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Celiac.com 10/19/2021 - There is some data to indicate a connection between celiac disease and IgA nephropathy (IgAN). In celiac disease IgA-class tissue transglutaminase (tTG) autoantibodies are seen in the small bowel mucosa and extraintestinal organs, in addition to circulating in serum. A team of researchers recently studied whether celiac disease-type IgA-tTG deposits occur in kidney biopsies in a case series of IgAN patients with or without celiac disease. The research team included Rakel Nurmi, Ilma Korponay-Szabó, Kaija Laurila, Heini Huhtala, Onni Niemelä, Jukka Mustonen, Satu Mäkelä, Katri Kaukinen, and Katri Lindfors. They are variously affiliated with the Celiac Disease Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University in Tampere, Finland; the Celiac Disease Center, Heim Pál National Pediatric Institute in Budapest, Hungary; the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Clinical Center, University of Debrecen in Debrecen, Hungary; the Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University in Tampere, Finland; the Medical Research Unit, Seinäjoki Central Hospital in Seinäjoki, Finland; and the Department of Internal Medicine, Tampere University Hospital in Tampere, Finland The team looked at nine IgAN patients, four of whom had celiac disease. The team measured serum tTG autoantibodies at the time of the diagnostic kidney biopsy, and looked at colocalization of IgA and tTG in the frozen kidney biopsies. The results showed IgA-tTG deposits in the kidneys of three IgAN patients with celiac disease though two patients had been diagnosed with celiac disease years later. They fund no deposits in a known celiac disease patient who was following a gluten-free diet. Of the five non-celiac IgAN patients, three showed IgA-tTG deposits in their kidneys. From their small study, the team concludes that tTG-targeted IgA deposits can be found in the kidney biopsies of gluten-consuming IgAN patients, but they likely won't be much help in spotting celiac disease, due to limited specificity. Read more in Nutrients

Celiac.com 08/11/2021 - It takes a well-trained CIA operative to decipher some of this stuff. If the consumption of fat is thought to contribute to fatty liver (which it doesn’t), then why is it found in the context of starvation? Why is alcoholism the leading cause of fatty liver disease in people? And why does gastric bypass surgery, which involves a dramatic reduction in calories, trigger fatty liver disease? This same surgery is also associated with the precipitous development of iron deficiency anemia, bone density issues (osteoporosis) and immune failure in many cases. The morbidity rate following this harmful surgical invention is staggeringly high, and totally explainable. They’re making acute surgical celiacs out of these people. The symptoms they show could be the direct result of malabsorption of vital nutrients that would normally be picked up by the duodenum (calcium, iron, iodine, B complex, vitamin C, and trace minerals). This kind of physiological stress could trigger just about anything, including a subclinical viral infection (or viral adaptation) of the liver. But why do I get so upset over seemingly insignificant news items claiming that fatty liver disease is the result of eating fat? Because the low fat diet is one of man’s worst dietary inventions! Fat is crucial to a healthy diet, serving as a vehicle for certain vitamins to enter our body (the fat soluble A,D,E,K) the source of essential fatty acids (omegas), and the provider of protection against things trying to affect and invade our body, including these pesky lectins I keep writing so much about. Yes, dietary fat (animal fat not man-made trans fats) helps to block the attachment of certain dietary glycoproteins (e.g. the harmful ones from gluten, dairy, soy, etc.) to the villi of our intestinal tract. Other things that help in this regard are good carbs and glycoproteins from fruits and veggies such as pectin from apples. Pectins actually bind lectins. Fats more or less coat the GI tract and prevent the attachment of lectins. That is why whole milk is less harmful than skim milk, as I have discussed before. About five years ago I started seeing more and more chicken allergies in dogs. I wondered if it was because dogs were eating more chicken and that it was a secondary food allergen due to the damage being done by the “big 4” (gluten, casein, soy, and corn) like so many other food allergies, or whether there was something in the chicken that was inducing the problems.   I decided to check out what they were feeding poultry on the hunch that they were loading them up with gluten grains and corn. Five minutes into an Internet search yielded my answer. As of about 10 years ago now, they have been pouring the wheat to chickens and turkeys. If they fed them too much wheat, do you know what happened? They died of fatty liver syndrome. Until now, fatty liver syndrome has been considered “idiopathic: in veterinary medicine. Cats die from fatty liver syndrome. Fatty liver disease is the leading cause of liver disease and failure in the cat.   And what is the leading cause of fatty liver disease in people? Alcohol—grain alcohol. Most alcohols are made from grains, including beer. Could it really be the lectins in the grains that are inducing the fatty liver disease more than the alcohol itself? That makes sense when you think about the number of people who drink (excessively) versus the number who develop fatty liver disease. There has to be something special about those people. Either they have gluten sensitivity or a resident virus or both.   We are making great strides in expanding our understanding of lectins (e.g. those in the “big four”, legumes, grains, corn and dairy), environmental pollutants, trans fats, and the damage done by some drugs. Celiac awareness has opened a number of doors and will lead to improved understanding of dairy, soy and corn intolerance as well. I can’t wait for cow milk to finally be publicly convicted for what it has done to human and veterinary health. That time is coming soon.   We have had this wrong for years and the evidence has pointed us in a better direction for a number of years as well. Fat is not the enemy. You don’t get fat from eating fat. Dr. Atkin’s helped prove this. Similarly, your cholesterol does not go up primarily from eating dietary cholesterol. Further, an unusually low cholesterol diet is not healthful. Cholesterol, for example, is the building block for all of our hormones, including sex hormones and cortisones. It is an essential component in immune responses and in the protection of individual cells from invasion by harmful substances and organisms. The anti-cholesterol and anti-fat campaigns are ill-conceived, misguided, and harmful to our health, thus my passion on this topic.

Celiac.com 08/07/2021 - The following is a summary of the 2007 International Celiac Symposium February 20, 2007—Meeting Dr. Michael Marsh The XII International Celiac Disease Symposium was held on November 9th through 11th, 2006, at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. International Celiac Disease Symposiums have been held every two years throughout the world. I was thrilled to be able to attend this Symposium because it was in New York. The Celiac Symposium was separated into two categories for this event. Physicians attended one forum and celiacs and dietitians attended a separate Clinical Forum, however, many physicians also presented material at the Clinical Forum. The highlight of the Symposium, for me was meeting Dr. Michael Marsh—quite by accident. Who is Dr. Marsh? He wrote the only textbook for gastroenterologists on Celiac Disease in 1992 and updated it in 2000 and he is constantly being quoted in celiac literature. When a celiac patient’s biopsy is taken for the diagnosis of celiac disease, the category of markers used to evaluate that biopsy are called the Marsh scale, named after this great man! The Marsh scale describes the amount of gut damage seen on a biopsy as Marsh I, Marsh II, Marsh III, etc. These markers have been used since the eighties! Dr. Michael Marsh was a gastrointestinal researcher from the University of Manchester when he wrote the first textbook on celiac disease. He has since retired to study Neurobiology at Oxford. He is clearly one of the nicest people I have ever met. I met him quite by accident because the Hilton was very crowded with never enough tables, so I crashed a table of all men so that I could have a seat to eat my lunch. I found out one person at the table was Dr. Michael Marsh! I asked him how he felt about all the research going on for a cure for celiac disease. He said, “we have a cure for celiac—the gluten-free diet”. Dr. Marsh was given an award at the Symposium by his fellow peers, which is testimony to the contributions they feel that the man has made in providing the level of understanding that was needed to make a true diagnosis of celiac. Dr. Chaitan Khosla from Stanford was Impressive Dr. Chaitan Khosla from Stanford made a very impressive presentation. In the past, most research on celiac disease has been done by gastroenterologists—Dr. Alessio Fasano, Director of Research from University of Maryland, Dr. Peter Green, Director of Columbia Celiac Research Center, etc. However, Dr. Khosla is a Professor of Chemistry in Biochemistry at Stanford and clearly a scientist. He became motivated to become involved in celiac research because his wife and one of his children are diagnosed celiacs. I am very optimistic when celiac research is attracting those with such a variety of medical backgrounds, and I feel it can only help to lend new understanding to one of the most frequently undiagnosed diseases in medicine today. There was much discussion about which country was making the most progress in raising money for celiac research. I was impressed that the Swedish government recently gave $8.5 million toward celiac research. However, Sweden is a country with socialized medicine and a much smaller country than the U.S. It also has one of the highest ratios of celiacs. I was most impressed when Dr. Khosla became rather irritated by the many comments relating to which country had the most funding. He announced, “Science is not owned by any one country—it belongs to the world! We need the best scientists in the world to work on celiac disease research!” I will never forget that impressive statement! Dietitians/Nutritionists Discuss the Gluten-Free Diet Tricia Thompson, MS, RD, USA, discussed “The Gluten-Free Diet” Carol Semrad, Gastroenterologist and Nutritionist from University of Chicago discussed “Determining Safe Amount of Gluten” Ann Lee, MSEd, RD, CDN from Columbia Celiac Disease Center discussed “What are Safe Grains?” Melinda Dennis, MS, RD, LDN from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center discussed “Gluten Contents of Medications/Supplements: A cause for concern?” These four are recognized as some of the most respected nutritionists in the country. Tricia Thompson, author of the American Dietetic Association’s booklet, “Celiac Nutrition Guide” said, “There is no worldwide agreement on the gluten-free diet. In some places, like the U.K. wheat starch where the gluten has been removed is fully acceptable, whereas in the USA we still have zero tolerance for wheat starch.” Ann Lee stated that there is no requirement that gluten-free grains be fortified. There was much concern amongst these professionals about celiacs consuming recommended amounts of fiber, iron, calcium and grain foods. They encouraged celiacs to try the many alternative grains such as amaranth, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, teff and wild rice that provide greater nutrition for celiacs. Melinda Dennis stated that over-the-counter and prescription medications do not have to disclose allergens. Many over-the-counter drugs contain gluten and must be researched. We should check for gluten in nasal sprays, inhalants and eye-drops. Carol Semrad says the gluten-free Labeling Law will go into effect in 2008, which will determine the proposed amounts allowable for a manufacturer to label products “gluten-free. Between now and 2008 there will be much discussion about this topic. One of the most rewarding feelings I had at the Symposium was in meeting so many dietitians who were sent to the Symposium by their gastroenterologists so they could return to their communities and update others on the many dimensions of celiac disease and the gluten-free diet! One gastroenterologist from North Carolina not only attended himself, but paid the expenses for his whole staff including a nurse, a nurse practitioner and a dietitian to educate them about celiac. Many gastros from all over the country financed the cost of the seminar and travel expenses for their dietitians—a wonderful trend that I hope “spreads.” I met so many dietitians whose expenses were being funded by their gastroenterologists that I was clearly impressed. However, I did not meet any dietitians from Connecticut whose expenses were being paid. Contributions Made by Connecticut People When I heard Dr. Khosla speak, it reminded me of the fact that Connecticut’s own Dr. Ted Mahalias, dentist from Waterford got involved in celiac research because he also had a wife and daughter with celiac and noticed dental enamel defects in their teeth. It is exciting that now his study is being conducted through the Columbia Celiac Research Center. Dr. Ted Mahalias spoke at the Symposium and discussed, “Dental Enamel Defects—Another piece of the puzzle.” Can dentists help diagnose celiac disease? Another Connecticut resident, Rory Jones from New Canaan was extremely busy selling the recent book she co-authored with Dr. Peter Green, Director of Columbia Celiac Research Center. The name of the book is Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic. The book has made giant strides in creating celiac awareness throughout the country and is the only book written by a celiac expert and his patient! Rory had gone for years without a true diagnosis of DH until Dr. Green initiated his celiac research at Columbia by asking local endocrinologists to send him their “worst case scenario” of blood tests that were misleading to them. Because of that effort, Rory was finally referred to Dr. Green and diagnosed after many years of pure frustration! Rory, a medical writer was able to convince Dr. Green that they could write a book together on celiac so that others would not have to suffer needlessly as she did. The book has been warmly received by celiacs, physicians and dietitians throughout the country! Many speakers stressed the need to develop awareness programs among primary care physicians and pediatricians. I have spearheaded that effort personally by giving all of my doctors a copy of the book, Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic and I encourage others to do the same. We live in an age of specialists and celiac is a “multi-system” disease. The more your doctors know about celiac, the healthier you will be. The book has been welcomed by all of my doctors. Celiac medical experts are making serious efforts to create celiac awareness among physicians by writing articles for medical journals. Celiacs themselves can create celiac awareness by joining a celiac support group and participating in Walkathons to help fund celiac research or by “spreading the word” in their own communities by giving their doctors current books on celiac. Celiac awareness can be accomplished from the top down or the bottom up! Because celiac is genetic, the people you might be helping could be one of your own relatives! Celiac International Society Being Formed The Celiac International Symposium has been held every two years throughout the country on even numbered years for many years. Much progress has been made in celiac research, understanding the disease as a “multi-system” disease and helping to get more cases of celiac disease diagnosed with the best possible diagnostic tools. Many people feel that meeting more frequently would keep up the enthusiasm that was felt at the Symposium and hasten the progress that is being made in all aspects of celiac research! Immediately after the Symposium, Dr. Peter Green, Director of Columbia Research Center announced that he was forming the first Celiac International Society which would meet in the US on odd numbered years and therefore creating a forum so that researchers could meet yearly. This is exciting news for the celiac community and we applaud Dr. Green’s efforts! No decision as to where the International Celiac Society in the U.S. will meet, but this gesture is clearly a giant step in promoting celiac research throughout the world and keeping up the steady pace of creating “celiac awareness.” which is so sorely needed. We encourage you to help create celiac awareness in your own community. Join a support group! Support Walkathons to raise money for celiac research! Get involved! Together we can “make a difference”.

Celiac.com 07/06/2021 - People who have celiac disease have to eat a gluten-free diet, otherwise, they risk physical discomfort, intestinal damage, and potentially increased risks for numerous related conditions, and even deadly types of cancer. Most tests that screen for celiac disease work by detecting the antibodies that indicate the presence of celiac disease. One of the big drawbacks about celiac disease blood screening is that people usually have to eat gluten for 6-12 weeks in order for the tests to be accurate, and sometimes wait a couple of weeks more before the final results are known. This is often followed by a biopsy where you need to continue eating gluten for even longer periods. That can mean weeks or months of feeling very bad, followed by weeks of uncertainty for many people who are trying to figure out if they have celiac disease. But what if we could screen for celiac disease in a quick, reliable and accurate way? That's been an elusive goal for researchers for many years. That may be set to change, with the recent discovery by Anna Nguyen, a biochemistry student from at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Ngyuen has discovered a faster, easier way to detect celiac disease. The discovery arose as part of Nguyen's 2016 undergraduate research project. “I was really passionate about learning nutrition and diet, but eventually I got to the point where I was more interested in the science behind nutrition,” Nguyen said. “And it led me down this biochemistry route and wanting to get my Ph.D., which requires you to do undergrad research.” The method developed by Nguyen, and her fellow undergraduate researchers, would be faster and easier, and require a simple finger prick. “What we wanted to do was just do make a quick blood test that, maybe just after a day of eating gluten, you could be able to go to your doctor, get a pinprick blood test, and it would just tell you immediately.” The only problem is that Ngyuen's test uses an electrochemical biosensor. Even though electrochemical biosensor technology is currently not laboratory approved, the team is hopeful that it can be developed into a fast, convenient, and reliable test that will be used widely by both clinicians and patients. Keep an eye out over the next few years for more on this and other improvements in celiac blood testing. Read more at: 9news.com

Celiac.com 06/29/2021 - A scientist has been awarded nearly $2 million to study how venom from parasitic worms, called nematodes, allows them to live undetected in our bodies. He hopes it can lead to new treatments for celiac, and other inflammatory diseases. The fact is that nearly one in four people on earth is infected with parasitic worms called nematodes. According to Wikipedia, nematodes that commonly parasitize humans include ascarids (Ascaris), filarias, hookworms, pinworms (Enterobius), and whipworms (Trichuris trichiura). These tiny worms work their way into our bodies quietly, but some types of these nematode can cause blindness or death. One thing all nematodes have in common is the ability to fool our body into thinking they aren't even there. By releasing a venom that cloaks their presence, nematodes avoid detection by the human body, and then propagate. The venom also suppresses inflammation that would otherwise make the worms' presence known to the body. We've written more than one article on the promise of hookworms and, hookworm venom, in treating inflammatory diseases, like celiac disease. Some of those articles include: Could Hookworm Infections Help Cure Celiac Disease? Celiac Patients Tolerate Wheat Spaghetti After Hookworm Treatment Have Celiac Disease? Try a Little Hookworm with that Pasta! Are Intestinal Worms the Future of Autoimmune Disease Treatment? The subject has also been a popular topic on Celiac.com's gluten-free forums. Because nematodes, including hookworms, are so good at masking their presence, they are often detected only when doctors begin to address some outward symptom caused by their unchecked propagation. Many researchers think that venom from nematodes could help to develop drugs to treat numerous anti-inflammatory conditions. So promising is the idea that the National Institute of Health (NIH) recently awarded parasitologist Adler Dillman $1.8 million to figure out how these worms use their venom to remain undetected in our bodies. Dillman hopes the research could one day help treat autoimmune disorders, including celiac disease. Stay tune for more on exciting, cutting edge developments for celiac disease. Read more at Business Insider

Celiac.com 06/28/2021 - There is a growing body of data to suggest the intestinal action of SARS-CoV-2, with ciliated cells and intestinal enterocytes serving as target cells, due to high expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2, could possibly trigger celiac disease in predisposed individuals. Indeed, COVID-19 promotes a “cytokine storm” in the intestinal mucosa, triggering epithelial damage that increases barrier permeability, permitting gliadin to "leak" into the intestinal lamina. However, the possible impact of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the resulting disease, on celiac disease rates remains unknown, with no data currently available on the development of systemic disorder, or on long-term outcomes. A team of researchers recently set out to highlight the potential risk of a rise in celiac disease rates among genetically predisposed subjects following SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on several factors which could promote the development of celiac disease. The research team included Chiara Maria Trovato, Monica Montuori, Nicoletta Pietropaoli, and Salvatore Oliva. They are variously affiliated with the Pediatric Gastroenterology and Liver Unit, Maternal and Child Health Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; and the Hepatology Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, "Bambino Gesù" Children Hospital, Rome, Italy. The team used current medical literature to help them hypothesize the role of COVID-19 as a possible trigger for celiac disease development in predisposed individuals. They suggest that genetically predisposed people could be more likely to develop celiac disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection, making COVID-19 a potential driver of increased celiac disease cases in the future. An unexpected rise in celiac cases among genetically predisposed individuals in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic would support the team's hypothesis. Time will tell if they are right. Stay tuned for more stories regarding COVID-19, celiac disease, and related topics. Read more in the International Journal of Clinical Practice

Celiac.com 06/02/2021 - Under the FDA’s 2013 Rule on Gluten-Free Labeling of Fermented or Hydrolyzed Foods, wheat starch is considered “an ingredient processed to remove gluten.” Wheat starch is an allowed ingredient in foods labeled gluten-free as long as its use does not result in the final food product containing 20 parts per million or more of gluten. The FDA clarified the rule to require food manufacturers to ensure that products containing fermented, hydrolyzed ingredients meet the definition of “gluten-free” before fermentation or hydrolysis. While fermented foods and ingredients made using gluten-free wheat starch as a starting material can be labeled gluten-free, wheat starch itself is not considered by FDA to be a fermented or hydrolyzed food. What Gluten Free Products Use Wheat Starch? Although gluten-free wheat starch has been approved by the FDA, there is still a great deal of skepticism about it. We recently reported that wheat starch is an ingredient in DiGiorno's Gluten Free Pizzas. Wheat Starch Long Used in Europe In Europe, the use of wheat starch in gluten free foods has been rigorously tested, with no evidence that foods made with gluten-removed wheat starch are harmful to people with celiac disease. Companies like Schär has been using it for over 20 years, with more than 90% of the wheat starch used by Schär testing below 5ppm, under ELISA. Wheat Starch Controversial in US However, because the use of wheat starch in gluten-free foods is still hotly debated in the US, even Schär only uses it in their Gluten Free Croissants, and a handful of other products in this country. Because wheat starch is controversial in the US, Celiac.com puts wheat starch on our Unsafe and Forbidden Foods and Ingredients list. Find more information on Celiac.com's Safe Gluten-Free Foods list. For the most part, wheat starch can be considered a safe ingredient for celiacs, as long as it is labeled gluten free. As always, read labels, avoid ingredients that disagree with you, and choose wisely.