<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Relatively Speaking...<7> ------------------------- by Ann Whelan editor/publisher of _Gluten-Free Living_ Family members who would rather wrestle alligators than take a puff from a cigarette are often the same members who are not receptive to being tested for gluten intolerance. In my experience and that of many of the celiacs with whom I'm in contact, the vast majority of celiac relatives are steadfast in their desire not to be tested for Celiac Disease (CD), or even to know much more about it than they already do. Granted, they may love us and not really want to dwell on our illness. Granted, not everyone is able to deal reasonably well with illness of any kind. Granted, our diet can be a pain in the collective family neck, especially since most family encounters occur around a meal where we might need a little extra attention--a family burden if I ever heard of one, especially in competitive families! And yes, granted, far too many relatives disbelieve the extent of our involvement with the disease, our protestations of the span of involvement of the disease itself, or perhaps even that we actually have it. Which means I'll bet you have a relative who has said: "You think everyone has Celiac Disease."..."I don't want to follow your diet!"..."I'm not sick. In fact, I'm healthy as a horse."..."Even if I have it, I don't want to know."..."Give up beer when I'm not even sick? Forget it."..."I've had it. I don't want to hear another word about gluten." No one in the world can cut you off faster than a near-and-dear relative. You may even have a niece or nephew whose CD symptoms are practically written on his or her forehead? An aunt or uncle whose gastrointestinal upsets are part of family lore? A grandparent who died of gastrointestinal or other cancer? And practically no one, at least no one interested in preventive health, smokes any more, although those same non-smoking CD relatives might well down pizza and beer with a Twinkie chaser, right in front of your gluten-free eyes. The reports from Drs. Ciclitira and Marsh [described elsewhere in this newsletter] should make all our preventive-health-conscious-non- smoking relatives sit up and pay attention, however reluctantly, to the potential effects of gluten on their bodies. It has long been known that from 10 to 15 percent of first-degree relatives of gluten intolerant individuals are gluten intolerant themselves. Dr. Marsh enhances this figure in astonishing fashion: Fully 50 percent of these 10 to 15 percent do not have symptoms of gluten intolerance but do have a flat mucosa, the gold standard for identifying Celiac Disease! As we celiacs know, gluten neurotic though we may be, a flat intestinal mucosa may do you as much good as nicotine- and tar-blackened lungs. With renowned British understatement, Dr. Marsh has said, "There is a great predisposition to malignancy in untreated gluten sensitivity." He also says, "There's no doubt that an adult, particularly with latent CD, may be very predisposed to bone disease." Far be it from me to get involved in any family dramas. Trust me, I've got plenty of my own--and yes, some of them involve suspected gluten intolerance. But I do have the additional information your health-conscious relatives will need when they eventually decide to find out whether or not they, too, are gluten sensitive. The labs that do the serologic testing that helps identify gluten sensitive individuals are: IMMCO Diagnostics Inc. (800/537-TEST), Immunopathology Lab, University of Iowa Hospitals (319/356-2688), Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Lab at the University of Maryland (410/706-1997) and Specialty Laboratories (800/421-7110). If you'd like a copy of the brief article on serologic testing that appeared on page 11 of the [May/June 1996] issue of _Gluten-Free Living_, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the address below. Finally, I give blanket permission to reprint the "Report from Digestive Disease Week, 1996" [which follows this article] as well as this editorial to help educate relatives, physicians and others about the dangers of gluten sensitivity. Good luck in the family alligator pit. Let me know how you do. The address is: Gluten-Free Living, P.O. Box 105, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706.