UNMC and UNMC’s Center for Continuing Education are sponsors of the 25th annual Celiac Sprue Association/United States of America, Inc., conference Oct. 10-13, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Omaha.
CSA/USA, Inc., is a non-profit support organization that assists individuals who have been diagnosed with celiac sprue disease — the inability to tolerate the gluten found in wheat, barley, rye, oats and a series of grains — to find alternative diets and learn coping strategies. The organization’s national headquarters has been in Omaha since 1989.
What is celiac sprue?
Celiac sprue (pronounced see-lee-ak sprew) is a relatively rare condition involving malabsorption. Only about 1 in 2,500 people in the United States have been diagnosed with the genetic, inheritable disease, but one in 250 have the potential for developing the condition. The gluten-free diet is essential for persons with diagnosed conditions of celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (skin blisters). There is no cure to negate this intolerance, only a monitoring of symptoms and the recommended plan of action — lifelong adherence to the gluten-free diet.
“The disease was thought to be a relatively rare disease until a few years ago when blood tests were available to do screenings,” said CSA President Mary Schluckebier of Seward, Neb. “Now, we’ve gone from diagnosing the disease when someone was skin and bones and the disease was very progressed to catching it when someone has iron deficiency anemia.”
Conference to draw crowd
Conference organizers expect 350 to 400 individuals from across the United States and Canada to attend the conference to learn more about the disease and referral services that are available. Nationally and locally recognized health professionals will lecture on a variety of topics applicable to individuals with celiac disease. Representatives from UNMC, the USDA, Mayo Clinic and the Consumer Policy Institute (publisher of Consumer Reports) will be on hand.
The Nebraska Health System Regional Pathology Services will provide blood-testing services at subsidized costs to participants and their families as a screening mechanism for the disease.
Living with the disease
Celiac disease typically involves destruction or flattening of the finger-like projections (villi), which increase the absorptive surface area of the small intestine. The large bowel often provides the first observable symptom of the disorder — profuse, foul diarrhea.
When glutens in wheat breads, pastries, cereals, gravies, etc., are eliminated from the diet, most of the villi are reconstituted and resume their normal roles of absorption. The redevelopment process usually happens quite rapidly when on a strict gluten-free diet. The symptoms of untreated celiac disease — gas, bloating, cramps, fatigue and general malaise among others — disappear almost entirely when on the prescribed clinical diet.
Testing for the disease
Testing for celiac disease, through a blood test, is recommended for people with the following diagnoses: Autoimmune thyroid disease, cerebellar ataxia, Type 1 diabetes, Down syndrome, IgA deficiency, IgA nephropathy, infertility, microscopic colitis, miscarriage(s), osteopenia/osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, short stature or delayed puberty, Sjogren’s syndrome and unexplained anemia.
For more information
For more information on celiac sprue, or the Oct. 10-13 conference visit CSA/USA’s Web site at http://www.csaceliacs.org/.