Home > News & Events > NIH Radio > July 2007 Audio Reports

NIH Radio

Celiac Disease Awareness Campaign Marks First Anniversary

Right Click to Download MP3 File

Brief Description:
It's the one year anniversary of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases' Celiac Disease Awareness Campaign.

Transcript:

AKINSO: It's the one year anniversary of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases' Celiac Disease Awareness Campaign. The campaign's mission is to heighten awareness of celiac disease among health professionals and the public. Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate a protein called gluten, found in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in products we use every day, such as stamp and envelope adhesive, medicines, and vitamins. Dr. Frank Hamilton, NIDDK's Chief of the Digestive Diseases Program in the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, discusses the campaign's accomplishments within the year.

HAMILTON: I think our biggest accomplishment is really getting the awareness about celiac disease. We've been very pleased and honored that we've invoked the community to really go out and do some public speaking as well as having the societies join with NIH and highlighting the importance of celiac disease not only among physicians but also among the lay community. Some of the major contributions we think that we've accomplished in this last year is a heighten awareness of what celiac disease; there been several publications not only in the Washington, D.C. area but also in the USA Today and Parade Magazine about what celiac disease is. So theses are some major accomplishments that we've been very pleased that the campaign has really done to make people aware of this condition.

AKINSO: Dr. Hamilton said the disease is largely under diagnosed for several reasons, for instance celiac disease can present through a broad range of symptoms, many of which physicians do not readily associate with the disease. For more information about celiac disease and campaign materials, visit www.celiac.nih.gov. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland.

This page was last reviewed on July 6, 2007 .

[ Q&A About NIH | Jobs at NIH | Visitor Information | FOIA ]
[ Telephone & Service Directory | Employee Information | Información en español ]

[ Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Disclaimers | Accessibility | Site Map | Search ]

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Department of Health
and Human Services