It turns out that experts think that Celiac’s disease is caused by a really common stomach virus that we all get. Maybe we should all get vaccinated against it?
So today I feel kinda glum about stuff. LOL, this is starting to become a trend for me, huh? Seems like all of my recent entries start off with me feeling down. I swear, it’s not like that! I’m usually a really happy person. On the bright side, I did walk to the bank today and enjoy the first warm spring weather – and that cheered me up. (I guess being out in nature really does perk you up!)
But as soon as I got back in, it’s like the lack of sunlight and the dimness indoors kinda dampened my mood and all the stuff I felt yuck about came flooding back into the front of my mind. But oh well – I’ve got writing to do.
What’s This About Celiac’s Disease and Vaccines?
So I lazily opened up my browser and got over to Google news to see what was up in the health world. (Can you believe all this junk about April the giraffe?) This caught my eye – a vaccine might be able to totally prevent Celiac’s disease if you get it as a newborn.
If you’re a health nut, you’ve heard of Celiac’s disease. It’s the reason why gluten-free is even a thing. Basically, it’s when gluten makes your immune system go crazy and attack the parts of your intestines responsible for absorbing food. If you have it and eat gluten, over time you’ll end up malnourished, gassy, and more.
So what’s this about a vaccine? Well, researchers discovered that a common stomach virus called the human intestinal reovirus can actually cause Celiac’s disease if you end up infected with it. The virus itself might not cause any symptoms, and your immune system clears it. But if you’re genetically predisposed to Celiac’s disease (if your immediate family has it) and you get the virus between right after being born to your first birthday, it could increase your risk for developing Celiac’s disease later on in life.
Why? Well during your first year of life, your immune system is most fragile. And for some reason that scientists haven’t figured out yet, when your immune system fights this reovirus, its fragile state leaves it forever confused between the reovirus and gluten. They theorize your immune cells might start confusing gluten as the reovirus, which explains the hyperactive response to it if you develop Celiac’s disease later on.
But Maybe Everyone Should Get Vaccinated
Well, these researchers are saying that if babies who are predisposed to Celiac’s disease get vaccinated for the reovirus, they reduce their chances of developing Celiac’s disease. While that makes sense – consider that only about 20 percent of Celiac’s disease sufferers are actually ever diagnosed.
What about the other 80 percent? They probably end up unfortunately screwed by their doctor with some catchall diagnosis like IBS or a weak gastrointestinal constitution. You know why? Because Celiac’s disease doesn’t really get severe, and might not get severe at all, for many, many years. You’d have to be eating gluten for a long time before your immunity has destroyed enough of your intestines for you to end up with symptoms that your doctor won’t write off as a bad tummy ache or more than occasional indigestion.
So what does that mean? What if your siblings and parents never get diagnosed with Celiac’s but have it? What are the chances that your family isn’t part of the 80 percent? And that’s why I personally think all babies should be vaccinated for the reovirus.
It’s better to be safe than sorry, right? Why risk getting Celiac’s for life when you can get a shot when you’re a baby. But then again – there are all of these baby rights activits (you know, the ones lobbying for banning parental circumsicion decisions?) who might just say that parents can’t decide whether a baby should get a non-mandatory vaccine.
But, whatever. So yeah that’s why I kinda felt glum. I’m sure in the future everything will work out. Or maybe we’ll all be robots by then – who knows.
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