Mystery Disease Causes Great Suffering

In medical school, professors often warn their students, “When you hear hoof beats, think of horses, not zebras.” In other words, the patient’s problems are much more likely to be caused by something common than by an exotic condition.
This works fine for obvious problems. A patient who comes down with a rash after pulling weeds in the back yard probably has poison ivy rather than a rare tropical skin condition.
But doctors who stick only with the familiar may cause patients needless suffering. If a disease is classified as rare, many physicians may not consider it.
Such is the case for celiac disease. Until a few years ago, most physicians in the U.S. were taught that this autoimmune disease was extremely rare, affecting less than one person in 5,000. In other words, any doctor who diagnosed celiac disease was looking at a zebra, not a horse.
But more recent research has shown that celiac disease is actually far more common, affecting approximately 1 person of 130 in the general population (Arch. Intern. Med. Feb 10, 2003). The disease runs in families, so those with a parent, sibling or child with celiac disease have one chance in 22 of the same condition.
This means that celiac disease affects millions of Americans. Patients with this condition are extremely sensitive to the protein gluten found in wheat, barley and rye. The body’s reaction to gluten damages the small intestine and keeps it from absorbing crucial nutrients.
Many do not know they have this condition and when they complain of symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, anemia, digestive difficulties, itchy rash, headache, anxiety or depression, their physicians frequently misdiagnose them.
We recently conducted a one-hour radio interview with the world’s leading expert on celiac disease. The show offers up-to-date information on diagnosis and treatment. This CD is available for $15 from The People’s Pharmacy (# 455), P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.
We have heard from many listeners who suffered for years before being diagnosed with celiac disease. One wrote: “Thank you so much for your radio show on celiac disease. My supervisor was listening and told me about it. In that one hour, she helped me put the pieces together to figure out ten years of illnesses from extreme fatigue, cramps, joint pain and depression.
“I had even gone to a GI doctor who did a colonoscopy. He did not find anything, but I got sicker afterwards, probably because I was eating nothing but crackers and canned soups, which are loaded with gluten!
“After hearing your show, I called to ask why I was getting worse and the doctor finally ordered the blood test that showed I have celiac disease. After ten years of pain and wondering why I always felt so sick and tired, I am relieved to know.”
Ten years is a long time to suffer as this reader did, but her story is not unusual. The diagnosis is often delayed when a doctor is not thinking about celiac disease. But for millions, a diagnosis of celiac disease could explain mysterious symptoms. On a gluten-free diet, most people with celiac disease feel better and avoid further complications.