It takes on average 10 years for someone to be accurately diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This is in part because many medical practitioners are not looking for Celiac Disease and in part because of the less than perfect testing methods.

Celiac Disease is considered by many to be an extremely rare condition and therefore is not often considered as a possibility. However, in North America, Celiac Disease affects somewhere between 1 in 100 to 1 in 200 people. This means that between 5 to 10 people in a group of 1000 will have Celiac Disease. That's not too rare if you ask me or anyone suffering from the symptoms of Celiac Disease. Unfortunately, most of these people will be unaware for many years if they ever do get an accurate diagnosis.

Grain Sensitivity is probably more common than Celiac Disease but it is diagnosed much less frequently. The reasons for the low rates of diagnosis are basically the same. Most medical practitioners are not looking for Grain Sensitivity as a contributing factor to their patients' ill health and many practitioners are not aware of how to test for Grain Sensitivity.

The "Gold Standard" test for diagnosing Celiac Disease is a biopsy of the small intestine. In fact, the biopsy is considered to be the only definitive testing measure. Blood tests like tissue transglutaminase are available and utilized as a screening tool but are not considered to be diagnostic. You may ask, what is the problem? It seems like it is pretty simple. For patients who have any possible symptom of Celiac Disease you should run a blood test to screen for it then do a biopsy if the blood tests are positive to confirm the diagnosis. This sounds great but unfortunately these testing measures are not perfect.

We do not know how accurate or inaccurate biopsies of the small intestine are in diagnosing Celiac Disease. They are believed to be the most accurate test available but that does not mean they are perfect. The small intestine is over 20 feet long and it is quite possible to obtain a sample from a section of the small intestine not affected by Celiac Disease. And, what about diagnosing Grain Sensitivities where there may be no inflammatory response in the intestines?

I have seen a number of patients who have been tested for Celiac Disease and were told that they do not have it. I have also seen a large number of patients who have done skin prick allergy testing for food allergies, including wheat, and been told that they have no allergy or sensitivity. These people, with significant symptoms and health conditions are told that gluten and wheat are not playing a role in their health problems. However, when we remove gluten from the diet and accurately test for food allergens through blood testing we often find that wheat and/or gluten are significant contributing factors to their health concerns.

The main message I would like to communicate in this article is that Celiac Disease and Grain Sensitivity are often not considered and often have false negative results with the standard testing measures when they are considered. If a person's health improves when they eat gluten-free or wheat-free does it really matter what the lab tests results say? If symptoms disappear and the person feels better perhaps this is the most important test of all.

In the next column we will discuss the conventional medical approach for treating Celiac Disease.

Neural Therapy is one of the treatments I use most in my practice because it is a method of treatment that works with the nervous system (neural means nerves). More specifically it works with the autonomic nervous system, which is the wing of the nervous system that is not under conscious control. It is the part of the nervous system that controls things like heart rate, digestion, liver metabolism, breathing, kidney perfusion, and the function of other organs. Neural Therapy can help restore optimal function of these organs by supporting optimal function of the nerves sending information to and from them.

In most Celiac Disease and Grain Sensitivity cases the autonomic nervous system is not functioning optimally, especially around the organs of the digestive system. This is because these organs have been continually aggravated with exposure to wheat and gluten over years or decades. Once diet has been improved Neural Therapy can be a very effective way to restore healthy function of the organs of digestion.

Neural Therapy is also known as German acupuncture because it is a therapy largely developed in Germany and it utilizes many Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture points. However, instead of using acupuncture needles it employs therapeutic injections of the acupuncture points with homeopathic medicines, B vitamins, and local anesthetics like procaine. Both acupuncture and Neural Therapy can be used to support the function of the stomach, pancreas, small intestine, colon, liver, and gall bladder. However, I have found that Neural Therapy often works faster because it utilizes therapeutic injections into the acupuncture points. Restoring the health of these organs is of utmost importance for people with Celiac Disease and Grain sensitivity and Neural Therapy is the treatment I use most to achieve this.

Scar tissue formation is another major issue for many people with Celiac Disease or Grain Sensitivity. The most significant cause of scar tissue for these patients is surgery. Gall bladder removal, exploratory laparoscopy, appendectomy, hysterectomy, and C-section scars are extremely common and often prevent optimal function of the organs near the scar tissue. Neural Therapy is the most effective treatment for Scar tissue because it can break down scar tissue and restore the nervous system conduction through the tissue. This improves the function of the nearby organs by improving the information flowing to and from these organs.

Neural Therapy is a very cost effective form of treatment because long term restoration of the nervous system, scar tissue, and organs can be achieved with relatively few treatments. This usually means that less supplementation and other treatments are required. Most people prefer taking fewer supplements and Neural Therapy is a very effective way to get results with less supplementation.

The most important part of treatment for Celiac Disease and Grain Sensitivity is the avoidance of wheat and gluten-containing foods. However, doing that alone is not enough to restore optimal health in most cases. Neural Therapy in conjunction with Intravenous Infusions, and some specific supplementation makes the most effective treatment protocol to treat Celiac Disease and Grain Sensitivity and promote optimal health.

In the next column we will examine the most important oral supplements for the treatment of Celiac Disease and Grain Sensitivity.

In this week's column we will investigate the 3 most important oral supplements for repairing the integrity of the digestive system.

Glutamine
Glutamine is an amino acid found in most foods containing protein. However, to obtain enough glutamine to have therapeutic effects one must take it as a supplement in capsule or powder form. Glutamine is a very important nutrient for repairing damage and rebuilding the integrity of the cells that line the intestines. These cells gobble up glutamine like it is going out of style. They use glutamine to rebuild their structural components so they can withstand the rigors of existence in the digestive tract. Relatively high doses of glutamine should be taken for several months in order for optimal healing to occur.

Probiotic Bacteria
Probiotic bacteria are the "good guys". They are the native bacteria that live along our digestive tracts. Species like acidophilus, bifidus, and hundreds of other species colonize our digestive system and live in harmony with the cells of our intestines. Basically, we give these bacteria a home to live in and they keep that home neat, tidy, and clean no matter what we throw at them. However, people with digestive system disorders like Celiac Disease and Wheat Sensitivity typically have an imbalance of the "good" bacteria vs. "bad" bacteria and yeast species. A major part of treatment is to use probiotic bacteria to restore a healthy population of the "good guys" and dismantle the "bad guys". For probiotics to be therapeutically useful you must take in more than is available in most yogurts. In fact, I typically recommend a probiotic with at least 20-30 billion live organisms per day.

Essential Fatty Acids
Essential fatty acids are amongst the most important nutrients for all of us. They play several crucial roles in every cell of the body. The most significant may be the role they play in the cell membrane. This is the outer lining of a cell. The cell membrane is where most of the cell-to-cell communication takes place. It is also the part of the cell that allows nutrients and other molecules either into or out of the cell. When cells of the digestive tract are damaged by the inflammatory processes associated with digestive disorders like Celiac Disease and Wheat Sensitivity they need higher than normal amounts of essential fatty acids for optimal repair.

The most important essential fatty acid for the digestive system is an omega 3 fatty acid called EPA. This is a highly anti-inflammatory molecule that helps to damper down inflammation in the digestive system so that repair can begin. However, it is best to take more than just EPA because the other types of essential fatty acids also play crucial roles in repair. The best sources of essential fatty acids are purified fish oils, hemp oil, and flax oil. However, there is a great deal of other benefits in consuming some essential fatty acids from flax seeds, hemp seeds, or chia seeds. These sources also provide extremely healthy forms of fibre that supports the proper elimination of toxins from the bowel.