There was a seminar called “Celiac Disease: On the Horizon” presented by the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University over the weekend. I was able to attend a few of the sessions virtually. I annoyed my husband as I listened to as many of the sessions as possible.
I learned that there are lots of people in industry, research, and doctors who care very deeply about celiac disease. The folks attending the seminar understand that there are many problems that remain unsolved in celiac.
Here are some of the more interesting sessions I was able to attend:
- The use of AI in interpreting biopsy or video capsule endoscopy results to improve diagnostic accuracy in celiac.
- Stratification methods for determining whether a child is at high, medium, or low risk for developing celiac with appropriate follow up guidelines
- Guidelines from the American College of Gastroenterology (ACOG) on the diagnosis and management of celiac disease
- Drug development updates (I didn’t see this live, I’ll watch the replay today)
I would have liked a bit of patient input. I feel like sometimes the medical community and patients are living in different worlds. More specifically, the ACOG recommended oats as a part of the gluten free diet. Now, for me, oats are an exceptionally controversial topic in the celiac community. Not just from the Cheerios issue but for the general cross contamination problems oats represent. Purity protocol oats exist and seem to be safe, but there are times when they aren’t. It’s just too confusing right now. With the ACOG specifically recommending oats, it seems disconnected from the information we have on the ground. So, I’m asking questions trying to get some answers.
But as I sort through the information, I will give you updates as soon as I am able to wrap my head around these topics.
Anyway, that was my celiac disease geeked out weekend. What about you? I hope you cooked some good gluten free food, enjoyed time with friends and family, got some exercise, and had some time to relax. Let me know.