Doctors Once Thought Bananas Cured Celiac Disease. They Saved Kids' Lives — At A Cost

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel: My wife has celiac disease. She wishes it was only a gluten allergy. Part of our journey in dealing with it led us back to Scotland/Ireland and Northern Italy (where we both can trace our family trees). And we learned that in those locations, celiac is recognized in the same ways as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and small pox is here in the US: children are screened for it at an early age and treated accordingly. As she reflected on her childhood, my wife realized that both her parents likely had celiac based on some of their sufferings that she observed (making her a "super-celiac"). A rather ringing condemnation of today's "medical" practice, don't you think? A smart genealogist might have better input to a problem than any number of doctors who are following their textbooks. With as many Scots/Irish/Italian immigrants to the US over the past 400 years, you'd think celiac would be more accurately diagnosed. But it isn't...even now. Cynthia Croft