One of every 100 US whites has celiac disease - Chicago Tribune

[Scott Adams]

Open Original Shared Link Chicago Tribune 4:08 p.m. CDT, August 14, 2012. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - One percent of non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. - close to two million Americans - have celiac disease, but most are not aware they suffer the gluten-intolerance problem, according to a new study. Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[Takala]

Oh. Dear. God.

Not just the headline, the whole article.

Reading that is enough to make me want to tear my hair out.

It's National War on Perception of Celiac and Gluten Intolerance Prevalence Season. What next, our own drinking fountains ?

[lovegrov]

Oh. Dear. God.

Not just the headline, the whole article.

Reading that is enough to make me want to tear my hair out.

It's National War on Perception of Celiac and Gluten Intolerance Prevalence Season. What next, our own drinking fountains ?

Are you kidding? I see no problem at all with this article. No different than noting that sickle cell anemia is found primarily in blacks.

richard

[jerseyangel]

I see no problem at all with this article. No different than noting that sickle cell anemia is found primarily in blacks.

richard

I didn't see a problem either.

[Takala]

Okay, let me rephrase this. First, The Quote:

In the study, 55 people reported that they followed a gluten-free diet, although only six of them tested positive for celiac disease.

The celiac test the study used, was a blood test , remember ?

If one is already on a gluten free diet, the blood tests come back negative. Tah - dah. You don't officially have celiac. And you won't test positive evermore. Unless you go off of it.

In my other comments, I already addressed that their study demographic didn't match the U.S. population, either.

[lovegrov]

Umm, Takala, Dr. Fasano, who is quoted as saying this study confirms what we already knew, is most definitely NOT waging a "National War on Perception of Celiac and Gluten Intolerance Prevalence Season." He's one of the guys who was most active in bringing awareness of celiac to the public. I just don't see any war going on here.

richard

[Takala]

Did I mention Dr Fasano anywhere in my critique? NO.

My beef is with the Pharma and Agricultural lobbyists using media such as AP, to write slanted stories, who are actively working against 1. gluten labeling standards in the United States and 2. same lobbyists actively working against increased awareness and diagnosis of celiac and gluten intolerance and 3. they are working against labeling of GMO plant products at the consumer level. If the common perception being slung about by the regular media is that most gluten free is a fad diet really needed by very few people, guess how that effects agricultural policy in the United States in the long run, when these farm subsidy bills are being delayed ? And oh, btw, here, have some new GMO corn that's only good for ethanol . Don't pay attention to the pollen getting loose.

These people ARE out there, and they're really busy, very well paid, pushing the "gluten free eating is merely a fad" meme, and they don't particularly care that if the GMO plant breeders mess up and start inserting genes of "whatever suits their fancy" into our current gluten free foods, WE are the ones who will suffer. It's not just me, the home consumer, it's the entire baking industry, regular and gluten free, that should be aggravated on this topic. And this is just one example.

Any reader of the wikipedia article on the HLA DQ8 gene, Open Original Shared Link and its worldwide locations in different ethnic groups, including high proportions in certain Native Americans in the midwest and Texas/Mexico (Some of these people will surely be related to what is currently thought of as Latino or Hispanic, as these are cultural groups, not just "a single race" )and its association with auto immune diseases, would be scratching their heads in puzzlement at the headline. DQ 8 found in 20.6% of the USA South Texas Hispanics ( wiki quote) and this news article is implying with its headline that Hispanics just don't get celiac or gluten intolerance. Many modern -day blacks or African - Americans are not just of one "race" either, but of mixed heritage. It is a great disservice, IMO, to write news articles implying that certain "races" can or can not develop a disease, if they could, in fact, be in a group with a high proportion of genetic carriers of one of the genes most associated with it.

I imagine a lot of A/A's with "irritable bowel syndrome" would be pleased to know that there is a possibility of them actually being just gluten intolerant, or even.... celiac, which could be fixed by a diet change, instead of being told that it's "stress," or "lactose intolerance." But if the doctors aren't looking for it because they think it just can't happen, it means that they are being let down by the entire medical profession. Again. Same with Hispanics/Latinos. But my point (and I do have one ) is that they said over half the sample of people in the study was not "white...." hello, does it ever occur to them that non -whites may be selecting gluten free foods on their own, without thinking about why they are doing it, because eating that way makes them feel better ? And that is going to skew the test results.

[bensonj]

This is a wonderful resource that I have visited and used often, however, I joined this forum because of this post. I see something wrong with this article in a huge way. I am african american and I have celiac disease. My granddaughter has celiac disease and one of my sons is gluten intolerant. Headlines like these keep african americans from looking any further. I have many people who track me down from an online article written a few years ago (Open Original Shared Link) who are african american, at the end of their rope and sick who tell me as I was told, "You don't have celiac because you are african american." Our primary diagnosis is usually acid reflux or IBS so we go on eating gluten because "whole grains/whole wheat" is supposed to be so healthy and we stop eating raw veggies because it is bad for the IBS and we get sicker and fatter.

We are no longer eating the grains of old...this is a HUMAN BEING problem - not a problem of a specific ethnic group.

[pricklypear1971]

This is a wonderful resource that I have visited and used often, however, I joined this forum because of this post. I see something wrong with this article in a huge way. I am african american and I have celiac disease. My granddaughter has celiac disease and one of my sons is gluten intolerant. Headlines like these keep african americans from looking any further. I have many people who track me down from an online article written a few years ago (Open Original Shared Link) who are african american, at the end of their rope and sick who tell me as I was told, "You don't have celiac because you are african american." Our primary diagnosis is usually acid reflux or IBS so we go on eating gluten because "whole grains/whole wheat" is supposed to be so healthy and we stop eating raw veggies because it is bad for the IBS and we get sicker and fatter.

We are no longer eating the grains of old...this is a HUMAN BEING problem - not a problem of a specific ethnic group.

I cringe every time I see that headline or any alluding to Celiac as being a disease confined by race. And the gene quotes I see saying no dq2/8 "excludes" celiac make me want to scream, too.

[kittty]

Our primary diagnosis is usually acid reflux or IBS so we go on eating gluten because "whole grains/whole wheat" is supposed to be so healthy and we stop eating raw veggies because it is bad for the IBS and we get sicker and fatter.

Right on!

I am SO sick of hearing about "whole grains" as being health food. It's impossible to get away from the message. Turn on the TV in the morning and it's "Whole grain cereal can help you lose weight" or "Pick healthy whole grains for your kids". It's all smoke an mirrors. These "healthy whole grains" are nothing but genetically abused plants grown from Monsanto (talk about an evil empire) seeds, that our species has not evolved to ingest. No wonder auto-immune illnesses and cancer are on the rise.

The biggest issue is that these powerful companies OWN our country and they decide what we should eat. Many of the FDA board members have a financial connection to Monsanto, and these are the same people who decide for us whether Monsanto products are healthy for us. We also don't get to vote for these people - they are selected by others who are just as financially motivated.

I'm willing to bet that most of the millionaires at the top who are telling us to eat mutant wheat are chowing down on only the best organic produce. They know enough not to eat their own food.

Just as an example of how evil this company is, this is from Wikipedia:

"Monsanto asked the US government to maintain its strong pressure on the European Union legislation for the introduction of GMO foods. After moves in France to ban a Monsanto GM corn variety, the US embassy recommended that 'we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU'."

Our country is actively bullying other nations to adopt GMOs. This has got to stop.