Celiac Home Test

Free Gluten-Free Care Packages for Newly Diagnosed Patients

Are you a newly diagnosed celiac disease patient? If so, you're in luck! The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center offers FREE care packages for patients diagnosed via biopsy within the past three months.

If you've been diagnosed more than three months, maybe this is a great time to pass along the information to your newly diagnosed friends and family, or suggest that people you know get tested. Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune condition, so it is vitally important for everyone in a patient's family to get tested for celiac disease. And if you or a loved one is diagnosed, the University of Chicago is helping make the transition to a gluten-free diet a little bit easier!

Canadian Digestive Health Foundation Study Finds Digestive Disorders Cost Canadians $18 Billion Annually

A study recently released by the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation finds that digestive disorders cost Canadians $18 billion annually in health care costs and lost productivity from sick days taken off work. Additionally, the study found that digestive disorders account for 10 perfect of all hospitalizations in Canada.

The study--called the National Digestive Disorders Prevalence & Impact Study Report--comes as the result of the first ever Canadian Digestive Health Strategy and Action Plan Visioning Meeting, which brought together government officials, national organizations and top doctors from across Canada to discuss the future of digestive health. The group wanted to establish strategies for addressing digestive health conditions to bring the disease group up to par with other chronic conditions such as  cancer prevention, diabetes, heart health and arthritis.

Here are some of the interesting facts the study found:
    -   Next to lung cancer, digestive cancers kill more Canadians than any
        other cancer type
    -   8 million Canadians suffer from lower gastrointestinal symptoms with
        an average of five million Canadians experiencing heartburn and/or
        acid regurgitation at least once each week
    -   Canada has one of the highest rates of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
        in the world with over five million Canadians affected
    -   Canada has the highest reported prevalence and incidence rates of IBD
        in the world with over 200,000 Canadians living with the disease
    -   One in every 10 Canadians will develop a stomach ulcer at some point
        in their lifetime
    -   In 2008, it was estimated that over 200,000 Canadians are living with
        IBD
    -   In First Nation communities, approximately 75 per cent of the people
        are infected with H. pylori. H. pylori infection is considered to be
        a carcinogen by the World Health Organization as it is associated
        with the development of stomach cancer
    -   In western countries, rates of celiac disease have nearly doubled in
        the last 25 years
    -   Approximately 270,000 Canadians were infected with hepatitis B last
        year

To view the full results and read more, please visit: www.CDHF.ca

New Celiac Disease PSA From the Celiac Disease Foundation South Florida Chapter

Check out this new public service announcement from the Celiac Disease Foundation South Florida Chapter. It's a great video that will truly help raise awareness of celiac disease in the South Florida area. Check out the video!

Gluten-Free on CBS

Check out this great clip of gluten-free on CBS!

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Tell the NIH to Focus on Celiac Disease

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) wants to hear from you. So, tell them how important it is to focus on celiac disease awareness efforts. Today, 95% of people with celiac disease remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions such as irritable bowel disease. This is just sad! So, tell the NIH to fix the problem!! Write to them at: http://nihhealthinfoRFI.nih.gov.

Your responses will help NIH understand which health topics you're interested in, so they can prepare more effective health information and get it to the people who need it. 

The questions -- called the Consumer Health Information Request for Information (RFI) -- can be completed online in English or downloaded from the Web site in Spanish.

The RFI was developed through a partnership between NIH's Office of Communication and Public Liaison and the NIH Director's Council of Public Representatives. For more information, please visit http://nihhealthinfoRFI.nih.gov.

New Celiac Disease Program at Children's National Medical Center

Great News! There's a new Celiac Disease Program at Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) in 
Washington, DC! The Celiac Program is led by Dr. John Snyder and brings together a multidisciplinary team of gastroenterologists, dieticians, nurses, physicians assistants and counseling support from the CNMC psychiatry department. 

Check out the new Celiac Program website for tons of information about celiac disease and resources for managing a gluten-free diet. And, then check out this great video of Dr. Snyder talking about celiac on NBC.

NASPGHAN to Hold Annual Meeting Nov. 12-14 in Maryland

The North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition will host its annual conference November 12–14, 2009, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. One particularly interesting session focuses on gastrointestinal conditions amongst children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is incredibly important given the many relationships discovered over the last few years between development of Autism and inflammation of the gut.

Visit www.naspghan.org to register.

New Celiac Resource Guide from American College of Gastroenterology

Are you looking for information about celiac disease? If the answer is YES, the American College of Gastroenterology is here to rescue you with a new, very short, overview about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet. It's short, simple and to the point, so it's perfect for those of you who don't want a long and cumbersome journal to read.

Check it out at: http://acg.gi.org/patients/gihealth/celiac.asp

Treating Ailments with Medical Marijuana or a Gluten-Free Diet

Check out this commentary about an article published in the New York Times about issues withe medical marijuana in California. The commentator has a strong opinion in favor of medical marijuana because it was able to relieve pain her sister was feeling because of celiac disease. 

Now, for some people the idea of medical marijuana is great because it can relieve pain for people with terminal and painful illnesses. However, when it comes to celiac disease, there is a much healthier and life changing method to curing the aches and pains caused by the autoimmune condition...a gluten-free diet.

The only treatment for celiac disease is a lifelong gluten-free diet. This means eliminating all forms of wheat, rye and barley. Although research is well underway to find a treatment for the disease, there are currently no medications or surgeries to cure the disease. Even medical marijuana won't cure the symptoms, rather just mask their severity.

If you or a loved one exhibits signs of celiac disease, such as abdominal pain, bloating, headaches, skin rashes, or any other random symptoms,  and is resorting to pain management rather than disease treatment, it's important to have them tested for celiac disease. Advancements in diagnositcs now allows patients to test themselves at home with the Biocard Celiac Home Test Kit and get results in just 10 minutes. 

So, get tested. A simple change in diet could change your life for the better and prevent resorting to pain management.

Sorghum Developer Wins World Food Prize

Purdue University's Gebis Ejeta, an Ethiopian agronomist credited with developing a higher-yielding form of sorghum was just named the winner of the 2009 World Food Prize. Now you might be wondering what on earth this has to do with celiac disease. Well Mr. Ejeta's development is huge in the gluten-free world because sorghum is the main ingredient in gluten-free beer!

Most people know sorghum as a small round yellow seeds that are commonly found in birdseed. However, it's also used in beer, syrup and a major grain in porridge and bread in Africa and Asia. Additionally, it helps feed 500 to 700 million people worldwide.

So congratulations to Dr. Gebis Ejeta on his accomplishment that will certainly help everyone with celiac keep a full stock of gluten-free beer on hand!