Celiac Disease, Revised and Updated Edition: A Hidden Epidemic

The definitive book on celiac disease, one of the most common and underdiagnosed autoimmune diseases in America.

Do you suffer from gastrointestinal complaints, fatigue, headaches, joint pain, anemia, and/or itchy skin conditions? Have you consulted numerous doctors, and been prescribed drugs and diets that have only temporarily alleviated some symptoms? If so, you may have celiac disease, a hereditary autoimmune condition that affects nearly one in every hundred people—97 percent of whom remain undiagnosed and untreated.

The real answer to your medical problems may lie in this book. Dr. Peter H.R. Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and internationally renowned expert on the disease, together with Rory Jones, an accomplished science writer who was diagnosed with the disease in 1998 and has been researching it ever since, have written this authoritative guide on how celiac disease is properly diagnosed, treated, and managed. The disease is triggered by gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, which damages the lining of the small intestine so that it cannot properly absorb food. Without essential nutrients, the entire body begins to suffer. Complications from celiac disease can include infertility, depression, liver disease, other autoimmune diseases (such as type 1 diabetes and thyroid disease), and even cancer. This is a disease that you do not outgrow. At present, the only way to treat it is to follow a lifelong gluten-free diet.

This revised and updated edition contains the most current information on celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and gluten sensitivity. It examines the disease’s many manifestations and includes an entire section devoted to coping with the psychological aspects of living with a chronic illness and following a gluten-free diet. It also includes a guide to ingredients and safe grains, a selection of gluten-free manufacturers, and a list of national and international support groups.

Peter H.R. Green, M.D., is the director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. He is the Ivan and Phyllis Seidenberg Professor of Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University and attending physician at the Columbia University Medical Center (New York-Presbyterian Hospital). Celiac disease has been his focus for the last 25 years with equal concentration on patient care and research. He is the co-author of Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic and Gluten Exposed: The Science Behind the Hype and How to Navigate to a Healthy, Symptom-Free Life.

Rory Jones, M.S. is a medical writer and Adjunct Professor of Narrative Medicine at Barnard College of Columbia University. She has done extensive work on health and medical topics, including educational programs for both adults and children. She specializes in ‘translating’ scientific information for a consumer audience. Diagnosed with celiac disease in 1998, she has researched and written about it and the gluten-free diet for medical as well as consumer publications. She is the co-author of Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic and Gluten Exposed: The Science Behind the Hype and How to Navigate to a Healthy, Symptom-Free Life.