Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
LOTS of developments in celiac and MC related research this week. Some is so new it's being presented at national meetings this week. My comments are in [ ]. Enjoy...
Mayo Clinic develops new way to rate severity of microscopic colitis, a common cause of diarrhea
[I wonder if our GIs will start asking us to report our symptoms on this scale? Maybe in a few years...]
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new way to assess a common cause of chronic diarrhea, microscopic colitis, using the Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity Index. A study describing the index was released today during the American College of Gastroenterology 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course in Washington. The index provides a consistent way to assess the condition's severity.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2011-rst/6521.html
"High Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Women With Young Onset Collagenous Colitis" authored by Ahmed Bedeir, MD, Bhaskar Ganguly, and Mukunda Ray, MD, PhD
[This has major implications for our members diagnosed under 40 (including me). Probably worth bringing to your doctors to either ask for celiac testing or help them recognize the gluten connection]
The study found that young women with collagenous colitis are eight times more likely than the general population to have celiac disease. As a consequence of Dr. Bedeir's finding (in the largest series of young patients with collagenous colitis ever reported), it would seem appropriate to recommend that women age 40 or younger who have a diagnosis of collagenous colitis also undergo an EGD with duodenal biopsies to exclude concurrent celiac disease.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/caris- ... 2011-10-31
NIH-funded Scientists Discover Gluten-degrading Microbes in the Mouth
[Can you imagine dental plaque could be good for you!?]
Microorganisms that naturally occur in the mouth could potentially render gluten harmless to people with celiac disease, according to research funded in part by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. www.celiac.nih.gov/NewsletterSummer11.aspx#1
Antibodies to Non-gluten Wheat Components May Predict Celiac Disease
[Could this mean a new test for early celiac could be on the horizon?]
Production of antibodies to Glo-3A, a non-gluten component of wheat, may predict celiac disease, according to scientists funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The finding offers the potential for better celiac disease screening. www.celiac.nih.gov/NewsletterSummer11.aspx#3
NIH Launches Bowel Control Awareness Campaign for Health Care Professionals and the Public
[We need to launch our own awareness campaign]
On June 1, 2011, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Bowel Control Awareness Campaign to raise awareness of bowel control problems, also known as fecal incontinence. Bowel control problems affect an estimated 18 million U.S. adults—one out of 12 people.
www.celiac.nih.gov/NewsletterSummer11.aspx#5
MC AND CELIAC NEWS ROUNDUP
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Wow, check out how many oral presentations they have on MC at the Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course of the AMERICAN COLLEGE OF GASTROENTEROLOGY.
I'm sort of impressed!
Colitis in Elderly: An Atypical Presentation of Collagenous Colitis in an Elderly Female
Derivation of a Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity Index (MCDAI)
Diagnostic Yield of the Colonic Biopsy in the Investigation of Diarrhea
False Positive Anti-tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies in the Setting of Acute Epstein-Barr Viral Infection
High Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Women With Young Onset Collagenous Colitis
Intestinal Spirochetosis in the United States: A Clinicopathologic Study of Colonic Biopsy Specimens
Medullary Carcinoma of the Thyroid Presenting as Diarrhea in a Patient Meeting the Rome III Criteria for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Metastatic Breast Carcinoma to the Colon Mimicking Microscopic Colitis
Nausea and Vomiting Due to Addison’s Disease in a Patient with Celiac Disease in Remission
Proximal Colonic Secretory Villous Adenoma Causing Diarrhea and Depletion Syndrome
The Association of Serologic Inflammatory Markers with Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity
I'm sort of impressed!
Colitis in Elderly: An Atypical Presentation of Collagenous Colitis in an Elderly Female
Derivation of a Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity Index (MCDAI)
Diagnostic Yield of the Colonic Biopsy in the Investigation of Diarrhea
False Positive Anti-tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies in the Setting of Acute Epstein-Barr Viral Infection
High Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Women With Young Onset Collagenous Colitis
Intestinal Spirochetosis in the United States: A Clinicopathologic Study of Colonic Biopsy Specimens
Medullary Carcinoma of the Thyroid Presenting as Diarrhea in a Patient Meeting the Rome III Criteria for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Metastatic Breast Carcinoma to the Colon Mimicking Microscopic Colitis
Nausea and Vomiting Due to Addison’s Disease in a Patient with Celiac Disease in Remission
Proximal Colonic Secretory Villous Adenoma Causing Diarrhea and Depletion Syndrome
The Association of Serologic Inflammatory Markers with Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity
Wow, it's almost as if they've noticed that there's money to be made investigating/treating MC!
Regarding these two topics:
(I also ask, why the eagerness to make it possible for people who shouldn't eat wheat to eat wheat? Because celiac patients don't enrich anyone unless they take drugs and buy products... it's actually my favorite thing about gluten intolerance, sticking it to big pharma and industry in general.)
I wonder how they know the positive ATT was false, in that Epstein-Barr case?
Thanks, Z, for the update - this wasn't on my radar.
Regarding these two topics:
andMicroorganisms that naturally occur in the mouth could potentially render gluten harmless to people with celiac disease
...I note that rendering gluten harmless may not actually help people with celiac disease... and that the easiest way to avoid those 'non-gluten wheat components' is to avoid wheat and grains with like components.Antibodies to Non-gluten Wheat Components May Predict Celiac Disease
(I also ask, why the eagerness to make it possible for people who shouldn't eat wheat to eat wheat? Because celiac patients don't enrich anyone unless they take drugs and buy products... it's actually my favorite thing about gluten intolerance, sticking it to big pharma and industry in general.)
I wonder how they know the positive ATT was false, in that Epstein-Barr case?
Thanks, Z, for the update - this wasn't on my radar.
Sara,
I am finding gluten free stuff very expensive. The tests to determine sensitivities, staples like flours for baking, the meds that I need, getting rid of all the stuff I can't eat, and changing over everything to gluten free.
I am going to have to take meds to get this under control. Nothing else is doing it. So, so far for me it's costing a lot of money.
I am finding gluten free stuff very expensive. The tests to determine sensitivities, staples like flours for baking, the meds that I need, getting rid of all the stuff I can't eat, and changing over everything to gluten free.
I am going to have to take meds to get this under control. Nothing else is doing it. So, so far for me it's costing a lot of money.
I'm sorry, Lesley - I know you were trying to avoid the medications. I hope you get some relief, and soon.
I do understand that GF foods are expensive. So I do what I do with every product that annoys me - I don't use them, and that is why it looks this way to me. And I may have fallen into the Gastro doc trap - they were talking about celiac in that context, and not necessarily about non-celiac gluten sensitivity. (Some of us can't even figure out which of those we are, actually - but they are sure they know, of course - we're not in the celiac club unless They Say So.)
The point I should have stuck with is this: if celiac patients are reacting to non-gluten wheat components - which they are, if they have antibodies to them - then rendering gluten harmless is a useless endeavor - as well as being unnecessary, unless the goal is to get wheat into the diet of celiac patients, which is an idea I can't get behind. Why take the chance - especially knowing that there are "other components"? It strikes me as pure hubris (or maybe just stupid?) to assume that we have isolated the one ingredient of wheat that could possibly be causing this - and that there can therefore be no other. (I read something else today that irritated me along the same lines, so was probably primed to overreact... this article http://www.futurity.org/top-stories/vit ... der-women/ contains the sentence "But what was apparent in the data was that the women with the lowest levels of vitamin D also had a lot of other negative health indicators." - meaning, once they threw all the negative health indicators away, they found no benefit to vitamin D.... HUH??)
Eating GF is more expensive especially when we attempt to eat foods that replicate the experience of eating wheat, with non-wheat ingredients. And of course, we all grew up eating bread and pasta - I am entirely sympathetic with the huge adjustment it is to switch gears. I found it easier to change my preferences than I expected; I am also lucky that what I am doing is working for me.
I don't necessarily think the price of all GF foods is a rip-off - it has to cost more to make non-wheat flours behave like wheat, and we certainly don't want them pinching pennies on doing their best to avoid cross-contamination. It is expensive - and so is eating more meat than baked goods, which is what I do. But it turns out, eating cheap wheat-based food was killing me, so I'm spending on food, and avoiding other expenses instead. (This fits in with my other preferences and personality quirks pretty well, so I don't experience it as deprivation - lucky for me.)
One advantage, with my middle-aged eyesight, is: when you don't buy food with labels with a lot of ingredients (or with labels at all), you don't have to juggle reading glasses while shopping
Again I really hope you find relief, and in affordable form, and very soon,
Sara
I do understand that GF foods are expensive. So I do what I do with every product that annoys me - I don't use them, and that is why it looks this way to me. And I may have fallen into the Gastro doc trap - they were talking about celiac in that context, and not necessarily about non-celiac gluten sensitivity. (Some of us can't even figure out which of those we are, actually - but they are sure they know, of course - we're not in the celiac club unless They Say So.)
The point I should have stuck with is this: if celiac patients are reacting to non-gluten wheat components - which they are, if they have antibodies to them - then rendering gluten harmless is a useless endeavor - as well as being unnecessary, unless the goal is to get wheat into the diet of celiac patients, which is an idea I can't get behind. Why take the chance - especially knowing that there are "other components"? It strikes me as pure hubris (or maybe just stupid?) to assume that we have isolated the one ingredient of wheat that could possibly be causing this - and that there can therefore be no other. (I read something else today that irritated me along the same lines, so was probably primed to overreact... this article http://www.futurity.org/top-stories/vit ... der-women/ contains the sentence "But what was apparent in the data was that the women with the lowest levels of vitamin D also had a lot of other negative health indicators." - meaning, once they threw all the negative health indicators away, they found no benefit to vitamin D.... HUH??)
Eating GF is more expensive especially when we attempt to eat foods that replicate the experience of eating wheat, with non-wheat ingredients. And of course, we all grew up eating bread and pasta - I am entirely sympathetic with the huge adjustment it is to switch gears. I found it easier to change my preferences than I expected; I am also lucky that what I am doing is working for me.
I don't necessarily think the price of all GF foods is a rip-off - it has to cost more to make non-wheat flours behave like wheat, and we certainly don't want them pinching pennies on doing their best to avoid cross-contamination. It is expensive - and so is eating more meat than baked goods, which is what I do. But it turns out, eating cheap wheat-based food was killing me, so I'm spending on food, and avoiding other expenses instead. (This fits in with my other preferences and personality quirks pretty well, so I don't experience it as deprivation - lucky for me.)
One advantage, with my middle-aged eyesight, is: when you don't buy food with labels with a lot of ingredients (or with labels at all), you don't have to juggle reading glasses while shopping
Again I really hope you find relief, and in affordable form, and very soon,
Sara
The main point here, (IMO), is that replacing wheat in the diet is expensive. Eliminating wheat from the diet is not. Like almost everyone else, I tried to replace it at first, too, but since most of the GF products back then sucked, it was relatively easy for me to just just cut it out, and stop trying to replace it.
I still eat the same basic foods that I've always eaten, except for wheat, rye, barley, and oats. The meat, potatoes, and a few veggies that I eat, (and fruit, if I want fruit, but I rarely do, these days), are the same ones that I've always eaten - I just cut out the bad stuff, and I eat more of the good stuff, without trying to replace the wheat-based foods.
Tex
I still eat the same basic foods that I've always eaten, except for wheat, rye, barley, and oats. The meat, potatoes, and a few veggies that I eat, (and fruit, if I want fruit, but I rarely do, these days), are the same ones that I've always eaten - I just cut out the bad stuff, and I eat more of the good stuff, without trying to replace the wheat-based foods.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
(or maybe just stupid?) Probably this, but hubris too. One doesn't negate the other. Most docs display both in equal measure.
"One advantage, with my middle-aged eyesight, is: when you don't buy food with labels with a lot of ingredients (or with labels at all), you don't have to juggle reading glasses while shopping" LOL!
I had lasik surgery on one eye about 3 years ago, and have been free of glasses (worn since early childhood) ever since. One eye reads, one eye sees far. Oh, the wonders of modern medicine!
I wish they could fix our digestive systems as easily.
As I told you, I am spending on the very best of food because I can't afford the cheap and damaging right now. I am eating more meat, since there is very little I can eat OTHER than meat. I haven't been eating fresh F&V, the majority of my diet, along with whole grains prior to MC. Since nothing I have done has settled me in any way I have ZERO idea to what I am reacting, and have no way of knowing if I am doing the right thing by avoiding them.
I feel that the GERD is actually better when I have food in me (though it hurts a lot to get it down), and carbs also seem to help for some reason.
I also want them to use the purest ingredients for the same reasons that you do. I still think places like Whole Food is way too expensive.
I totally agree with you about the Vit D3 comment. It is too inane to waste your energy on.
"One advantage, with my middle-aged eyesight, is: when you don't buy food with labels with a lot of ingredients (or with labels at all), you don't have to juggle reading glasses while shopping" LOL!
I had lasik surgery on one eye about 3 years ago, and have been free of glasses (worn since early childhood) ever since. One eye reads, one eye sees far. Oh, the wonders of modern medicine!
I wish they could fix our digestive systems as easily.
As I told you, I am spending on the very best of food because I can't afford the cheap and damaging right now. I am eating more meat, since there is very little I can eat OTHER than meat. I haven't been eating fresh F&V, the majority of my diet, along with whole grains prior to MC. Since nothing I have done has settled me in any way I have ZERO idea to what I am reacting, and have no way of knowing if I am doing the right thing by avoiding them.
I feel that the GERD is actually better when I have food in me (though it hurts a lot to get it down), and carbs also seem to help for some reason.
I also want them to use the purest ingredients for the same reasons that you do. I still think places like Whole Food is way too expensive.
I totally agree with you about the Vit D3 comment. It is too inane to waste your energy on.
Well, Lesley, if you could make your brain do that mono-vision thing, with one eye near and one far... your brain is way ahead of mine! (Looking back on it, I wish I had tried switching which eye did which job - but of course, back then I wasn't suggesting good ideas to doctors, because I assumed they were using their own brains and imagination... now I know better!)
And of course, you're right; it's possible to be arrogant AND stupid, at the same time. Let us hope this achievement is not the pinnacle of modern medicine.
Tex, as always - kudos for saying clearly, in few words, what I was wandering through paragraphs to say unclearly. I hope I can remember to hold that "replacing" vs. "eliminating" notion in such clean words - it's exactly what I mean, but not what I've been saying/typing!
In this country, even folks without MC are suffering from a great availability of super-cheap food that's making them sick. This is a whole different issue/problem, but those of us who live here are inadvertently caught up in it, if we ever shop/eat/cook with our fellow citizens...
Sara
And of course, you're right; it's possible to be arrogant AND stupid, at the same time. Let us hope this achievement is not the pinnacle of modern medicine.
Tex, as always - kudos for saying clearly, in few words, what I was wandering through paragraphs to say unclearly. I hope I can remember to hold that "replacing" vs. "eliminating" notion in such clean words - it's exactly what I mean, but not what I've been saying/typing!
In this country, even folks without MC are suffering from a great availability of super-cheap food that's making them sick. This is a whole different issue/problem, but those of us who live here are inadvertently caught up in it, if we ever shop/eat/cook with our fellow citizens...
Sara
wheat, rye, barley, and oats, V&F, eggs and dairy made up the bulk of my diet prior to this. Eggs, salad and some whole meal bread with cheese was a frequent supper menu.
I ate meat/chicken (mostly chicken) 2x a week, fish 2x a week ALWAYS with salad and vegetables, and followed by fruit (which I ate all the time, almost all fruits), and for the rest, those above. Potatoes? Mostly sweet. Barely ever regular.
So for me to switch to a meat and potatoes diet is big departure.
As for my eyes? Right one - I couldn't see 2 feet in front of my face. Left one - a little better. I could identify one of my children at 10 feet. No one could get me focus with glasses, I couldn't read with them on, had to take them off and on constantly and was always looking for them.
So making the adjustment to the lasik was small potatoes. And the pleasure is profound!
I ate meat/chicken (mostly chicken) 2x a week, fish 2x a week ALWAYS with salad and vegetables, and followed by fruit (which I ate all the time, almost all fruits), and for the rest, those above. Potatoes? Mostly sweet. Barely ever regular.
So for me to switch to a meat and potatoes diet is big departure.
As for my eyes? Right one - I couldn't see 2 feet in front of my face. Left one - a little better. I could identify one of my children at 10 feet. No one could get me focus with glasses, I couldn't read with them on, had to take them off and on constantly and was always looking for them.
So making the adjustment to the lasik was small potatoes. And the pleasure is profound!