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MAKING TRACKS: 1-Mile Run to Raise Awareness About Celiac Disease

Posted on: Friday, 12 May 2006, 09:06 CDT

By Jan Jarvis, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

May 12--After she was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1989, Betty Barfield discovered how difficult it is to follow a gluten-free diet.

Eliminating gluten, which includes wheat, barley and rye, is the only treatment for the disease, she said. Doing so isn't easy.

"Wheat products and barley are in candy, every cereal in the grocery store aisle, cakes, pretzels, pasta, just about everything," said Barfield, of North Richland Hills. "You name it and gluten is in it, even ice cream."

Barfield founded the North Texas Gluten Intolerance Group in 2004 to help people learn how to follow the diet and cope with the disease. To raise awareness, a Making Tracks for Celiacs 1-mile run is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Legacy Pavilion of River Legacy Park in Arlington. Entry fees are $15 for adults, $10 for children.

Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune condition than affects the small intestine and causes abdominal pain, headaches and other symptoms. It can lead to anemia, premature osteoporosis and skin rashes.

About 1 in 133 people in the United States have the illness, said Bernadette Latson, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

"The biggest problem is Americans are eating out more and even when they order something gluten free, often it is prepared in a way that is contaminated with a food that has gluten in it," Latson said.

There have been cases of people with celiac disease getting sick from eating French fries cooked in oil that has also been used to cook breaded foods.

Infants are often diagnosed with the disease after they develop absorption problems and fail to grow, Latson said. But others go undiagnosed for decades.

Barfield, 59, learned that she had the disease 17 years ago after being anemic most of her life. Some members of the group were diagnosed with the disease in their 70s and 80s. More than 2 million people in the United States are estimated to have celiac disease, but only 40,000 have been diagnosed with it.

Some people live with the gastric symptoms without knowing what causes them, said Lona Sandon, a UT Southwestern assistant professor of clinical nutrition and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

"They've been eating wheat all of their lives and can't figure out why they feel so horrible," she said.

Although doctors are able to diagnose the disease using a blood test, they don't always know how to tell people how to live with the condition, Barfield said. That's where the support group comes in.

The group teaches new members to bake gluten-free breads, pie crusts, pizza, pancakes and even chocolate cake that tastes as good as foods made with wheat flour. Recipes are posted on the group's Web site along with a list of stores where gluten-free products are sold.

"It is a very difficult diet to follow, and you have to read every label," Barfield said. "Everything you put in your mouth has to be checked to make sure it is gluten-free. Nothing can be taken for granted, even a stick of chewing gum."

IN THE KNOW

North Texas Gluten Intolerance Group

The support group meets at 10 a.m. the first Saturday of the month at Richland Hills Church of Christ, 6300 N.E. Loop 820, North Richland Hills. A free three-hour class for newly diagnosed celiacs is offered from 9 a.m. to noon.

For more information, call Betty Barfield, (817) 577-0212.

CELIAC DISEASE

About one in 133 people in the U.S. have this chronic inherited autoimmune disorder.

Symptoms include chronic diarrhea or constipation, fatigue, weight loss, depression and anemia.

Some people exhibit no symptoms.

A gluten-free diet is the only treatment and must be strictly followed.

Left untreated, it can lead to malnutrition.

Children do not outgrow the disorder.

www.northtexasgig.com

SOURCE: North Texas Gluten Intolerance Group

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Jan Jarvis, (817) 817 548-5423 jjarvis@star-telegram.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

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Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

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