Did You Know III

It’s Did You Know time again, folks! This week the juicy bites of information are focused on The Center for Celiac Research itself. The information is not only provided to make you say, “Oh!”, but to help build an understanding of how important CFCR really is. I know, I keep driving this point, but seriously, without CFCR the U.S. would not be the gluten friendly place it is today. Let’s get to it :)

Did you know that Celiac Disease was mostly unheard of in the U.S. until about 15 years ago?

Celiac Disease has been known about, studied and treated in Europe for many years. It was not even really recognized as a Disease in the U.S. You wouldn’t find it on the disease registries, or really anywhere else but the back pages of obscure medical theory journals.

Did you know that most U.S. doctors thought that Celiac Disease was imaginary?

This one, I’m sure, comes as no surprise to people who have come across the same doctors I have :) Doctors weren’t trying to be mean, there were virtually no diagnosed cases of Celiac, and even fewer case studies to draw from. Patients who had heard of Celiac and wanted to be tested for it were often viewed as hypochondriacs and recommended to psychiatrists instead. Others were put through a battery of tests and often misdiagnosed.

Luckily, there are many training and awareness campaigns that are working to ensure that this is not a problem in future generations.

Did you know that CFCR was born in 1996?

Alessio Fasano, MD, came to the U.S. hoping to learn more about Celiac Disease by studying the population of people that seemed to be free from the disease. Celiac was well known in Italy, where he came from. He wanted to know why people with the same genetics as the Europeans were not susceptible to Celiac.

Fasano soon discovered that what the U.S. had was not an immunity, but rather a complete lack of awareness. He knew that finding the secrets behind Celiac would take many different medical and research specialists and wanted to gather them all in the same place. A host of medical professionals was gathered, including physicians of all types, geneticists and molecular biologists. This meeting of the minds is what led to the founding of The Center for Celiac Research in 1996.

Did you know that CFCR works hard to spread awareness everywhere?

CFCR wants everyone to know about Celiac! They currently have programs in place to create awareness for medical professionals (doctors, nurses, your dentil hygienist, etc.), health care providers, food regulatory agencies and the general population. They spread their knowledge like wild fire in hopes that Celiacs everywhere can be diagnosed and live better lives.

Did you know that CFCR plays well with others?

CFCR is not selfish with the advances they make in Celiac Research. They work with many other companies and agencies to further spread the message. The list of partnerships is impressive:

*American Celiac Disease Alliance

*Alba Therapeutics

*Children’s Digestive Health & Nutrition Foundation

*North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

So, now you know :) The advances that CFCR has made in terms of medical research and awareness have changed the lives of the entire gluten free community. I would not claim that it was all due to them, (there are many others working for the cause) but CFCR is kind of the flag ship in the Celiac Awareness Armada.