<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> In the past couple of days, I have seen a portion on a TV show about a chap with tourette syndrome who managed to cover his symptoms for years by doing some silly, dance-like thing to cover the tick, or making up a cough to cover his strange noises. If my memory is correct, he was a musician, and he married a woman who eventually wrote a movie script about his disease. Then there was a program about someone who was schizophrenic - not the pathetic man who took a gun into the capitol in DC, but someone else - and there was a segment about a child with autism. It may be that a gluten-free diet would NOT have helped any of these people. It is equally possible that it would have helped one, two, or even all three of them. How are we going to get that word out? Are the medical schools teaching this information? Are the media doing an adequate job in reporting possible connections? I think the answer is, "No." It is my opinion that only a nationally known figure who has celiac disease, or some other disease that is controlled by a gluten-free diet, will bring all this information to the public and to the majority of physicians. I further think that only someone with MD, or PhD after his name will have the clout necessary to reach the public. Wonderful, heart-wrenching personal stories like "What's Wrong With My Baby?," which was in Time magazine some years ago, are impressive to many of us, but obviously have not been enough to reach the public in a lasting manner. The reason for public awareness is at least two fold. First, there are many people who are undiagnosed who might recognize themselves and move ahead to a healthier, happier life. In addition we might have food manufacturers, culinary arts schools, restaurant chefs, schools for professional dietitians and nutritionists, pharmacists , drug manufacturers , people who edit food magazines, an even those who write menus, who might begin to take seriously the need for proper labeling, careful analysis, and identification of gluten-containing ingredients and possible cross contamination. Just imagine going to a restaurant and seeing the little crossed out wheat head symbol next to anything that was gluten-free. Imagine a copy of Gourmet Magazine with that symbol next to recipes that are safe for celiacs. Even imagine a hospital menu that points out gluten-free foods. [Even a hospital kitchen that knows how to provide gluten-free food would be a step forward, in most cases.] I've been editing my celiac files this morning, and am filled with frustrations. There are a couple of wonderful doctors who are on this list who take the time to answer our technical questions and show a real human and professional concern for our daily medical, emotional, and scientific needs. There is no adequate way to thank those doctors. But there are many other doctors who are communicating with one another who are leaving us out of the loop. <underline>Is it possible that there could be a summary of their discussions once a month, or every fortnight, or on some other schedule, that would let us know what they are saying and what issues they are discussing?</underline> It will be those doctors who will need to write the articles and do the TV interviews and make this cause known to the public. Please don't misunderstand me. Those doctors have a right to priviledged discussion that would NOT be available to all celiacs on this list. Their free, private discussions may eventually result in medical break-throughs that will be helpful to all of us. But surely much of what they say is not in that category. Many of us are self-diagnosed. Many doctors have completely missed recognizing our symptoms. Probably those doctors are not on the PROFESSIONAL CELIAC LIST. More's the pity! Those who are on the MD CELIAC LIST are probably the ones with the more open minds, anyway. It seems to me that we might occasionally add some useful, first-hand information. I am not suggesting that the two lists be combined, and I am not suggesting that we, willy-nilly, read or contribute to the medical celiac LIST. But I am saying that having some of that information might be useful to us. And having some of our questions or information available to the doctors might be useful to them. Furthermore, as long as that information is completely out of our reach, it continues to create a we-they thought pattern that is not helpful for most of us patients, and may not even be too helpful for the doctors. It is possible that our list owners pass on some important messages from this LIST to the MD LIST. I hope that is the case. I surely pass on pages and pages from this LIST to my doctor. He is most appreciative. I also take pages to my dentist and dental technician. If our doctors are not on the professional list, perhaps if we had a summary of the professinal discussion we could take that to our personal MD/s and encourage them to become more involved. Sorry to be so long winded. Maybe tomorrow's Oprah show and letters to Ann Landers are our last, best hope... Just musing... Gayle K