Celiac.com 06/02/2022 - Many individuals with celiac disease express frustration and disappointment with the cavalier attitudes and misinformation they encounter. The objective observer may wonder what our complaint is with uninformed medical practitioners. Is it the lengthy delays to diagnosis coupled with our many years of unnecessary suffering? Is it the unnecessarily premature death of one or more of our loved ones, which may have been prevented by a greater awareness of celiac disease and its many manifestations? Is it the common refusal of appropriate testing for celiac disease? Is it the oft-heard cynicism about our diet expressed by those who have little or no experience with it? Perhaps all of these complaints contribute to the angst so often found in our community. However, I am beginning to suspect that these complaints are merely symptoms of a more sinister problem. Perhaps the underlying problem is the trivializing of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease.
I have been told, by medical pundits, that people with celiac disease are still alive to be diagnosed after many years of suffering. Other, more important ailments must be ruled out earlier in the diagnostic process. Our symptoms, I’ve been told, are simply uncomfortable—not deadly.
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I have also been laughed at for suggesting that neurological, psychiatric, and many autoimmune diseases can result from undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.
Some physicians claim that, given our awful diet, people need a powerful motive to follow it. Hence, painful or uncomfortable symptoms are useful prior to investigating celiac disease because they increase the likelihood of dietary compliance.
There is some validity to each of these excuses. It is an inconvenient diet that many celiacs ignore. Most of us do survive for decades without a diagnosis. But a pervasive, underlying theme of minimizing and dismissing celiac disease may reflect a set of pre-conceived notions that are deeply imbedded in our collective consciousness. As a culture, we celebrate grains as the very foundation of civilization. We learn from our earliest question about cereals that they are “good” for us. They make us strong and healthy.
Equally, almost 200 years ago, his colleagues in obstetrics “knew” that Ignaz Semmelweiss was just being silly with his pre-occupation with “invisible atomies” that spread infections from one patient to another. Physicians were proud of their puss-infested, blood-soaked smocks. These stains attested to their hard work and dedication. The hospital staff under Semmelweiss’ supervision participated in his research. They washed their hands with carbolic soap between each patient examination—and the frequency of child-bed fever dropped to a tiny fraction of the previous rate. Nonetheless, at the end of the study, he was dismissed and mocked for his silly notions about “invisible atomies,” and handwashing came to a stop.
Today, with the benefit of microscopes and the widespread acceptance of the germ theory, Semmelweiss’ “invisible atomies” are a concept that is quite easy to accept. In another hundred years, scientists may look back on our ideas about cereals with a similar sense of superiority. The scientific evidence that condemns the foundation of our food pyramid is solid and credible. Despite that evidence, our cultural indoctrination continues to shape the thoughts and actions of those we trust to advise us on health issues. Perhaps cereals will someday be seen as a sinister conduit of disease. In the meantime, it is a challenge for us to be patient with those who continue to genuflect at the altar of Grains.
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