Who Really Should Not Eat Gluten.

[Lisa]

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In part -

“Confusion about gluten sensitivity has been rampant,” says Alessio Fasano, director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Celiac Research and a co-author of the proposal, published this week in the journal BMC Medicine. “That prompted a few of us to say, ‘Let’s put some facts on the table to assess what’s known and what’s not known.’ “

The proposal—partly supported by a maker of gluten-free products, Italy’s Dr. Schär AG—also spells out diagnostic criteria to help physicians determine which, if any, disorder a patient suffers from. “It is well possible that many individuals are on a gluten-free diet for no sound medical reasons,” the authors note.

The American Gastroenterological Association says that much more needs to be known about gluten sensitivity before official guidelines can be devised—including how many people suffer from it and to what degree.

About 1% of people in the U.S. have celiac disease, a fourfold increase over the past 50 years. Some gastroenterologists say that for every patient with celiac disease, they see six to eight who have the same symptoms, but without the tell-tale antibodies or intestinal damage needed to confirm celiac.

Evidence is mounting that gluten sensitivity does exist. Dr. Fasano and colleagues last year compared blood samples and intestinal biopsies from people with suspected gluten sensitivity to those with confirmed celiac disease and healthy controls, and found distinct differences in each.

And in a study published last year, researchers in Australia showed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that subjects with suspected gluten sensitivity had substantially fewer symptoms on a gluten-free diet than control subjects who unknowingly ingested gluten.

“Many physicians would roll their eyes and say, ‘God, another crazy person with food sensitivities,’ ” says Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and a co-author of the proposal. “It’s only now that studies are coming out showing that there’s something real about gluten sensitivity.” In fact, he notes that patients with gluten sensitivity often have even more severe symptoms than those with celiac disease, which is frequently “silent” or asymptomatic, even though antibodies to gluten are slowly damaging their intestinal tracts. That’s partly why celiac disease is underdiagnosed, he says.

Confusing the picture further are private labs that offer tests of stool or saliva that they say can definitively diagnose gluten sensitivity. Experts say that such tests haven’t been validated and shouldn’t be relied on for a diagnosis. “If anyone claims they have a test that is specifically for gluten sensitivity, there is no such thing, though I’m not ruling it out.(in the future).

[Skylark]

Good stuff, Lisa! Thanks for sharing.

Very interesting that Peter Green notes that gluten sensitivity can be more severe as far as symptoms than celiac.

[Lisa]

It's also good to know that research is ongoing for better diagnostic methods.

Yeah, I thought it was a good article.

And....

Confusing the picture further are private labs that offer tests of stool or saliva that they say can definitively diagnose gluten sensitivity. Experts say that such tests haven’t been validated and shouldn’t be relied on for a diagnosis. “If anyone claims they have a test that is specifically for gluten sensitivity, there is no such thing, though I’m not ruling it out.(in the future).

[Skylark]

Me, Nora, Researchmomma and the other folks on the board who read the peer-reviewed literature and explain over and over that fecal/salivary testing is unreliable weren't enough?

[Lisa]

Me, Nora, Researchmomma and the other folks on the board who read the peer-reviewed literature and explain over and over that fecal/salivary testing is unreliable weren't enough?

I think people are hungry for answers, and willing to pay for that affirmation. But, as mentioned in the article, I wonder how many people are on the gluten free diet, who do not need to be.

[mushroom]

I think people are hungry for answers, and willing to pay for that affirmation. But, as mentioned in the article, I wonder how many people are on the gluten free diet, who do not need to be.

Not as many as doctors think

[Skylark]

I think people are hungry for answers, and willing to pay for that affirmation. But, as mentioned in the article, I wonder how many people are on the gluten free diet, who do not need to be.

I find the posts from people who can eat bread in Europe and not in the US extremely interesting. There may be a lot more people reacting to GMO grains than we realize.

There is too much emphasis on "diagnosis" in this country and too little actual healing. Companies are victimizing people who have unknowingly bought into the Western medical emphasis on diagnosis. It drives me crazy and hopefully I've saved some people around here a few hundred dollars on needless testing that they can spend on their families or on something that makes them happy.

[mushroom]

I find the posts from people who can eat bread in Europe and not in the US extremely interesting. There may be a lot more people reacting to GMO grains than we realize.

I find it interesting that my big three reactions are to wheat, corn and soy

[Skylark]

I find it interesting that my big three reactions are to wheat, corn and soy

Wow, yeah. I hope you are getting organic, non-GMO rice.