Boston Children’s Answers: Raising Celiac: Recent Episodes
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston Children’s Answers: Raising Celiac is a monthly podcast from the Celiac Disease Program at Boston Children’s Hospital dedicated to raising the standard of education, awareness, and research on celiac disease and related autoimmune conditions. In each episode, the program’s education director, Vanessa Weisbrod, speaks with national and international experts about the complexities of this chronic genetic condition and its connection to many other autoimmune diseases.
Every episode of the Boston Children’s Answers: Raising Celiac podcast is accredited by Boston Children’s Continuing Education Department for 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ™ for physicians, 0.5 contact hours for nurses, 0.5 ACE CE continuing education credits for social workers, and 0.5 CEUs for registered dietitians.
There are approximately 74 million school-age children in the United States alone, thus an estimated 740,000 school children who require a gluten-free diet for celiac disease. Celiac can cause significant effects on children and their families, as well as on the school they attend. We know that many children and teens do not follow a strict gluten-free diet and most often consume gluten-containing foods during meals with peers. Kids also risk being exposed to gluten at lunch time, during class celebrations and cross-contact with gluten-containing materials like Playdoh, paper maché, art supplies, science experiments, and cooking classes.
So, how do parents know which type of plan their child should have to accommodate their needs at school? What do they do if the school is unwilling to set up a 504 plan? Where do they turn to for help? What should a child with celiac disease expect in the school environment? We’ll discuss this and more on this episode of Boston Children's Answers: Raising Celiac.
The Boston Children's Answers: Raising Celiac Podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Global Autoimmune Institute.
Hashimoto disease is an autoimmune disorder that can cause hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid. It’s closely linked to celiac disease. With Hashimoto, the immune system attacks the thyroid gland, with a large number of white blood cells building up and causing inflammation in the thyroid. This damages the thyroid and prevents it from making enough thyroid hormone. The hormone is important because it helps control how your body grows, uses energy, and how many of your organs function.
The prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease in patients with celiac disease is four times greater than that in the general population. This is likely due to sharing some of the same genes. But why do some patients develop a second autoimmune disease many years after being on a strict gluten-free diet? Does having celiac disease trigger the thyroid condition? Does the gluten-free diet help with treating thyroid disease or is medication always needed?
We’ll discuss this and more on today’s episode of Raising Celiac.
The Raising Celiac Podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Global Autoimmune Institute.
Living with a chronic disease is extremely challenging, especially when every single bite of food every single day of your life requires thought and care. Hypervigilance in relation to celiac disease is when someone is severely afraid of gluten exposure and may go beyond the necessary measures to prevent contact with gluten. It can lead to extreme anxiety, depression, and social isolation. Sometimes the patient with celiac disease exhibits signs of hypervigilance, but for a child, their parent may act hyper vigilantly in how they manage their child’s celiac disease. It can be difficult to find the right balance of avoiding gluten while still living a full life.
So, how does a child with celiac disease navigate the complexities of being a teenager, going to college, dating, and progressing through life in a way that feels normal? How should parents approach the gluten-free diet with their child in a way that doesn’t lead to hypervigilance? What do researchers know about the impact of chronic disease on quality of life and how can clinicians help their patients improve it?
We’ll discuss this and more on today’s episode of Raising Celiac.
The Raising Celiac Podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Global Autoimmune Institute.