<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Gayle wrote a very thoughtful and interesting letter, which I appreciate. May I post this reply. She wrote: " I've been ruminating about the message two weeks ago from a woman who said her reaction to gluten had been eliminated by Chinese acupuncture treatments. What I wonder is whether or not it might be possible that the acupuncture treatments might turn off that trigger after it had been activated? That would make it possible for a full blown celiac who had been successfully treated by acupuncture to still have the defective gene which causes celiac disease, but not be sick and not react to gluten. It might, in effect, turn many of us who have celiac disease back into the second twin." Or, I wonder, is it possible that accupuncture (and I do believe Eastern healing methods are valuable and work) has relieved stress and brought her body into an energy balance and her symptoms have abated while the disease is still present. If our best preponderance of medical and experiential information on Celiac has taught us so far that the gluten can be causing destruction with a long period passing before symptoms are apparent, that's the information I'm trusting. At 53 I might try accupuncture or Reiki (I'm a Reiki practitioner) and hope to help my healing through symptom abatement but I would not trust that healing to mean I am not celiac any more and I would not reassault my body with what I consider to be poisonous for me. Gayle also wrote: "It is so easy to simply believe that we, as celiacs, have a life-threatening condition that is irreversible and not dangerous as long as we avoid gluten for the rest of our lives. But that concept may make us blind to the possibility that we can reverse the process... undo the trigger, and " I disagree completely...it is anything but easy to accept Celiac as non reversable. In fact I see and hear a myriad of folks trying to believe it is not! I certainly wish it could be reversed. Perhaps the anecdotal evidence we're hearing indicates that possibility. I'll be interested to follow any research! Personally, I'll not participate in a study at my age. I need to be sure I'm continuing to heal and eating gluten again seems too great a risk for me. Ironically, you mention your life being open to "all sorts of gastronomic wonders" since reintroducing wheat. While I miss some things, I feel like my kitchen got converted to a rather gastronomically wonder-filled zone when I turned it gluten free, got some basic info and some Hagman cookbooks and started using new ingredients to create. A friend asked me to bake her birthday cake because she thought my gluten free one was so delicious. And she's not celiac. This disease is hard to comply with but it doesn't have to be a drag! I'm a lactose intolerant vegetarian who's very sensitive to gluten. I've been diagnosed since October, when I was very, very ill and I'm improving and seeing glimpses of thriving so far. Best of luck in your healing and thanks for inspiring us to think! Fondly, deb -- Deborah Kate Hammond [log in to unmask]