6/10/07 I first heard the words celiac disease on August 2, 1999. I had no idea what they were talking about. Perhaps you are reading this article because you recently heard that terms “celiac disease” and “gluten free diet”. If so, please read these three articles:

information from the National Institute of Health — this will answer many of your initial questions.

information from Healthline.com — Celiac Disease is not a simple situation. It may help to read a second summary of the vital information.

information from webMD, a popular and trusted source of on-line medical information.

information from Celiac.com. This site is associated with the Gluten Free Mall, one of America’s foremost on-line vendors of celiac-friendly food.

  Now that you have digested this information, read Paul’s Point-of-View. I’m Paul, and I’ve been through all this:

The terms celiac and ceoliac mean the same thing. Celiac is the American spelling.
The terms celiac disease and celiac sprue are interchangable. Celiac disease seems to be the favored term.

Celiac Disease is a disease not an allergy, although I frequently use the term allergy just to shorten a conversation.  In an allergy, all you have to do is control the allergic reaction. However, a celiac is injured each and every time he consumes gluten-toxic foods. Some celiacs exhibit no obvious symptoms.

  Finally, I suggest that you look at this interview by Heidi Collins, a CNN anchor person, a celiac, and the mother of a young celiac. She is interviewing the physician who treats her celiac disease, Dr. Peter Green. The interview lasts about nine minutes.