Celiac Disease: "IBS, IBS, IBS .... it's BS!" (Blog from 12/10/09; Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Dr. Oz Today)

Again, we know there are many people who do not have access to watching this important show today by Dr. Oz who can benefit from the information so we watched it and have partially transcribed and then highlighted the details of  The Hidden Epidemic: When Bloating is a Sign of Something Toxic.

Dr Oz:  "Today we're going to talk about a new epidemic that is sweeping the country at an alarming rate. Whenever I hear about these epidemics I want to focus on them. This is a condition that wreaks havoc on your body and comes with some very familiar symptoms.

Think about it: bloating, fatigue, joint pain .... But what if I told you that it also can lead to liver disease and cancer? And that is so frequently misdiagnosed that you could have it right now anad not even know it. What is it?  How do you know if you're at risk? Here's why you need to pay attention to this:"

An announcer goes on to say:

"There is a silent killer among us and 97% of those who have it don't even know it.   Most people haven't even heard of it.  It's called 'celiac disease' and it's an autoimmune disorder that strikes the small intestine and prevents nutrients you eat from being absorbed.

The cause?  An adverse reaction to gluten, a combination of proteins found in wheat and other grains.  (showing jejunum which is a part of the small intestines).  Celiac disease can lead to serious and even life-threatening complications: Lymphoma, infertility, neurologic disorders

Celiac is often misdiagnosed because the symptoms are so similar to other diseases: bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss.  Symptoms are similar in Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

It takes, on average, 10 years for a person to get diagnosed properly after symptoms begin. 

3 Million Americans 'suffer' from celiac disease -- that is more than than epilepsy, MS, Parkinsons, lupus and RA.  Among them is Elizabeth Hasselbeck

The good news is, you can eliminate all symptoms and complications just by eliminating gluten from your diet, but you need to know exactly what to avoid, and some of those things WILL suprise you." 

Enter Elisabeth Hasselbeck (best known for being on "The View" on ABC), who recently released a new book she wrote, The G-free Diet.  Dr. Oz states that he was first learning about this a few months ago and used her book to learn from and asked her to share what symptoms she had and how she figured it out.  She states there are good resources out there, with her utilizing Dr. Peter Green's book when she was first diagnosed.  Her reason for writing the book was to give a social aspect to it -- how to have dinner with friends and not have it take up half the time together conversing about it, "how to navigate your life with it" ... how to order in a restaurant.

She states that she came back with an intestinal infection from Belize and she was in pain.  Constipation and diarrhea were also symptoms and for 10 years she heard from doctors "IBS, IBS, IBS ... and I say it in the book... that's BS!"  Dr Oz' response was that IBS became a catch-all diagnosis when a person has symptoms the doctor cannot figure out.   Then he states something particularly interesting to me ... 'you diagnosed yourself ... tell us about that'.  (I really like that he acknowledges patients 'self diagnosing' as you may know, the home page 'model' on this website and my presentation prepared for the kickoff event for the Chronic Pain Documentary Series in Berkeley, California in July is of YOU the patient in the middle of the health care team, and all that comes with that -- taking responsibility for education, figuring things out, seeking and hiring the best team members they can for their own 'health care team'.  (This requires that the doctors on the team share the patient and 'system' belief that patients are deserving of information, control, inclusion in reports, etc.)

In 2001, Elisabeth was on 'Survivor', which that year was in Australia.  She made it to the final 4 and obviously felt it was a tremendous accomplishment.  What she related that is so interesting is that as the others were getting less strong from eating differently (or nothing or not much most likely with that show's premise), she felt better as time went on.  She'd unwittingly eliminated things from her diet that her body had been reacting to!  "I'm either made to live out here in the outback with the kangaroos" she joked.  I realized after finding out about my food allergies that I had a habit of skipping meals and deduced it was because I simply felt better than when I was eating.  (Then think about how that feeds into 'adrenal fatigue' -- all puns intended, as always!)

The show had excellent animation of the gastrointestinal system and shows when a person intakes by mouth something with gluten and once in the small intestine, the small hairlike 'cilia' which Dr. Oz describes as moving kind of like a coral reef (GREAT analogy).  Little droplets of nutrients that have been broken down already react if the person has celiac disease and the celia are killed off.  The graphic then shows them as worn down 'nubbins' and the nutrients then 'bounce off' the intestinal wall rather than absorb them, and the body then misses out on the nutrients.  So people become malnourished and you're not pulling things into your own body despite what you're eating or drinking.  (However, it is my understanding that beyond this, 'leaky gut syndrome' is a result and instead of the intestines acting as a filter, it's like a sieve and these particles then get into the bloodstream and affect the nerves, joints and other body tissues.)(We'll be asking our experts to come in and 'comment' on this later/below so please come back and check OR add if YOU have information you feel is valid/correct! and if you want to include your background with your expertise -- that's always nice when available.  Keep in mind, Elisabeth Hasselbeck has expertise as she has studied a great deal and has good life experience to bring to the forefront.)

She was a good sport about the expected donning of gloves and playing with cadaver GI tract and it was very interesting to see the difference between a healthy, absorptive surface compared to one where the person had celiac disease. 

Dr. Oz emphasized that people's reported symptoms are the clues that allow them to start looking for causes.  There was a nice graphic: 'Symptoms of Celiac' (which he implied was in order of frequency)

1. Bloating and diarrhea
2. Fatigue
3. Bone and joint pain
4. Mood changes
5. Tinging in hands and feet
6. Migraines
7. Dermatitis herpetiformis -- a rash (worth looking up to see photos of online somewhere if one is suspecting and investigating).

They had the world expert on it and Elisabeth's own physician, Peter Green who is Director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University at New York Presbyterian Hospital.  They reiterate how important this is because it is invoking an autoimmune reaction. 

Dr. Green stated that the increased incidence of malignancies.  "Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma has been on the increase in this country and we really don't know why".  Increased autoimmune diseases and general 'ill health' -- osteoporosis, anemia, infertility. 

He reports that many people are seen in his program that are about to start an IVF program (presumably that stands for invitro fertilization) and they ask them to wait a year and see if things resolve with a gluten-free eating program and things resolve.  (Mardy's note: If people are aware of the huge expense of these fertility programs let alone the costs for the multiple births that are frequently what comes from them, it's really something to think about when it comes to cost containment for people and third-party  payers related to health care.)

Dr. Green brings up the cost (money, time, frustration??) of people going to multiple doctors for these different symptoms -- neurologists for the 'tingling' (neuropathy is a more medical term for it by the way), gynecologists for bone density testing and then put on medications for that and nobody is looking to figure out why someone young would be having what integrative medicine refers to 'bone health' disorders ('osteopenia or osteoporosis' are the medical terms). 

Dr Oz then suggests that if someone wonders, they should ask for a blood test, but those are frequently false negative (they will say it is negative and miss that the person has whatever the test is for).  Dr. Green states that if the blood test comes back positive people then can be referred for biopsy. 

He elaborates that sometimes people will be positive on the blood test but not actually have 'celiac disease', in which case they fit into the group labeled as having 'gluten sensitivity'. He reinforced that when people restrict gluten from their diets and they get better, that's one of the primary things to focus on.

Dr Oz turned his attention back to Elisabeth to ask her 'how hard is it' to to eat 'gluten free'.  I thought her response was wonderful for her and people like her who have the ability to be 'compliant': When you feel better it is such good feedback that it's not hard at all.  She acknowledged that for teens it can be harder as they have so many social situations (and in my opinion don't have the frontal lobe development and brain maturation for compliance). 

"I wanted people to know that this is easy if you take the steps necessary," and Elisabeth goes on to state the need for medical research

After a commercial break they returned with an intersting case study.  A woman named Amy who 10 years ago had what she thought was the flu, and her stomach wasn't right for weeks afterward.  Her gastroenterologist diagnosed it as irritable bowel syndrome.  She had a number of flare ups and each time her physician told her it was either IBS or a virus but he never ran a test.  Amy recently went to a new doctor who noticed that her tongue was shiny and she ran blood tests and found she was anemic and deficient in magnesium and zinc.  This prompted testing for celiac disease, which Amy had never heard of.  She learned of the gluten-free diet (and didn't previously know what 'gluten' was -- she'd thought it was a 'type of pudding' (which got a chuckle from Dr. Oz).   Amy at this time is confused about what has gluten in it and Elisabeth's book has been set up to 'ease people into' the gluten free food plan.

They whizzed over the list of grains that contain gluten: wheat, oats, barley, rye and interestingly demonstrated in a small scoop that only 1/8 of a teaspoon of one of the grains would cause problems for someone with celiac.  (This isn't making sense to me because in theory one molecule theoretically would would evoke an immune system response at the cell in the cilia and cause damange, so  perhaps they meant the amount that someone will 'notice symptoms').   

Elisabeth showed some of the hidden sources that tripped her up in the beginning: Soy sauce (contains wheat), bleu cheese (as my dad horrified me as a kid, the 'blue' is from moldy bread)(he also told me chocolate covered raisins were ants and I'm quite certain it was as ploy to keep me from eating them all!), bacon bits (the type that are made from grain and flavored to taste baconey), some deli meats (extended with grains).  She revealed on dates with husband Tim when they met feeling sick at the movie theater and being relieved it wasn't HIM, but she was eating a type of licorice rope that contained wheat.  Coffees can be a hidden source, particularly some instant coffees.  Beer... generally they have grains that contain gluten (see list, above) but Redbridge is a gluten-free beer.  She referred to Amy's or Annie's for gluten free options of meal mixes -- you'll notice we've selected those on Lumigrate.com from the beginning in our "Products" area (refer to tab bar at top of page).  And a very good point: If you live with people who don't eat as you do, you'll want your own jars of peanut butter, your own sticks of butter and have them labeled as such so as to not get contamination from knives being inserted (or why not make a rule that only clean silverware be inserted -- that just is normal good food handling technique it would seem).  

Being sure that the foods you purchase, whether at the store or at a restaurant, are prepared in gluten-free environments so as to not be contaminated -- again, it's wonderful this show really highlighted the small, subtle amounts of gluten being problematic to people with celiac. 

Makeup can include gluten, including lotion; so think about who and what you're kissing AND where those hands have been because if a person puts on a lotion with a wheat protein included in it then makes a salad, subtle amounts of gluten can be getting into the food.  (Again, following best food handling practices might be beneficial overall).  Soaps -- Elisabeth selected 'Dove' bar soap to demonstrate that there are mainstream brands on the market that do not contain wheat protein and 'contaminating your system and harming your body'.  Recognizing that Dr. Oz is a fan of green tea, she reminded people that is an alternative to coffee (and natural be certain it is closest to its purist form).

Grains that do NOT have gluten: 

• Rice
• Quinoa (more protein than wheat -- Elisabeth puts it on salads)
• Corn  (and there are others, this just was all they discussed today)

Gluten Free pasta -- since they have more nutrients for the body, Elisabeth has shifted her family to eating gluten free with her at home generally, as she believes it to be an overall superior diet for others besides those with celiac.  This isn't a program you get on and 'lose weight' -- you'll start feeling better and become stronger and more robust. 

Amy was asked at the end what she was most likely to take away from the time they went over products and she looked around at ALL on the table and to the one thing they hadn't talked about and said:  'I'm glad that wine is gluten free' and got a rousing clap from the audience and laugh all the way around. 

My friend and OTR buddy Jan, said she has Elisabeth's book but it's with the neighbor who is elderly and has had fibromyalgia for years as ...... you guessed it ...... after hearing from Jan for a while about how her symptoms might be from celiac disease, her physician has now told her that is the case.  "It takes a team", eh, Jan? 

(We discussed how my family 'swept' this way as well, but even though I knew my health problems remediated when I eliminated gluten, my other family members were only motivated to try eliminating wheat and gluten after time and their own significant health issues coming to the surface.  'Human nature' is what it is: which is why I asked Dr. King to provide something about 'resistance' in her video seminar, because I recognize how difficult 'compliance' is for the majority of people, whether it be be what we put in our mouths, whether we exercise or not, or anything we do when making changes.  "Strategies for LASTING Change" as she says in the introduction, was her wonderful response.  (Available for $20 at Lumigrate.com for download), and I can't more highly recommend it.  Also, Dr. Lepisto addressed celiac disease in the initial portion of his 'Food Allergies' video (but the video focuses on IgG food allergies.  This is an area Dr. Rollins tested in me 3 years ago and which he recently returned from a lengthy continuing education about and said the new developments in the field have him more convinced than ever that this is a major contributor to chronic illness. (Link to videos portion of this website: www.lumigrate.com/catalog/seminars

Link to Dr. Oz: www.doctoroz.com (which should have links to Elisabeth's book AND Dr. Green)

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Hopefully this is very helpful and thought-provoking information for you and we're very pleased Dr. Oz has brought it to the surface TODAY.  ~~ Mardy