"DIABETES AND THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT"

Following on the heels of the excellent video What You Need to Know about Celiac Disease and the Gluten-Free Diet, University of California Television (UCTV) now offers "Diabetes and the Gastrointestinal Tract," part of a book tie-in series called Taking Control of Your Diabetes.

The commercially supported video, featuring host Dr. Steven Edelman and guest Dr. James Wolosin, offers some basics about the gastrointestinal (GI) system and some GI conditions that are more likely to affect people who have diabetes.

Following a discussion about heartburn, acid reflux, and endoscopies, the conversation moves on to gastroparesis (around the 8:00 mark) and then celiac disease (around the 11:00 mark).

As the video states, people with Type 1 diabetes are more likely than the general population to have celiac disease; the same goes for people with first-degree relatives who have been diagnosed with celiac disease. (Even if you have a different type of diabetes, there's probably about a 1% chance of having undiagnosed celiac disease.)

Around the 14:40 mark there's a segment where a woman with diabetes raves about Whole Foods and talks about how her gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying) went away after she adopted a gluten-free diet. (Heartburn also can go away after someone with celiac disease goes gluten-free.)

The coverage seems largely sound to me except for Dr. Wolosin's remarks differentiating people with celiac disease who show extreme sensitivity to gluten and people who do not show symptoms, saying that some people in the latter group can cheat a little bit on their diets every once in a while. Basically, almost all people with celiac disease who follow a gluten-free diet are likely to be accidentally contaminated every now and then (see my own confession, for instance), so it's probably not a great idea to compound the problem by giving patients a license to cheat intentionally, especially when damage to the body (such as bones and the intestines) can occur long before being noticed through symptoms. Cheating on the diet every now and then, like smoking every now and then, isn't likely to kill anyone, but it's still not the kind of thing I like to hear a doctor advocating.

As the video continues, the doctors also discuss ulcers, fatty liver, and colon cancer screening. The video ends with a summary.



Source (28:29)

GOT CELIAC? STILL??

Most Americans with celiac sprue have not yet been diagnosed. They're out there among us—possibly experiencing any number or combination of symptoms such as fatigue, anemia, heartburn, osteoporosis, skin conditions, and gastrointestinal problems—perhaps not even suspecting that their health could improve dramatically on a gluten-free diet.

The good news is that, the more that people are aware of the condition, the more likely doctors will be to suspect it, test for it, and treat it.

Also out there is a subset of people who have been diagnosed and successfully put on a gluten-free diet but later told by a physician that they could then eat gluten safely. It seems that this was a trend among doctors who mistakenly thought that celiac sprue was an "infant disease" that permanently subsided after the patient went on a gluten-free diet. Regardless of how healthy they feel today, those misinformed people should consult with an informed physician who can investigate the validity of the original diagnosis, because celiac sprue remains a lifetime condition, whether or not symptoms are apparent.

I've put together a nifty video on the subject—with Bob Dylan's help! Check it out—if you experience technical difficulties, just try again later.