This blog will be taking a slight change of direction for a while.  I will be writing more about celiac disease and children.

You see, just before Christmas, we found out that our oldest granddaughter, Courtney 6 1/2, tested positive for celiac disease.

My daughter-in-law has been kind of suspecting it for a while and finally talked the pediatrician into doing the blood tests.  The tests came back positive and Courtney will be seeing a gastroenterologist later this month, and will probably have an endoscopy done, but we don’t know that for certain yet.

Even though there are so many other diseases that could be far worse for my granddaughter to have, it breaks my heart to know that she gets this one from me.

Although there is no way to know who will definately develop celiac disease, we do know that in order to develop it, you need three things to line up.

1. A genetic predispostion (my contribution)
2. A diet rich in gluten (the American diet’s contribution)
3. An environmental stressor/trigger (as yet unknown for her)

You could have all three of these things and never develop celiac disease.  But it can definately be said that if you are missing any one of these three factors you will not develop celiac disease.  You may be gluten intolerant, just not a celiac.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that the American diet is full of gluten, both hidden and exposed.  You will find gluten in almost everything.  So number two of the factors is pretty easy to achieve.

And if you became a celiac as an adult, chances are you pretty much know what your stressor or trigger was.  For me, it was a trip to Girl Scout camp, a case of profuse diarrhea, and four days of eating wonderfully homemade, glutenous, breads and rolls made fresh daily by the camps’ cook.

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease, which leads some to believe that people with celiac disease have a compromised immune system.  Actually quite the opposite is true.  When you have celiac disease your immune system is working overtime to fight what it percieves as the villians, in this case gluten.

What would you like to know about celiac disease?  Leave a comment below.