2 Articles In Baltimore Examiner

[happygirl]

Interview with Dr. Alessio Fasano: Open Original Shared Link

(My note: This is why the Celiac community is so lucky to have him: "Philosophy: Discovery is to see what everyone else has seen and to think what no one else has thought.")

"Doctor unraveling mystery of celiac disease

By Sara Michael

Examiner Staff Writer 1/16/09

Open Original Shared Link

"Celiac sufferers adjust to gluten-free lifestyle, wait for a cure

By Sara Michael

Examiner Staff Writer 1/16/09

[Jestgar]

Not really a fan of this paragraph:

Absolutely. But the hazard is ... once you go on a gluten-free diet, the tools we use for the diagnosis are not available anymore. The tests will test negative once you go on a gluten-free diet. You lose the ability to make a diagnosis. It's like you say, "I am peeing a little too much, and I am light-headed, so let me take 20 units of insulin and see if I have diabetes." For celiac disease, a gluten-free diet is like insulin for diabetics.

Choosing your diet isn't really the same as shooting yourself up with insulin.

[happygirl]

It actually makes perfect sense to me in the context its used -testing- and I have seen the overall example used on the forum and other places - you can't test for Celiac once you are on the diet (because, the damage has healed, and we look "normal") and you can't really test for diabetes when your blood sugar is under control (with use of insulin, at that point, looks normal, and now it looks like you "don't" have diabetes because you "fixed" it when the testing was done.)

[MaryJones2]

Thanks for sharing Laura. I thought this part was excellent:

If you go on a 99.9 percent gluten-free diet, that 0.1 percent is perceived by the immune system as something dangerous there. It can't distinguish between a crumb and an entire bread loaf.

[rubyred]

Thanks for the articles! I actually just made an appointment to see Dr. Fasano - on Feb 24th. I am going to get records of my previous endoscopy for him to look over. I'm very excited!! It's nice to read that he believes in the gluten spectrum, so even if he says I dont have Celiac, he will take my symptoms and diet response seriously!