Company Testing Drug That Protects Celiac Sufferers Against Gluten Contamination

@Sue: Be very wary. Many nut and seed packagers 'dust' their products with wheat flour to prevent sticking and clumping. They seldom if ever report this on the label because they don't consider the flour to be a 'product.' About the only way to test for this at the moment is to discover by trial and error which brands cause problems.

@SueN: There is a big difference between ignorant and stupid. There are very few stupid doctors. Ignorance on the other hand is 'not having sufficient information.' Any doctor who graduated before 1995 will not have learned anything about celiac disease other than the name in class. If they haven't read about recent discoveries in medical journals, they may in fact be ignorant of celiac disease facts.

Pharmaceuticals definitely make the world a better place, the problem is how they are marketed and abused by people. I am celiac and have been gluten-free for a few years now, but it's almost impossible to avoid accidental glutening and cross-contamination, even though I have drastically altered my life. I, for one, would welcome something that would help me from accidental gluten ingestion. Then I could actually occasionally go out to dinner, etc. without it being such a stress-filled game of Russian roulette. If we don't encourage companies to do research, it will never happen.

I'm in agreement with Sue and Penny, and although I refuse to take some medications, this pill would make life so much easier, though of course it depends what the ingredients and possible side effects are. It also depends on the price. I am also lactose intolerant, and I love cheese and there is a pill to take to reduce lactose on consumption but it is so ridiculously expensive here in Spain.

I don't like the idea of pill popping any more than the next person, but I find the cross contamination issue in our food chain to be an insurmountable obstacle in trying to be gluten-free. My main celiac symptom is a rash that is very sensitive to gluten. In spite of eating a very clean diet and almost never eating out, I have a few small blisters almost all the time. I find that eating things like nuts or quinoa (or anything really) can cause a break out, even though the packaging doesn't declare a shared equipment situation. I would bet that most people are getting more gluten than they realize and just don't have the sensitive detection system I have. (I call it my canary in the mine.) If there were a pill that could clean up the small amounts of gluten in food, it would certainly make my life easier and maybe help those that believe they are eating gluten-free but still have unexplained symptoms.

Hi Sue, I have celiac disease and found out that the thyroid medicine that I take every day has a trace of gluten. So does my foundation, mascara, shampoo, face cream, hair dye, etc.!!! None of the companies can state that any of their products are gluten-free... It's a real pain in the X#*! I too get the rash on my face. Best wishes!

@Sue: Be very wary. Many nut and seed packagers 'dust' their products with wheat flour to prevent sticking and clumping. They seldom if ever report this on the label because they don't consider the flour to be a 'product.' About the only way to test for this at the moment is to discover by trial and error which brands cause problems.

 

@SueN: There is a big difference between ignorant and stupid. There are very few stupid doctors. Ignorance on the other hand is 'not having sufficient information.' Any doctor who graduated before 1995 will not have learned anything about celiac disease other than the name in class. If they haven't read about recent discoveries in medical journals, they may in fact be ignorant of celiac disease facts.

First, the word "ignorant" has negative connotations. Whether or not the writer of the comment intended this, I do not know. But we should all be careful how we talk about groups of people, including doctors.

Second, if doctors counted only on their in-class learning to treat patients, we would all be in big trouble. Doctors share information with each other, read medical journals, attend lectures and conferences, and are required to adhere to CME (continuing medical education) requirements in order to maintain licensure.

Third, yes, of course, some doctors are going to know more about celiac disease than other doctors. The standard of care with regard to this disease, and many others, is changing, in terms of including it in the differential diagnosis when a patient presents with symptoms. So, more and more, doctors are thinking about celiac disease. Many of us have had delays in diagnosis of celiac disease and other conditions. And many of us have struggled to figure out what foods impact us negatively. But this is generally not because of "ignorance" on the part of doctors.