[AlexMack]

Originally Posted by blueangel

I think what you heard, Tom.. is a business story about Bard's Tale Beer. The former management team at Pabst Blue Ribbon will be heading up Bard's Tale Gluten Free Brewery. I saw the story on the wires earlier today.

BTW... in case anybody reading this is interested to know about Celiac and wondering if they may have it... it's much, much more common than initially thought. An estimated 1 out of 300 Americans have it. It's mostly in people of European backgrounds (Scandinavians, British, Germans, etc.) There is a high prevalance of Celiac in Canada because of the European background of many living there.

Celiac is easily detected with a simple blood test... but you have to request it. Make sure you continue to eat wheat products as normal before being tested, or you could get a false negative.

If you have a close relative with Celiac, you really should be tested every year. The gold standard in diagnosing celiac sprue is with an endoscopy and colonoscopy.

It's now thought many people who had been diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) actually have celiac. So.. if you have any of the symptoms.. it might be worth going to the doctor and getting that blood test. But the symptoms are so widespread. Some people have bloating and chronic diarrhea, while others have fatigue, or depression.

Celiac can also be present with no symptoms. If you have celiac and continue to eat wheat gluten, it can result in anemia, osteoporosis, malnutrition, damage to the small intestine, and stomach cancer. But the good news is, it's easily treated-- no drugs or surgery... just a gluten free diet.

Most of this is true...however, I need to correct one small fact. The blood test is the first step in a diagnosis. The only way to know for sure is getting an endoscopy or colonoscopy. This is the only way to receive an actual diagnosis of Celiac Disease.