<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

When I was first diagnosed, I went to a local hospital's public
reference library (Peacehealth Medical Center, Eugene, OR). They have
medical reference books from the mid-80's to very recent publications,
and a computer database. Starting from the older books, they quoted the
folowing incidence of Celiac statistics in the US:
1 in 30,000
1 in 10,000
1 in 3,000
1 in 300
Over the years, they have found that many people have been mis-diagnosed
with other gastroenteroligical diseases- when really, it was Celiac, or
gluten intolerance. The thing that troubles me is that the testing
(blood tests, even the gold standard small intestine biopsy), all seem
somewhat unreliable. How many people have written that the labwork cames
back negative, but the GF diet puts an end to months or years of
sickness?  Quoting the March 1996 pamphlet from the National Digestive
Diseases Information Clearinghouse; "Contrary to trends in the late
1970's and early 1980's, the prevalence of celiac disease in the 1990's
appears to be increasing." My own gastroenteroligist said, when
physicians don't really know what the problem is, they diagnose as IBS-
irritable bowel syndrome- for which there is no medicine or cure.
Fran Gillespie