The History of Celiac Disease

Quite the interesting article about celiac disease on CNN.com today. And no…it’s not fake news! It’s a pretty long article so I’m not going to repost it, but in typical Dude fashion, I will break it down for you. And yes, you will be quizzed on it.

And for those impatient ones out there, I’m including a link to the article at the bottom of this post if you just want to read it now and skip my blubbering. Just please note there are no refunds.

Watch the video at the top of the article. It’s pretty good but with one major faux pas that drives me batty. It says the common celiac symptoms are bloating, diarrhea, constipation and fatigue. Yeah…it may be true, but that does not begin to scratch the surface of celiac disease. Want the real symptoms? Here ya go.

LOVE this quote from Dr. Fasano:

“For those who just brush it off that this is a fad and a fashion lifestyle, be considerate of the people that survive on this diet. For people with celiac disease, the gluten-free diet is like insulin for diabetics.”

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!!!

An abbreviate history of celiac disease:

• Before World War II, celiac disease, thought to affect mostly children, had a mortality rate of about 30%.
• A doctor noted the mortality of celiac disease during the war was zero. Why? There was limited access to wheat. During the war, flour was made with potato starch and not wheat. A culprit was found!!
• It wasn’t until the 1970’s that celiac disease was labeled an autoimmune disorder. Prior to that, it was though of as a food allergy.
• In the 1990’s, celiac disease in the United States was still considered extremely rare and almost non-existent, even though in Europe there was a rampage of epidemics of celiac disease all over.
• Dr. Fasano started to conduct research and it turned out that celiac disease was just as prevalent in the U.S as it was in Europe, but had been generally ignored. Let that sink in a bit and wonder how many suffered or died unnecessarily.
• In the 2000’s, Fasano did a big study and found the prevalence of celiac disease in the US at around 1%, which was 10 times higher than previously thought.
• Without going into detail here (read the article), but at this time a potential connection between celiac and both autism and schizophrenia were found.
• In the 2010’s, CELEBRITIES BEGIN TO WEIGH IN. (And here is where the fad begins).
• In 2012, Miley Cyrus says she lost weight on the gluten-free diet. Thanks Miley. And yes, you bet I wrote about it back then.
• By 2013, the gluten-free food and beverage industry grew to $10.5 billion.

Now here we are in 2017. Dr. Fasano says he hopes the pendulum swings back toward the middle, and people realize that gluten-free is not for weight loss and is not for everyone.

Me? I’m just happy to see the disease get some good press. Progress folks.

Ok…now for the quiz.

1) Why did the picture go to jail?
2) What did one toilet say to the other?
3) Why was the broom late?
4) Why was the belt arrested?
5) Why couldn’t the pirate play cards.

Good luck everyone?

Oh…and here’s the link to the full article.