially and at follow up, persistent symptoms were found on the second biopsy in 78 percent of patients with damaged villi and 66 percent of patients who had normal biopsy . . . More than half of 184 patients in the study who had a second biopsy had persistent damage. In addition to the findings related to symptoms and damage, the study was designed to show physicians how to  correctly take samples when a patient needs a second biopsy so changes are not missed."

Also, it seems persistent diarrhea is the one symptom that correlates well with continuing villi damage: "Diarrhea was the only symptom the predicted intestinal damage found when a biopsy was done . .  . The study found symptoms of celiac disease are inconsistent in predicting the results of a blood tests and biopsies. This inconsistency led researchers to conclude symptoms should not be the only thing used to evaluate a patient’s response to a gluten-free diet. However, frequent and severe diarrhea should prompt a reevaluation of the condition of the intestine, they noted."

Finally and this is long overdue, researchers are beginning to look at the impact of anxiety on Celiac sufferers: "Peter Green, MD, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, asked if the study evaluated whether the gluten transgressions being detected with the urine and stool tests had caused the study participants any real harm. “We are concerned we are driving these people crazy,” he said in a question and answer period following the lecture.  Green noted that researchers are increasingly looking at the effect anxiety about the gluten-free diet has on patients."        Celiac disease can become bigger than life if we let it.