Cure for Coeliac Disease?

[tmoxon]

Just seen on a CD facebook page this link and thought I would post it on here immusant.com/

It would be great if this is something that will become available

[tmoxon]

Hi Tony I also wondered about this aspect of it. It would certainly be a starting point though and if it did work it would make our lives and families lives so much easier. It would be nice to know just how close they are to having the medicine available and whether it would be available in the UK.

[Hidden]

I think a cure would be great and here's some more about the cure posted last year by Roscoe:

glutenfreeguerrillas.health...

I agree that this looks promising and I'd love to see a cure.

I know what I'd eat first if I could eat anything, so thanks for posting this, as we can live in hope.

[tmoxon in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for posting this, it says around 6 years which would be great, lets hope they do and we are all cured, steak pies and chocolate eclairs all round.

[Ian67 in reply to tmoxon]

I could quite literally kill for a box of eclairs

[sassyl in reply to Ian67]

I had a fantastic GF choux pastry recipe somewhere, I'll dig it out for you!

I fancy a nice pork pie myself!

[Ian67 in reply to sassyl]

Hopefully the vaccine will cure the lactose too... Now we're dreaming...

[philaustin]

Time will tell if these injections are a real success or not.

Personally, because I probably don't have many years left I would take the risk and have the injections, just to be able to eat a Cornish pasty washed down with a pint of real ale.

[meanioni in reply to philaustin]

Well I can help with half of it - GF pasties!!!!

bit.ly/xfY5g2

And they are yummy

[Ian67]

Your right... But the thought of parole one day gives me a bit of hope for the future..

[superkeith]

I love the thought of it but do you think that the firms that make milllions

from GF products would like it?.

[GFCarrot]

Probably because there will never be such a thing as a safe food for all for the same reason you've noted that an injection won't necessarily work for all - " which of course, may well not be a cure as it may only work for certain types of coeliac/gluten-sensitive people". There are so many different medical issues that relate to food that it would either be impossible to create such a food, it would be very bland with most allergens taken out of it or it would have to be genetically modified which could be worse for us in the long run.

I think any cure that helps part of the coeliac community is a good start and once they find the initial keystone then they can build on this. Let's be positive about it.

[Penel]

Finding a vaccination against auto immune diseases is difficult. As far as I can see this vaccination is just an attempt to desensitise the body to gluten by injecting increasing strengths of gluten into you! Not something I want to try! glutenfreepages.com.au/CMS/...

[NorthernSoul]

This is very interesting- it's exactly the kind of immunology that has always fascinated me: how exactly does the immune system regulate itself and what determines whether it will react against an antigen or not? There are various 'checkpoints' in place that regulate reactivity against 'self' antigen during the development of the immune system itself but how is a damaging reaction against other antigens (that are non-self but not pathogenic) such as food and normal gut flora prevented (or not, as the case may be in people like us!)?

This trial is based on the observation that antigen injected intravenously is more likely to tip immunity towards the 'tolerant' end of the spectrum than antigen, say, introduced via the skin (which generally very immunogenic). The mechanisms behind this all are pretty complicated and not fully elucidated but everything from the type of cell that 'presents' the antigen to immune cells to the additional exogenous molecules that go along with it to our own genetic make-up all influence this.

This vaccine is actually very simple. They're simply injecting the segments of gluten that are recognised by the immune system of people with HLA-DQ2 (90% of coeliacs) and nothing else. I've seen papers with animal experiments where they've actually injected antigen-presenting cells primed with the antigen under very specific conditions in order to induce tolerance. And actually, there's a licensed prostate cancer vaccine where they're primed to do the opposite and stimulate attack of cancer cells.

It's passed phase I trials and if it actually shows efficacy in phase II- which will probably take several years of consecutive biopsies to figure out- personally I'd happily participate in phase III/IV trials.

I honestly believe that in 30 years or so, this kind of tailored immunotherapy will be commonplace. Our understanding of immunology has increased immensely over the last twenty years and we'll be shaping our own immune systems to treat everything from allergic asthma to lupus to cancer to HIV. Exciting stuff! (Or maybe/probably I'm just a massive geek...)

[Hidden]

The big problem with this as explained by Dr Bob Anderson is the differing types of coeliac disease and finding the peptides that will help us. The work has been costly and sponsored in Australia by the Coeliac Research group part of the Coeliac Society I believe. Keep up the research guys.

[GFCarrot]

Hi Lexy,

Firstly, I didn't miss your disclaimer. I saw your comment in your post. I didn't jump down your throat, I gave my opinion on what you had said. Please, don't be so defensive to someone else's opinion.

I'm surprised you feel that there could be a food that is available for all when there are so many health issues over food. Just looking on many coeliac forums, you see the same comments of "Yes, they've removed the gluten but I'm also allergic to <insert ingredient>". Even here, looking at recent comments over xanthan gum ( which is put in non-gf foods as well ) and the ruffling of feathers just because Walkers now don't say Salt & Vinegar crisps are suitable for coeliacs ( many ate it before without issue - they've not changed the process, just some words on the packet, that won't suddenly make you react to them ), this is a far reaching issue.

As with any "cure", there is always the chance of further issues. Just look at antibiotics. So much research has shown that something which is meant to cure can also cause adverse reactions in others.

Just to be clear, I didn't indicate that you were dissing any cure, I was simply responding with some further extra thoughts around food, health and allergies.

[Penel]

The science behind this is very interesting, and the thought that serious diseases could be cured is wonderful ... but ... I'm not sure that I would want to go back to eating grain. I've now read so many articles on the dangers of carbohydrate consumption (especially processed grains) and its links to obesity, blood pressure, diabetes etc. (Have a read of Gary Taubes "The Diet Delusion" for an analysis of years of research). I know that if I eat many carbs I put on weight and if I go low fat my nails split, so I don't follow the official diet recommendations.

On a lighter note: Choux pastry is a bit tricky but this is a good recipe dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/cho... and there are some gf pork pies out there on the net. Sorry about the beer!

[tmoxon in reply to Penel]

Thank you Penel for the recipe, I already buy Dove's flour so that is handy. Will give it a go soon

[Penel in reply to tmoxon]

And try buckwheat flour pastry for the steak pie. It needs a little more water than 'usual' flour but has a great taste.

[tmoxon in reply to Penel]

Thank you, do you mean just buckwheat flour on its own, I did try making some pastry from a mixture of flours, rice, corn and potato and although the corn flour was a fine one it did have a sandy texture to it, so I am not trying that recipe again

[Penel in reply to tmoxon]

Yes. I use half fat to flour ratio, approximately, although as I use lard I use a little less than half fat. It took a little getting used to, as buckwheat seems to absorb liquid slowly, so I had a tendancy to add too much water. Knead it (it tends to be very sticky) and leave to rest before rolling out. It makes a very tasty short pastry, fingers crossed! It also takes a little longer to cook. I have used it successfully as a flan case and as a pie crust.

You can also use it to make pancakes like French galettes. Leave the batter overnight before using it. I also make sponge cakes, using gf baking powder.

I use buckwheat as I do not get on well with potato or rice, so do not use the Dove Farm flour mixture.

This has turned into an advert for buckwheat flour! Hope it's of some use to you.

[tmoxon in reply to Penel]

Thank you very much for the advice, I will try to get some this weekend and have a go, I was never a good pastry maker before and always bought it ready done, so it is a challenge for me.

Thanks again

[Hidden in reply to Penel]

Hi, Interested in the nails splitting due to low fat, you could have something there.

[manga666]

Every coeliac would love a cure for this disease which is not catchable, makes millions of peoples lives very hard and often miserable and can lead on to a lot of complications like can you take your food across certain countries borders. I have lived as a super sensitive coeliac for 15 years after 30 years of gastro problems. The food industry has improved drastically in the last 5 years as I coulsn't find a single gluten free food in my home town so moved away from my family to access better health care and better living, would love to be able to get a cure and then I could move back to look after my aging parents