{"id":394,"date":"2012-05-10T18:12:38","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T22:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/?p=394"},"modified":"2012-05-10T18:12:38","modified_gmt":"2012-05-10T22:12:38","slug":"may-is-celiac-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/may-is-celiac-awareness-month\/","title":{"rendered":"May is Celiac Awareness Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the first May that I’ll be joining people around the world marking Celiac Awareness Month.<\/p>\n

I only discovered that I suffer from the disease recently, and only because I figured it out for myself. Happily, I have a doctor who encourages his patients to talk openly, so we were able to work together to confirm my diagnosis. (And to be fair, I’m still undergoing tests to be sure that no other problems are also underway.)<\/p>\n

The story began after blood tests taken during my five-year physical last October showed a triple whammy of hypothyroidism (it functions too fast), anemia and low ferritin. I also had rather worrying, but mild symptoms that included trouble urinating.<\/p>\n

My doctor had a twinkle in his eye when he said it sounded like prostate disease.<\/p>\n

Given I\u2019m female, I don\u2019t have a prostrate. (You knew that, right? I\u2019m slow, so it took me a minute to get the joke.)<\/p>\n

My doctor immediately prescribed iron pills and began a series of tests. Neither of us knew, however, that my blood tests should have included a test for IgA class endomysial antibodies. The IgA test is the first indicator of celiac disease, something that I’d never really heard of and that he didn’t suspect.<\/p>\n

When I googled my symptoms, however, I found a 2002 study linking them to \u201csilent celiac sprue.\u201d http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1276329\/<\/a>, which I shared with my doctor.<\/p>\n

My blood test was very clearly positive and since then, we’re both slowly but surely finding out more about Celiac Disease, as is my dentist who told me that he was concerned about thyroid disease during my last visit. It turns out that several unrelated symptoms, from unusual tooth decay to skin rashes signal that Celiac Disease, which is a genetic auto-immune disease triggered by who knows what, may be underway. My doctor is testing for the disease more often these days and he’s finding that it may be quite common in Montreal.<\/p>\n

The only cure to healing this disease is to avoid gluten entirely. Inhaling the protein in wheat, rye, barley, sorghum and any products produced from those grains, like beer, millet and couscous can destroy my intestine and lead to an wide array of problems. The most shocking of these from my point of view is that the disease may lead to lymphoma, which killed my mom two years ago.<\/p>\n

Luckily, before all this started, I\u2019d spent the last several years learning how to cook fresh produce for my family. Everything from our pizza dough and bread to cakes, cookies and muffins are homemade. Switching flours was not difficult. I still haven\u2019t found a bread recipe I like, but pizza dough, popovers, muffins and cookies are now just as tasty as they’ve been in the past.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also learning which pastas go best with which sauces\u2014corn elbows go really well with tomato meat sauce, while buckwheat linguini holds up to heavy cream sauces and lemon parmeson. Rice pastas work only for Asian-style recipes as they fall apart with too much mixing.<\/p>\n

What is difficult is learning to avoid mustards, mayonnaise, gravy and other sauces that might be contaminated with gluten. I\u2019ve also learned to serve sauces, jams and other jarred products in separate bowls with spoons to avoid contaminating the main supply.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also had to ask for special treatment in Church, at restaurants and at special events, but those stories are the substance for\u00a0 upcoming articles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the first May that I’ll be joining people around the world marking Celiac Awareness Month. I only discovered that I suffer from the disease recently, and only because I figured it out for myself. Happily, I have a doctor who encourages his patients to talk openly, so we were able to work together […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gluten-free-living","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-6m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":846,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/migraine-sufferers-should-be-tested-for-celiac-disease\/","url_meta":{"origin":394,"position":0},"title":"Migraine sufferers should be tested for Celiac Disease","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"August 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Our findings suggest that migraine is a common neurologic manifestation in celiac, gluten-sensitive and inflammatory bowel diseases. Future interventional studies should screen migraine patients for celiac disease, particularly those with treatment-resistant headaches, as well as assess the long-term effect of a gluten-free diet.\" From a study published in Neurology called:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gluten Free Living"","block_context":{"text":"Gluten Free Living","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/seasonal-living\/gluten-free-living\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1732,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/celiac-awareness-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":394,"position":1},"title":"Today is International Celiac Awareness Day","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"May 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 In honour of the first ever International Celiac Awareness Day (refer to the page set up by the Association of European Celiac Societies at\u00a0http:\/\/www.aoecs.org\/)\u00a0I've decided to write about my experience with the disease so far. Please share your own story in the comment section below. Almost two years ago\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gluten Free Living"","block_context":{"text":"Gluten Free Living","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/seasonal-living\/gluten-free-living\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3202,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/sorghum_celiac\/","url_meta":{"origin":394,"position":2},"title":"Sorghum safe for people with Celiac disease","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"People have been asking me whether those of us with Celiac Disease can eat sorghum. A study published in Clinical Nutrition from Edinburgh, Scotland in 2007 indicates that we can. Here's what researchers from that study wrote: Sorghum protein digests did not elicit any morphometric or immunomediated alteration of duodenal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gluten Free Living"","block_context":{"text":"Gluten Free Living","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/seasonal-living\/gluten-free-living\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2363,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/tim-hortons\/","url_meta":{"origin":394,"position":3},"title":"Tim Hortons Introduces Certified Gluten-Free Macaroon","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"July 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Tim Hortons new gluten-free coconut macaroon offers celiac and gluten-intolerant guests a tasty treat\u00a0 OAKVILLE, ON, \/CNW\/ - For the estimated one in 133 Canadians affected with celiac disease, grabbing a quick prepared snack when they're on-the-go is not a simple task, as hidden sources of gluten in product ingredients\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gluten Free Living"","block_context":{"text":"Gluten Free Living","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/seasonal-living\/gluten-free-living\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"GlutenFreeSnack","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TimHortonsMacaroons-300x217.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16588,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/senior-with-food-intolerance-struggling\/","url_meta":{"origin":394,"position":4},"title":"Senior with food intolerance struggling","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"July 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, Margaret Duthie, the president of the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association, contacted the Suburban to ask for help for a senior with special diet requirements who relies on social welfare and has been facing difficulties finding an affordable place to live. I don't suppose you know anyone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gluten Free Living"","block_context":{"text":"Gluten Free Living","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/seasonal-living\/gluten-free-living\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/miniversion.png?fit=300%2C242&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":752,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/canadian-living\/","url_meta":{"origin":394,"position":5},"title":"Definition of Celiac Disease","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"July 21, 2012","format":"quote","excerpt":"According to an article\u00a0by Colleen Fisher Tully in a 2008 edition of Canadian Living, Celiac Disease is an autoimmune condition in which the lining of the small intestine is damaged by gluten. \u2028A healthy intestine has tiny villi \u2013 or microscopic hairs \u2013 that absorb nutrients as food passes through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gluten Free Living"","block_context":{"text":"Gluten Free Living","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/seasonal-living\/gluten-free-living\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}