MEDICAL THOUGHTS OF AN AMATEUR PART II Part I of my views discussed my Type 2 Diabetes and my Angina, leading to the angioplasty op. This little offering concludes this medical saga. So there I was in 2002, Diabetes and Angina under control, when I began blacking out, vomiting and having bouts of diarrhoea. This went on for a number of months so eventually I reported this to my GP. He suggested I saw a certain consultant, known as a colorectal surgeon. Unfortunately, he turned out to be so popular there was a 12-week waiting list for NHS patients. However, if I saw him privately, there was no delay. So I did this. I was to have an endoscopy (where they put tubes and mirrors down you) and a colonoscopy (where they put tubes and mirrors up you) under full anaesthetic and sequentially. The upshot was that he presented me with a large bill and a puzzled look. He said he had no idea what the problem was. Things then continued as they were (blackouts and tummy problems). I noticed, too, my clothes began to hang on me. In fact, I was to lose 32 pounds over about 3 months. Then one day, in about the October, I had a phone call from a daughter, who informed me I had Coeliac Disease: she had seen a programme on television the night before on the subject, and there was no doubt in her mind that I had all the symptoms. A simple blood test would provide the pointer to whether or not a biopsy was justified. The GP agreed this would be sensible, and arranged this. The test proved positive, so I presented myself to a different consultant this time – a gastro-enterologist. He fed what seemed like yards and yards of tubing down me, introduced a scraper of some sort, and tested the scraping. Yes, I did indeed have Coeliac Disease. The first consultant (the colorectal surgeon) apparently specialised in problems below the waist, while the gastro-enterologist specialised in problems above the waist - how much narrower can specialisations become?! So, what exactly is Coeliac Disease, and how is it cured? Basically, it is an allergy to gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley and various other cereals, but not found in, for instance, rice or corn (maize). The effect of eating it on the body is as follows: the digestive tract is lined with sensors, known as velli, that detect and absorb the different nutrients the body needs and directs them elsewhere to be processed. All the residual solid is consigned eventually to the bowel for evacuation. If gluten is contained in a meal, it has the effect a gumming up the works. It pastes the velli to the sides of the digestive tract, with the result that the food passes straight through without being processed for nutrients. The eater’s hunger feels to be satisfied, but as the body has had no nutrients extracted, it seeks them from its reserves. And it does this so long as the condition remains uncorrected. Hence the dramatic weight-loss. Can Coeliac Disease be cured? No, but the condition can be reversed simply by avoiding food that contains gluten, such as bread, cakes, pastries, soup and (wait for it) beer! There are plenty of products now on the market which are gluten-free (even beer). In my own case, being also diabetic (a double-whammy), I cannot sample the delights of gluten-free cakes, pastries etc. but bread is no problem, and normal protein-bearing foods such as meat, fish, eggs, fruit and veg. and dairy products, are fine. If you do slip up and eat some of the wrong items, Coeliac Disease will return, but can quickly be cured again. How did I come to get Coeliac disease in the first place? It’s one of those conditions supposedly triggered by “trauma” which encompasses a wide range of events both physical and emotional, but in my case (in the absence of any obvious trauma in my own life) I put it down to dietary factors: for years, as a diabetic, I was urged to eat wholemeal bread and pasta as foods which release sugar into the body at a slow rate, a rate that a body also slow to create insulin can cope with. But these same foods are rich in gluten and I think the body simply got fed-up being stuffed to the gills with gluten, and revolted. I have heard of a number of other diabetics who have later developed Coeliac Disease. Now for a piece of fantasy: one of the most serious conditions that we are confronted with in society these days is obesity. Every day brings fresh claims of a foolproof diet that will cure the condition. I know what might lead to the shedding of weight very rapidly. It is surely not beyond the wit of man to devise a method of simulating Coeliac Disease, so that the obese can eat and feel satisfied, yet an artificially gummed-up digestive tract will not be able to detect and absorb nutrients! So simple, but can it be done? Get thinking all you research labs! I believe obesity might even be one of the conditions treatable by the techniques discussed in “Father Mac”. If you haven’t read this splendid thriller, do so now. Published mainly as a ebook by Iguana Books, printed copies are also available to order and delivered to your home. See Iguana Books and Amazon Books.
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 20:17:03 +0000