SD CSA Meeting Notes
5/9/09
Over 30 people attended the meeting, with at least 4 new attendees.
CSA felt lucky to have as the guest speaker Dr. Kimberly Newton, Pediatric Gastroenterlogist at Rady Children's Hospital. She is the physician for the children's part of the Warren Center's Celiac Clinics. Some of the things that she discussed were:
- The basics of celiac disease (with slides)
- Diagnosis of celiac disease. With 3 million people in San Diego, there should be many more people with celiac disease than have been diagnosed. She quoted NIH(?) "The most important diagnostic test for celiac disease is the suspicion of the disease", so the Warren Center is trying to raise the awareness of celiac disease in the San Diego area both in physicians and the general public.
- The new low-cost celiac community screening program at the Warren Center. A pilot questionnaire was passed out that will be used for applicants to the program. She asked our group to look at, fill in, and make suggestions about the questionnaire.
- When being screened for celiac disease, it is important to have the tests processed by a reputable laboratory. A study done showed that there can be variations in the test results according to who processed them. All TtG Elisas are not created equal. There is no standardization between Elisa tests as yet.
- The EMA screening test remains higher longer than the TtG test. Therefore, when do the screening test at rechecks, the TtG is the better one to give. Unfortunately, there is not a perfect correlation between antibody test results and what is happening inside of the body.
- Approximately 30 Children have been diagnosed with CD in the year she has been at Rady's.
- The immune response is often unpredictable. Therefore it makes any testing tricky and not completely reliable.
- New studies are being conducted on possible therapies for celiac disease. One is a CD vaccine by Dr. Bob Anderson in Melbourne, Australia. It is in Phase 1, so it will be years until any possible vaccine would be available to the public (if it proves safe and effective). Another study is being done by Alvine Therapeutics in the Standford area. They are looking at an enzyme product that might help mitigate problems if gluten is digested in very small quantities.
- Before a diagnosis of IBS is given by any physician, celiac disease should be eliminated as a possibility.
- The Warren Center feels the enzymes being sold today to take before consuming gluten could be dangerous, as they have not been scientifically tested for safety and effectiveness, and people may misuse them. It was pointed out that the enzymes are only meant for the tiny amount of gluten possibly occuring from cross-contamination, NOT for eating anything purposely with gluten in it. There are studies being currently done on such enzyme therapies, but the results are not available as yet (see above).
zPizza - The arrival of four different varieties of GF pizzas from zPizza in the Linda Vista area was a fabulous surprise treat for everyone. Dante Serena, the General Manager, spoke briefly about their GF pizzas and how they attempt to limit any problems with cross-contamination. He said that they are in the process of becoming certified from a gluten-free program. His zPizza restaurant offers a 2-for-1 GF pizza every Monday. Other zPizzas in San Diego may not have the GF pizza available.
GNI (Gluten Not Included) Bakery - Deanna Smith from GNI Bakery brought 2 different kinds of GF biscotti as well as brownies that were greatly enjoyed by all. The GNI Bakery is completely gluten-free as well as soy-free. She talked about their plans for the future, including serving meals and wine and beer. The restaurant area can seat up to 34 people. GNI will be hosting the GF luncheon for both the Temecula CDF group and the San Diego CSA group this Saturday.
Several announcements were made.
Susan, a member our group, gave a detailed account of the recent CDF conference in Pasadena. All who attended were quite enthusiastic about the speakers, the meals included, and the GF food vendors giving samples.
Even more delicious snacks were brought by members and enjoyed by all. It was truly a great GF food meeting!
