"Are you willing to make a life-long commitment to the gluten free diet without having a clinical diagnosis of celiac disease? Do you have the right to put your children in that situation? I heard these nwords from a speaker who was totally in favor of the clincal diagnosis, even in situations where this required people who were living gluten free to reintroduce gluten into their diets in order to get valid test results. I wrote about this in my newsletter and received several responses:
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WRITER #1: "Why would anyone want to make a life-long commitment to the gluten free diet without having a clinical diagnosis of celiac disease? Who would give up pizza, bagels, pasta, etc. if they didn’t have too!! I might as well not live in NYC!!! Do you have the right to put your children in that situation?" Absoulutely not! What kind of "parent" would do that?! A simple blood test is all that is needed."
MY RESPONSE: Keep in mind that even the "simple blood test" requires the subject to be using gluten prior to the test. So it becomes a long and difficult process.
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WRITER #2: Although we have not been "officially" diagnosed, my husband, our daughter, and myself have all lost weight and eliminated head and stomache aches – all due to being on gluten-free diets. The proof is in the pudding!.
MY RESPONSE: The speaker I was quoting obviously disagrees. The majority of the people who read and respond to this blog agree with you.
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WRITER #3: My daughter, at 8 1/2 was having so many problems with stomach pain, and occasionally vomiting, that we attempted a gluten free diet dispite the blood test being negative for celiac. After researching Celiac disease, and having a family history of the disease, we attempted the gluten free diet, with much success. We tried to eliminate gluten from her diet for two weeks. We then attempted gluten once again and her symptoms returned with a vengence. She was sick for 5 days. It was then HER choice to be gluten free for the rest of her life. She now reads labels on every food she eats. She had about 4 episodes of contamination in the first year of being gluten free. We have learned to deal with those incidences as they occur, but work very hard to keep them to a minimum. She refuses to do the biopsy since she would need to be back on gluten for 3 months to get an accurate test. She is now 10 years old and doing well.
MY RESPONSE: Good luck and thanks for writing. Decisions are difficult when they involve children.
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Please keep the comments and e-mails coming. My hunch is that we have much to say on this subject. While editing this post, I reached a personal decision on this matter. I’ll share my conclusions —- along with ideas that you submit — in a future article.
Published 06/19/09
