Short-changed By Dr. Erika Schartz

[Paul Jackson]

Dr. Erika Schwartz, M.D., holds herself out as an "nternationally recognized physician, expert in conventional and integrative medicine, Dr. Erika is also a well known author, television and radio personality, speaker, and medical advice columnist helping more than ten million weekly readers find their way to wellness and life in balance . . . .

"As a 'Patients Advocate' her guiding principle has been to help protect the public by providing them with sound and unbiased information that makes it easy for people to take responsibility for creating a positive outcome in their health and life.

"Dr. Erika's warm, encouraging, honest and common-sense approach is enhanced by a courageous ability to stimulate discussion and debate with the goal of improving a health system that has failed the individual and is in desperate need of fixing."

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This post focuses on one piece of advice proferred by Dr. Schwartz, i.e., "How to Eliminate Wheat?" Like it or not, this is the name she chose to give as the topic of her advice concerning celiac disease and how a person (whom she somehow presumes doesn't have it) can eliminate wheat. To approach to this area of medicine knowledge, she might have named it instead as "What Are the Risk Factors of C.D. or Gluten Intolerance, and How Do I Adopt a Gluten-free Diet Once I've Been Rx'd?"

But Dr. Schwartz uses no such name for her piece of advice on this topic, simply because it appears she doesn't take a knowledgeable approach. Indeed, she only spends 88 seconds in giving this piece of advice (

):

"The beauty of being young is that our bodies can process and tolerate practically anything. Wheat is among those foods that is all pervasive during our youth, and that we can digest and actually use as nourishment. As we get older, our bodies stop being able to process the wheat. There's a thing called celiac disease, where people cannot tolerate wheat and gluten. But most people don't need to be diagnosed with anything.

"As you get older, your inability to eat and digest and process wheat causes you bloating, discomforting. The waist gets thicker. And you get a lot of bloating and a lot of gas. So the first thing to do is not to run to the gastroenterologist to get a test, but rather eliminate the wheat from your diet. That means: eliminate bread, eliminate pasta, and anything else that has wheat like cereal.

"It's not that dramatic. You can actually eliminate wheat and eat rice bread. Rice bread is really delicious. It's found at the health food stores in the frozen food section, and it doesn't contain wheat or the gluten that makes it so difficult for us to absorb. And you'll feel good and it tastes delicious. Try it."

Perhaps the brevity of the piece of advice would lead one to disregard. "Brevity is the soul of wit," wrote Shakespeare. The point is that in the fast-paced, soundbite media-driven culture in the United States today, an 88-second video can have a lasting impact on the thinking of millions of people, undiagnosed celiacs and gluten intolerants among them. And the impact is especially great, coming from an M.D. who is right in the public spotlight, giving members of the public what I regard as shabby advice:

If anyone among Dr. Schwartz's 10 million weekly readers experiences bloating, gas, or discomfort, or gets a thicker waist, she need not entertain the possibility that she has celiac disease (although it happens to be the most-underdiagnosed disease in the country). Vigilance for this disease is not warranted, simply because it doesn't concern "most people."

Rather, Dr. Schwartz says that if her 10 million weekly readers experience these symptoms, what they need to do is head straight for the health food store, bypassing the gastroenterologist's office, where they might get a test and discover the hard facts about their own health. Just whistle past the graveyard, says this "Patient Advocate" and medical doctor who openly discourages people from seeking medical care.

So, in their 88-second t