As of July 2017, the Vatican still outlawed the use of gluten-free bread for Holy Communion. Passover
The Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) may present problems with its obligation to eat matzo, which is unleavened bread made in a strictly controlled manner from wheat, barley, spelt, oats, or rye. This rules out many other grains that are normally used as substitutes for people with gluten sensitivity, especially for Ashkenazi Jews, who also avoid rice. Many kosher-for-Passover products avoid grains altogether and are therefore gluten-free. Potato starch is the primary starch used to replace the grains. Spelling
Coeliac disease is the preferred spelling in British English, while celiac disease is typically used in North American English. Research directions
The search for environmental factors that could be responsible for genetically susceptible people becoming intolerant to gluten has resulted in increasing research activity looking at gastrointestinal infections. Research published in April 2017 suggests that an often-symptomless infection by a common strain of reovirus can increase sensitivity to foods such as gluten.Various treatment approaches are being studied, including some that would reduce the need for dieting. All are still under development, and are not expected to be available to the general public for a while.Three main approaches have been proposed as new therapeutic modalities for coeliac disease: gluten detoxification, modulation of the intestinal permeability, and modulation of the immune response.Using genetically engineered wheat species, or wheat species that have been selectively bred to be minimally immunogenic, may allow the consumption of wheat.
The eponym Gee-Herter disease was sometimes used to acknowledge both contributions. Sidney V. Haas, an American paediatrician, reported positive effects of a diet of bananas in 1924. This diet remained in vogue until the actual cause of coeliac disease was determined.While a role for carbohydrates had been suspected, the link with wheat was not made until the 1940s by the Dutch paediatrician Dr Willem Karel Dicke. It is likely that clinical improvement of his patients during the Dutch famine of 1944 (during which flour was scarce) may have contributed to his discovery. Dicke noticed that the shortage of bread led to a significant drop in the death rate among children affected by coeliac disease from greater than 35% to essentially zero. He also reported that once wheat was again available after the conflict, the mortality rate soared to previous levels. The link with the gluten component of wheat was made in 1952 by a team from Birmingham, England. Villous atrophy was described by British physician John W. Paulley in 1954 on samples taken at surgery. This paved the way for biopsy samples taken by endoscopy.Throughout the 1960s, other features of coeliac disease were elucidated. Its hereditary character was recognised in 1965. In 1966, dermatitis herpetiformis was linked to gluten sensitivity. Social and culture
May has been designated as "Coeliac Awareness Month" by several coeliac organisations. Christian churches and the Eucharist
Speaking generally, the various denominations of Christians celebrate a Eucharist in which a wafer or small piece of sacramental bread from wheat bread is blessed and then eaten.