Dr. Rodney Ford and…A Gluten-Free Planet?

Dr. Rodney Ford has a few new videos posted on his YouTube channel and I want to share them with you!  The first video had me in stitches, Dr. Ford has a fantastic funny bone!  What made the first video even funnier for me is the fact that my dad is from Minnesota, so I know the poisonous grain capital quite well! 😀

The third video was especially moving for me, because Dr. Ford talks about some of the “atypical” symptoms of the celiac condition. The little blonde girl about halfway through the third video was me (not really me, but you know what I mean). One of my primary medical specialists growing up was a dermatologist, not a gastroenterologist.

I was diagnosed with everything from ezcema to psoraisis, but never dermatitis herpetiformis (maybe that was because I had an extremely mild and erratic presentation of it, at least compared to the photos I’ve seen online?) The tiny little blisters that appeared on my knees in the summer months (yep, my DH rash was seasonal and coincided with my summer chore of mowing my parents lawn!), didn’t stick around long because I would scratch them.  My allergist and my dermatologist both dismissed it as a reaction to my grass allergy.  The following is the only picture I have, and it is of my knee from 3 or 4 years ago.  At the time, this had been my worst “outbreak” in the 17 years I had been dealing with dermatitis herpetiformis.  I never experienced the severity of many of the photos I have seen of dermatitis herpetiformis online, so I want to show what mine looked like by comparison (click on the link below for Dermatitis Herpetiformis to see a contrasting photo). 😉

Over the past several months, I have been acquiring many of my pediatric medical records, trying to put the pieces of my gluten sensitivity puzzle together.  I strongly believe that I have had celiac disease at least since I was about the age of 12, maybe even as early as age 3 or 4; but I was not diagnosed with it until I was almost 31.

Now, at the age of 36, I am paying the price for the ignorance of my childhood physicians.  I have celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, Graves’ disease, I’ve entered into early menopause and now, I am battling iron overload (not sure yet if it is due to hereditary hemochromotosis or if there is another underlying cause, but I will tell you what, I’m scared).

**I haven’t found much on the link between celiac disease and hemochromotosis , but Jefferson Adams made mention of it in an article on celiac.com.  I would like to learn more because the main problem I always hear/read about is iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in people with gluten sensitivity, not iron overload.**

I wish I was as lucky as the little girl in the 3rd video, to have had a doctor like Dr. Ford, who didn’t just treat my atypical symptoms; but tested me for the underlying cause of them.  It brings me to tears to think of how different my life and my health would be today, if they had only known about the silent monster that resided within.

Speaking of which, The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center will be holding their annual FREE celiac screening on Saturday, October 9th, 2010.

You are eligible for the Blood Screening if:

• You have a close family member that has celiac disease or Type-1 diabetes;

• You have Down Syndrome;

• You have a related autoimmune condition such as, rheumatoid arthritis or Addison’s Disease;

• You have digestive problems, chronic fatigue, osteopenia/osteoporosis;

• You have other related symptoms or conditions (I added this link for more information on the NFCA website)

Advanced registration for the screening is required, call 773-702-7593 or visit www.CeliacDisease.net for more information.

On to Dr. Ford’s videos, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Here is the link to The Lancet article Dr. Ford referred to in the last video clip, by Dr. Mario Hadjivassiliou, Gluten Sensitivity: From Gut to Brain doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(09)70290-X

What did you think of the videos?  Was there anything Dr. Ford talked about that struck a personal cord with you, like it did with me?