New Therapy For Celiac

[Claire]

For consideration - Claire

NEW THERAPY MAY MEAN LESS DIETARY RESTRICTIONS FOR CELIAC SUFFERERS

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[Ursa Major]

That looks interesting. Of course, this far they haven't tried it in REAL stomachs with REAL patients, only in the lab under conditions that sort of mimic the stomach and duodenum. We'll see if it still works when they test it on people. It would be nice to have this enzyme when going out, just in case (but I'd still not purposely eat gluten).

[psawyer]

Dr. Kholsa spoke about this project at the Canadian Celiac Association's National Conference last month in Toronto. While promising, it is in the early stages. Clinical trials are expected to start in late 2006 and continue through 2008. Availability of an approved product is another couple of years beyond that, assuming that the stuff actually works in people.

The goal is to deal with small amounts of gluten (less than 500 mg daily), not to allow celiacs to eat gluten at will. It would be enough, though, to pretty much take care of cross-contamination issues.

[jerseyangel]

Dr. Kholsa spoke about this project at the Canadian Celiac Association's National Conference last month in Toronto. While promising, it is in the early stages. Clinical trials are expected to start in late 2006 and continue through 2008. Availability of an approved product is another couple of years beyond that, assuming that the stuff actually works in people.

The goal is to deal with small amounts of gluten (less than 500 mg daily), not to allow celiacs to eat gluten at will. It would be enough, though, to pretty much take care of cross-contamination issues.

That would be great! Keeping gluten-free is easy--it's that CC that gets me I hope it sails through the trials, and is deemed effective. Thanks Claire and Peter for this good news

[Nantzie]

I agree.. The only thing that irks me anymore is the cross contamination. So that would be SOOO cool.

Imagine going out to dinner and just being able to pick the croutons off the salad, or just not eat the bread that's on the plate.

Imagine just being able to order the food without watching the server's eyes glaze over when you're trying to explain how important it is that the kitchen staff knows to use a clean pan for your food.

How cool would that be????

Nancy

[debmidge]

the only barrier would be getting this once it's out as a prescription....as sure as shooting the pharamaceutical plans will not want to pay for it....maybe at first when the initial price is so high. We should work from now to clear the pathway with these pharm plans to make sure that they are on board with it from the start. Would the demand that they pay for the prescription come from the individual states' legislatures?

[Fiddle-Faddle]

If it works only in an acid environment like the human stomach, then the hundreds of us who are on acid-blockers either have to go off our acid-blockers or not take this....

[eKatherine]

If it works only in an acid environment like the human stomach, then the hundreds of us who are on acid-blockers either have to go off our acid-blockers or not take this....

Your acid mechanism may be whacky, but you must have stomach acid in order to digest your food.

This sounds like the kind of thing that should be sold next to the lact-aid and beano in the supermarket.

[mart]

If it really works and it's really safe to use, I wouldn't care how much I had to pay for it. I agree that eating gluten free was a big deal at first, but not so much now, and that cc is the main issue of concern. To be able to eat out and travel to foreign lands again...gosh, it sounds almost like a dream.

[ravenwoodglass]

The only problem with this is that it does not address the absorption of the gluten by the mucous membranes. By the time the gluten gets too the stomach it's too late anyway. It may show promise as far as relieving the GI components of celiac disease but the toxin would still be entering the bloodstream through the mucous membranes and effecting the brain and other organs.

[Guest Viola]

It's an interesting study, and would certainly be helpful for traveling and staying at relatives houses. That cross contamination gets me every time.

I think acid blockers just block the excess acid, not all of it. I'm on them and still have problems with acid, although it is an improvement. I don't think they would be too much of a problem.

[mart]

I'm curious about this remark the doc made in the article: "and a majority of celiac patients who adopt a restrictive diet still exhibit structural and functional gut abnormalities." Would this explain why many celiacs (such as my son) continue to have stomachaches despite a strict gluten-free diet?

[Lister]

i know it wont solve pure gluten problems, but man it is really nice to see a shine of hope for all of us when it comes to cc