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Showing results for tags 'americans'.
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Celiac.com 11/19/2013 - There's an interesting take on the precedent-setting ruling issued early in 2013 by the U.S. Justice Department, which found that celiac disease and other serious food allergies and sensitivities can be considered disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ruling arises from a settlement between the Justice Department and Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts that came after Justice investigated the university in response to a student complaint that the school’s mandatory meal plan did not provide sufficient gluten-free food alternatives, and that the school did not accommodate the needs of those on gluten-free diets by excusing their participation in the meal plan or providing a reasonable alternative. The ruling has led a number of colleges and universities with student meal programs to make efforts to offer suitable options for students with celiac disease and other serious food allergies. However, Janet Raasch, points out in a blog entry on lawyers.com that the ruling applies more broadly to schools and restaurants at large. Raasch says that "…schools, restaurants and other places that serve food can be exposed to legal challenges if they fail to honor requests for accommodations by people with celiac disease." It's important to remember that Ms. Raasch is not a lawyer. So, while she has an interesting take, and it remains to be seen if gluten-free options become more numerous partly out of a push for restaurants and other food service establishments to follow in the footsteps of colleges and universities with student meal programs. What do you think will be the impact if schools, restaurants and food purveyors treat celiac and other food allergies as an ADA disability? Will it mean more gluten-free options? Better standards? Share your comments below. Source: blogs.lawyers.com Post by Janet Raasch
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Celiac.com 01/20/2017 - A team of researchers recently investigated trends in the prevalence of diagnosed celiac disease, undiagnosed celiac disease, and people without celiac disease avoiding gluten (PWAG) in the civilian non-institutionalized US population from 2009 to 2014. The research team included Rok Seon Choung, MD, PhD, Aynur Unalp-Arida, MD, PhD, Constance E. Ruhl, MD, PhD, Tricia L. Brantner, BS, James E. Everhart, MD, and Joseph A. Murray, MD. They are variously affiliated with the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD; Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., Silver Spring, MD; and with the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. Their team studied the occurrence of celiac disease and PWAG in the 2009 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. They tested serum of all participants aged 6 years or older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 2009 to 2014 for celiac disease serology at Mayo Clinic. They also interviewed participants for a diagnosis of celiac disease, and the use of a gluten-free diet (GFD). They incorporated the design effects of the survey and sample weights into all statistical analyses. Results They found that, in the US general population, rates of celiac disease did not change significantly from 0.7% (95% CI, 0.6%-0.8%) in 2009 to 2010 to 0.8% (95% CI, 0.4%-1.2%) in 2011 to 2012 to 0.7% (95% CI, 0.3%-1.0%) in 2013 to 2014. However, rates of undiagnosed celiac disease decreased from 0.6% in 2009 to 2010 to 0.3% in 2013 to 2014. In contrast, the prevalence of PWAG increased significantly from 0.5% (95% CI, 0.2%-0.9%) in 2009 to 2010 to 1.0% (95% CI, 0.6%-1.4%) in 2011 to 2012 to 1.7% (95% CI, 1.1%-2.4%) in 2013 to 2014 (P=.005 for trend). Their data shows that, even though rates of celiac disease remained largely stable from 2009 to 2014, the percentage of individuals with hidden celiac disease decreased substantially. Moreover, the proportion of individuals who follow a gluten-free diet without celiac disease rose sharply during that period. Long-term health consequences of a GFD warrant further investigation. Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2016.10.012
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Celiac.com 06/03/2016 - Among patients diagnosed with celiac disease by small intestinal biopsy in the U.S., people from the Punjab region of India have the highest rates of disease, according to new research published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In an effort to better understand celiac disease distribution in Americans of various ethnicities, a team of researchers led by Benjamin Lebwohl, MD, Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, recently looked at more than 400,000 intestinal biopsies from a nationwide database. The team identified patients with celiac disease based on the presence of villous atrophy in the small intestine. The researchers used a previously published algorithm based on patient names to identify celiac disease distribution among North Indian, South Indian, East Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Jewish and other Americans. The team's data shows that celiac disease is much less common among U.S. residents of South Indian, East Asian and Hispanic ancestry, while celiac disease rates among patients of Jewish and Middle Eastern ethnicities was similar to that of the general American population. Earlier studies have suggested that celiac disease might be more common in women, but these findings show that men and women have similar rates of celiac disease when tested, regardless of ethnicity. These findings show that, contrary to the previous medical thinking that celiac is a disease predominantly affecting Caucasian Europeans, the condition is better understood as "one of the most common hereditary disorders worldwide," noted Dr. Lebwohl. Source: American Gastroenterological Association
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One in Five Americans Include Gluten-Free Foods in Diet
Jefferson Adams posted an article in Additional Concerns
Celiac.com 10/07/2015 - The number of Americans who say they include gluten-free foods in their diet has hit a whopping 20%, while 17% say they avoid gluten-free foods altogether. However, nearly 60% of adults say they don't think about gluten-free foods either way. In the July, as part of its annual Consumption Habits poll, Gallup asked just over a thousand Americans about foods they include or avoid in their diet. The was the first year the poll included questions about "Gluten-free foods." Demographic differences in those who seek out gluten-free foods are fairly minor. One in three non-white Americans say they actively include gluten-free foods, compared with 17% of whites. Age seems to influence the purchase of gluten-free foods, with 25% of adults under 50 buying gluten-free, compared with 17% of those aged 50 and older. Men and women bought gluten-free food at about the same rates. Interestingly, more educated and wealthier Americans tend to be less likely to include gluten free-foods in their diet than Americans with no college experience and lower-income Americans, respectively, though the differences were fairly small. The report's overall bottom line is that the gluten-free food market has grown substantially in the past five years, as has the introduction of more foods that do not contain gluten. With one in five Americans now seeking to include these products in their diet, the prevalence goes well beyond the roughly 1% of Americans with celiac disease, who have a serious medical reason to avoid gluten. Many Americans say they eat gluten-free foods as part of an attempt to lose weight, a version of a no-carb diet, while others claim it improves their well-being. Though it's unclear how healthy a gluten-free diet is for people who do not have celiac disease, the percentage of Americans who say they are attempting to include gluten-free food in their diet shows how widespread the practice is. Source: Finchannel.com -
Celiac.com 04/29/2015 - In addition to people with celiac disease, a number of people in the U.S. do not have celiac disease, but avoid gluten (PWAG). Researchers don't know much about racial disparities in the rates of celiac disease, and among those without celiac disease, but who avoid gluten. A team of researchers recently set out to investigate and describe racial differences in the prevalence of celiac disease and PWAG, and evaluate the trends of celiac disease in the non-institutionalized civilian adult population of the US between 1988 and 2012. The research team included Rok Seon Choung MD, PhD, Ivo C Ditah MD, MPhil, Ashley M Nadeau, Alberto Rubio-Tapia MD, Eric V Marietta MD, Tricia L Brantner, Michael J Camilleri MD, S Vincent Rajkumar MD, Ola Landgren MD, PhD, James E Everhart MD, MPH, and Joseph A Murray MD. They are variously affiliated with the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, the Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, the Myeloma Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA, and with the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA The team conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 1988 to 1994, 1999 to 2004, and 2009 to 2012. They tested serum samples from the NHANES participants for celiac serology, which included IgA tissue transglutaminase (tTG IgA), and then tested any abnormal findings for IgA endomysial antibodies. They used an interviewer-administered questionnaire to gather information about patient adherence to a gluten-free diet. Their review of NHANES 2009–2012 showed that adjusted rates of celiac disease were significantly higher (P<0.0001) in non-Hispanic whites (1.0%) than in non-Hispanic blacks (0.2%) and Hispanics (0.3%). Meanwhile, blacks showed a significantly higher adjusted prevalence of PWAG of 1.2% (P=0.01), compared with Hispanics at 0.5% and whites 0.7%. In adults aged 50 years and older, seroprevalence of celiac disease rose from 0.17% (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.03–0.33) in 1988–1994 to 0.44% (95% CI 0.24–0.81) in 2009–2012 (P<0.05). Overall rates of celiac disease increased from 1988 to 2012, which is much more common in white Americans than in black Americans. Interestingly, black Americans make up a higher proportion of individuals maintaining a gluten-free diet in the absence of a celiac disease diagnosis. It may be that celiac disease, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, are more common in the black population that previously understood. Further study will undoubtedly shed some light on this issue. Source: Am J Gastroenterol 2015; 110:455–461; doi:10.1038/ajg.2015.8; published online 10 February 2015
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Celiac.com 11/15/2013 - With the recent FDA ruling on gluten-free labeling standards, the popularity of gluten-free foods continues unabated. The North American market currently accounts for 59% of a global gluten-free market that shows no signs of slowing down, and which is projected to hit $6.2 billion by 2018. As major force driving that market growth, according to recent research from Mintel, the influence of people with gluten intolerance or gluten-sensitivity is being vastly eclipsed by the influence of ordinary people who are turning to gluten-free products in an effort to lose weight. Indeed, 65% of consumers who eat or used to eat gluten-free foods do so because they think they are healthier, and 27% eat them because they feel they aid in their weight loss efforts. In fact, 36% of Americans say they eat gluten-free foods for reasons other than sensitivity. Meanwhile, 7% say they eat them for inflammation and 4% say they purchase them to combat depression. The view that gluten-free foods are healthier than their gluten-containing counterparts is one of the main drivers for the market, says Mintel food analyst, Amanda Topper. "It's really interesting to see that consumers think gluten-free foods are healthier and can help them lose weight," Topper adds, "because there's been no research affirming these beliefs." Source: Sacramento Bee
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Celiac.com 04/05/2013 - One in three adults want to avoid or cut down on gluten in their diets, says a survey from the consumer research firm, NPD Group. NDP began asking consumers about gluten-free issues in 2009, and the responses for their January 2013 survey show the highest level of interest in gluten-free diets so far. NDP's chief industry analyst, Harry Balzer, said in a recent press release that avoiding gluten is the "health issue of the day," and compared the current efforts to avoid or reduce dietary gluten to efforts a generation ago to avoid fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium. Specifically, Balzer said: a "generation ago, health was about avoiding fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium in our diet. While those desires still exist for many, they no longer are growing concerns…Today, increasingly more of us want to avoid gluten in our diet and right now it is nearly 30 percent of the adult population...and it’s growing." Gluten-free foods are now a $4.2 billion a year industry, and interest has extended to the restaurant industry as well. NPD found that 200 million restaurant visits in the past year included a gluten-free order. “The number of U.S. adults who say they are cutting down on or avoiding gluten is too large for restaurant operators to ignore,” said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant industry analyst for NDP, in the same release. Currently, some three million Americans have been diagnosed with celiac disease, which is now is four times more common than it was 50 years ago. While the rise in diagnosis and awareness of gluten-intolerance and celiac disease continues to fuel popularity of gluten-free diets, the supposed health benefits of eliminating gluten are also a factor. It is certainly true that some of this gluten-free diet trend has been triggered by pop culture and media celebrities, many of whom are not eating gluten-free out of medical necessity. Still, it's likely that the gluten-free trend will continue into the foreseeable future, at least. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/gluten-free-diet_n_2818954.html
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