CDF has launched iCureCeliac®, a massive patient registry designed to give researchers the key precision medicine data they need to advance the search for treatments and a cure for celiac disease and non-celiac wheat sensitivity. Since our launch in February, we have registered nearly 2,000 members. We need to register many times that number to make the database as effective as it must be to facilitate the search for a cure.
Over the next several months, we are planning on ramping up patient outreach efforts to reach our ambitious enrollment goals. To learn more, download our proposal that outlines our rationale and methodology for investing in iCureCeliac®.
INTRODUCTION: CAN WE CURE CELIAC DISEASE? YES, WE CAN.
To cure celiac disease, however, we must fundamentally shift how celiac disease research is conceptualized and conducted. Why? Because the current research paradigm for celiac disease, one that has existed for four decades, has not delivered a cure. Not only has it not delivered a cure, celiac disease research has produced only a single approved treatment for the disease – the gluten-free diet.
The reasons behind the failure of celiac disease research to produce additional treatments supplemental to the gluten-free diet, and a cure are complicated. Celiac disease was once marginalized by the medical community as a rare childhood disorder. As a result, over the last several decades, celiac disease researchers have been denied the adequate resources needed to understand the basic biochemistry of the disease, much less cure it. Thankfully, these researchers soldiered on, despite the hardship, and have learned a great deal. We have learned that:
- celiac disease is a serious autoimmune disease with widespread, systemic manifestations.
- men are as likely as women to contract the disease.
- celiac disease is one of the most common hereditary disorders worldwide.
- celiac disease is associated with a host of serious comorbidities, some of which are fatal.
- a significant number of celiac disease patients suffer from persistent symptoms despite a long-term gluten-free diet.
So, given that we now understand that celiac disease is anything but a “minor” disease, why are there still no FDA-approved treatments or a cure? The short answer is the same as it has always been: money.
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