<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> >>I thought the numbers at Baltimore were more like Europe 1 in 200-300, US 1 >>in 2000. The point was that CD is probably seriously underdiagnosed in the >>US. >Having seen this in earlier posts, I have wondered if there really is a >greater incidence in Europe due to the genetic link of Europeans? Just >because it is 1:200 in Europe should we then expect that all Asians should >also be 1:200? All Eskimos? All Africans? The speaker was trying to point up that because such a large portion of the US population is of European background, the incidence of CD in the US should more closely reflect the European pattern. As for other ethnic groups, I haven't heard any numbers. >I have no doubt there is some underdiagnosis in U.S. (and elsewhere) -- but >is it really that bad? I don't think U.S. doctors are really any worse than >in other parts of the world. In fact, I would hope they have more informaton >than most. I agree that U.S. doctors are generally as good as any others in the world but I think CD is a blind spot for them! I saw numerous U.S. doctors before I was diagnosed by a doctor who received his training in Puerto Rico. I have an elderly female friend who is wasting away because her doctor diagnosed her as CD but won't put her on a GF diet and she won't do anything without his advice. We have an excellent Children's Hospital here but a little girl literally starved to death a few months ago with classic CD symptoms and the hospital was feeding her malted milk, etc. All we can hope for is that medical schools will start putting some emphasis on CD diagnosis. Ron Lee