TV COVERAGE: CBS EVENING NEWS















Did you catch the CBS coverage of celiac disease last Friday? I was impressed! Here, from the CBS Evening News website, are some of the major points:

"Celiac is one of the most common of diseases — in fact, one out of every 100 Americans has it — yet many don’t know they have it. Only 5 percent of cases are diagnosed properly.

"Detection is important because, left untreated, celiac can lead to a variety of health problems...."


"The reason so many people — close to 3 million — have no idea they have the disease is because celiac disease has not been on doctors’ radars for very long. The screening blood tests have only been around for 10 to 15 years.

"Doctors used to be taught that celiac disease was a very rare condition and caused severe gastrointestinal symptoms. Now doctors know that it’s somewhat common and can cause all sorts of subtle symptoms that don’t even involve the belly.

"Although 99 percent of Americans don’t have the disease, a person shouldn’t be afraid to raise the possibility with a doctor and consider testing if there are unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms, if there is already a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome, or if the person has any of the nongastrointestinal symptoms associated with celiac disease, which include not only migraines, infertility and osteoporosis, but also short stature, and even recurrent miscarriages."

The CBS Evening News website includes video of the news segment, plus many links.

Photo: David Marc Fischer