Promising News in Treatment for Celiac Disease

[Nelson Vergel]

The gluten free diet (no wheat, barley, rye) is the only treatment for celiac disease. But many companies and researchers are investigating and doing clinical trials for different treatments for people diagnosed with celiac disease. In the last few days Joseph Murray, M.D. from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic offered an update on the testing of larazotide acetate. Murray is quoted in Gastroenterology and Endoscopy News‘ report that the latest clinical trial findings showed “significant symptom reduction in celiac disease”.

http://www.thesavvyceliac.com/2014/09/23/promising-news-treatment-for-celiac-disease/


Larazotide acetate will be the first. Developed by Alba Therapeutics, founded by internationally renowned coeliac voice Dr Alessio Fasano - author of the brilliant Gluten Freedom - it works by making the gut less 'leaky' to gluten peptide molecules. It is not expected to allow deviation from a gluten-free diet, but to act as a complement to it - to help prevent the effects of accidental cross-contamination when eating out, or offering protection against the low-level gluten ingestion coeliacs almost invariably live with.


The second is latiglutenase - ALV003 by Alvine Pharmaceuticals - an enzyme rather than a drug, per se, and one devised to break down gluten proteins into harmless fractions in the small intestine. Research has shown that enzymes are the preferred form of treatment for coeliacs.


The two could, potentially, act complementarily.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3791048/

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Gluten Free Resources for a New Diagnosis


Blogs:

About.com has a great celiac disease/gluten sensitivity writer in Jane Anderson. She does very good research on subjects that affect us every day. Twitter: @AboutCeliac

GlutenFreeEasily.com is more recipe and cooking oriented. Shirley Braden is very active on social media and if you ever had a question, I am certain she would reply! Twitter: @ShirleyGFE

Triumph Dining's blog is pretty good as well. They often have early notification on new gluten free products. Twitter: @TriumphDining

There are a TON more of GREAT bloggers out there that cater to whatever angle of celiac or gluten free living you are looking for. Most are also found on Twitter.

Other:
Gluten Free Watchdog: This is a subscription site. Gluten Free Dietitian Tricia Thompson tests gluten free (both labeled and not labeled) foods and reports on what the gluten factor may be in any particular product. She does very good informative writing and is someone to follow on Twitter @TriciaThompson

American Celiac Disease Alliance: An advocacy group for celiac disease in Washington. It has a lot of information particularly where the law (or potential law) meets gluten free; examples: FDA Gluten Free Labeling Rule, 504 plans and getting food accommodations in schools and college. Twitter: @CeliacAlliance

Books and Magazines Gluten Free Resources

Celiac Disease a Hidden Epidemic by Peter Green, MD is a GREAT book for people with celiac. It spells out how to test for, the definition of and how to treat celiac disease.

Gluten Freedom by Alessio Fasano, MD is not even out until next month, but this book says it will discuss gluten-related disorders, including celiac. But this may be better suited for folks with gluten sensitivity. I am getting a copy to review. You can watch for that here in the coming weeks.

Gluten-Free Living magazine: This is a great magazine for people looking for both lifestyle and news about living gluten free. Full disclosure I write the Family Matters column for the magazine. It is the best gluten free magazine resource for you in my opinion. Twitter: @GFLiving

Using Phone or Tablet Apps as a Gluten Free Resource

Is That Gluten Free? Is one I have on my phone. After doing the gluten free thing for 14 years, I don't use it a ton. But I do recommend it especially for new folks. It costs $7.99, but you can look up brands and foods on the app to see if they are gluten free.

Find Me Gluten Free has both a website and a Find Me Gluten Free app. Both are free to use and are great for finding gluten-free friendly restaurants and stores. You always still want to have a conversation with the restaurants to ensure your safe gluten free dining experience, but this will lead you in the right direction. Twitter: @FindMeGF

Gluten Free Registry also has a website and app for finding restaurants, but I found the app not working as well as I would have liked (technically speaking). But you can check it out and see if you like it. Twitter: @GFRegistry
Other app options can be found at this link.

http://www.thesavvyceliac.com/2014/03/21/gluten-free-resources-new-diagnosis/

 

[Nelson Vergel]

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