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Don Wiss responded to my post about the incidence of celiac disease being
highest in those groups of Europeans (and their descendants) who have been
relying on grain agriculture for the shortest time by asking about the
incidence of celiac disease in sub-saharan Africans and their descendants.

Do we really know that there is very little celiac disease in non-European
groups?  Or is very little cd diagnosed in these groups?  The
gastroenterologist who diagnosed me used my ethnic background to help with
the diagnosis.  Would this physicain have eliminated cd from consideration
if I were Chinese or Ugandan?  Something tells me that celiac disease is
underdiagnosed almost everywhere.

I wonder if the history of celiac disease
100 years from now will look something like the history of non-insulin
dependant (type II/ NIDDM) diabetes mellitus, which used to be thought to be
characteristic of Europeans rather than Native Americans or Pacific
Islanders.  Guess what?  The highest recorded levels of type II diabetes are
now found among the Pima Indians of the southwestern United States, where
upwards of 38% of the population has this form of diabetes, up from zero% a
hundred years ago.  The difference?  They started eating a "typical western
diet".  John Dennis has witnessed American and European development workers
trying to introduce wheat agriculture to the rice farmers of Thailand.  I
understand that such "gluten evangelists" can be found throughout the world,
trying to spread the grain to people who have hitherto relied on potatoes or
sorghum in the name of increasing yields and carrying capacity.  Will a
typical "western" (read gluten-filled) diet spread the symptoms of celiac
disease along with it?  My guess is that the answer would be yes.  I would
doubt that the symptoms of the disorder will be easily diagnosed in
third-world countries with poor access to medical care, however.

It's just a thought.

Laura Johnson-Kelly
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Ithaca, NY, USA