<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Dear Amy -- and other list members who, understandably, entertain the hope that the Prsident could somehow be induced to become a spokesperson for or affiliated with efforts to raise the general level of awareness about celiac. I have written some of you privately; this time I think I shall address the list as a whole and then shut up about it. I am a journalist with many years' experience in the national media (network television). My experience, for whatever it is worth, that it fruitless to invest time and effort into soliciting Presidential support for a celiac-related cause. First, wheat allergy (which Clinton evidently has) is not, as we know, the same as celiac. Because Presidential health potentially bears on national security, his doctors research potential causes and effects much more thoroughly than do our doctors research our cases. I am not there, I am not a doctor, and I have not seen Clinton's medical records, but it is highly unlikely that the doctors to a President who is allergic to wheat have not thought of and tested for celiac in their patient. Because most doctors do not know much about celiac does not mean they are unaware that it exists. Anyone who has been reading the basic medical journals in the past few years (New Eng. Journal of Medicine, for instance) knows that celiac exists. Surely, at least one doctor on the President's medical team reads that journal....in fact it is reasonable to assume that they all do. Second, this President has been particularly reluctant to release his medical records, and this White House is particularly defensive on issues of the President's health. Third, no politician wishes to become the poster child for any disease; disease is associated with weakness--not the image you want if power is what you are after. Please do not misunderstand and think I am saying that disease IS weakness. Rather, this is a matter of perception vs. reality. But as we know, irrespective of which party is in power, perception IS reality in D.C. Having gotten several non-profits/causes of one kind and another off the ground myself, I know how much work is involved.....and I would hate to see my celiac listmates expend time that none of us has enough of on a cause that is so unlikely to bear fruit. I am sorry not to have an alternative course of action to suggest; I know the my kind of response can be irritating and frustrating; please believe that I offer my thoughts out of the hope that my experience can save someone the frustration of wasted effort. Sincerely, Mary Brown NYC