Celiac (see-lee-ack) disease appears to be most common among those of us with Scandinavian-Celtic roots.
I read that in Finland they have Gluten-Free burgers at their McDonald's. Wish we had that here in the U.S.!!

Celiac disease is the inability to eat Wheat, rye, barley, malt, and sometimes oats (like me) and anything else containing Gluten! Our bodies treat it as though its the enemy and will attack it with a vengence. Thus our bodies stay in a constant form of Inflammation until the foreign invader is removed, thus causing us severe joint pains and other things from the imflammatory battle going on inside us.
That means no more regular breads made from reg. flours, cereals, pasta's, cakes, cookies, candies, some ice creams, canned soups, crackers and most boxed or pre-processed foods that may have hidden ingredients under the guise of "natural flavorings" and a volume of other hidden things/ingredients.

We Celiac's are not too terribly unlike a Diabetic in that they can't eat Sugar or else, and we can't eat Wheat or else!
Or else what you ask...or else we take the risk of getting colon cancer or intestinal cancer or liver cancer or a host of other unpleasantries from the constant abuse by eating wheat or gluten which destroys our intestines and other organs.

For me, I lived with horrible stomach bloating, headaches, dizziness, joint pains, itchy flaky and blistery dry skin, hair falling out and a gammut of other not so pleasant symptoms.
Once I was diagnosed and Completely Stopped eating any Wheat or Gluten and went on the Gluten-Free diet, I have felt So Much better! That's one of the nice things about this disease if there is anything nice to say about having a disease, its that the Painful Symptoms can be stopped simply by ceasing to eat Wheat and Gluten. (at least for me it was the case...I also take a daily Probiotic pill and eat Plain Yogurt and eat lots of fresh garlic to help stop the acid reflux...which it has by the way).

Within 2 weeks time my bloating had stopped, my joint pain had diminished noticably, my headaches stopped and I seemed clearer minded. It took a bit longer to get the acid reflux under control but the biggest thing for me was to be sure to eat smaller portions and not to gulp my food down. I now eat very slowly and drink very little water with my meals... the water I found was weighing down my stomach and I think; causing that stretch to my esophagus).

I saw on Oprah yesterday that ~SOME~ children who are Autistic (Autism), have shown Remarkable improvements on a Gluten-Free diet. This may not apply to All of them, but I thought that was Terrific if something as simple as a Gluten-Free diet Might help.
I wonder if many of the children with Autism are of Scandinavian-Celtic heritage??
That would be an interesting study.

This Celiac disease is Hereditary and very commonly found among those of Scandinavian-Celtic ethnicities.

More and more people are being diagnosed with Celiac disease and more and more people are suffering with stomach pain, bloating and acid reflux then ever before.
My thoughts on this are because the Wheat and grains that comprise the vast majority of our foods have been Genetically Modified (or Bio-Engineered whatever you want to call it...GMO'd) to be able to withstand the longer shipping routes across country and then to have longer shelf life in the stores. To do this, the wheat that is eaten today is at around 13% Protein whereas several years ago it was around 2%, that's a huge rise in the levels of protein and is apparently too much for our systems to handle. Remember the old commercials about "You Can't Fool Mother Nature?" Well, we shouldn't be messing around with nature at all!! These could most likely be some of the long term affects of which we All are the guinea pigs!
This much wheat protein could be causing us to have stomach aches and bloating and a host of other things.

I now eat Organic meats, organic fruits and veggies and have cut the Colorant chemicals nearly completely out of my diet and am now in the process of cutting out the Dairy as well. I won't eat a thing with High Fructose Corn Syrup in it, as its a man made chemical that is not at all good for our bodies.
These are just the things that work for me and my own body, but I have not felt this good in 10 years! No Joke! My horrible knee joint pain that I suffered that was so bad I was about to purchase a walker for myself just so I could get around the house easier, has GONE!! Gone! I now walk up and down my driveway (a hilly one at that) twice a day with no pain and up and down the stairs with No pain.
To me these are Positive affirmations that What I was eating was causing or at least Adding to some of my aches, pains and other ailments.

I conducted an experiment this last Christmas that I must share and then I will end this because its getting rather lengthy.
I received a lovely fruit basket from one of those very upscale companies that send out their lovely catalogs every year before Christmas, and the fruit was absolutely gorgeous...perfectly shaped, colored and blemish free.
However, I wasn't going to eat it because it had been Waxed and polished and GMO'd to look that way. The Apples had NO Smell, the Oranges...I kid you not, the color of Orange came off in my hands which said to me they had been colored or something??
Soooo, I took One Apple and saved it for an experiment.
I took one of my Very nice Organic Apples which Smelled heavenly and might not have looked so pretty without all that Wax and polish, but who cares? I want to Eat my fruits and veggies Not Admire them from afar.

I placed the two apples on separate plates not too close to each other so they wouldn't over-ripen themselves and left them on those plates just to see what would happen.
Within 7 days the Organic Apple was starting to show signs of deterioration, Not the Waxed apple.
By around 14 days I had to toss out the Organic apple, Not the Waxed apple.
After a MONTH, the Waxed apple still had firmness, shine and not a single sign of it going bad.
After TWO Months, the waxed apple still looked fabulous!
This went on and on and I could Not believe my eyes! OH, did I mention that I took Photo's of these two apples at various times as well just to compare them and show everyone else my experiments progress?

After 5 Months time that waxed and perfect apple was JUST beginning to show signs of dimpling and darkening in the skin.
It took almost 6...yes SIX Months for that Waxed Christmas apple to really start looking bad and need to be tossed out. Almost Six Months!! Now I ask you...what would you rather eat? An apple that may have been on the shelf somewhere in a warehouse for at least 6 months or one that just came off a tree somewhere in America probably a few weeks earlier that Smells and Looks like a natural apple would on a tree?

The Celiac disease not only gave me a new way of eating, but also a Better and Cleaner way of eating too. What I find so incredible about all of this, is that the grocery stores and manufacturers of Organic foods are acting as if these products are something New and Special when just 40 to 50 years ago, this is the way we all ate! You will pay twice as much at the store for these foods, but hopefully if demand becomes great enough and I've noticed more and more Organics showing up in my grocery stores, the prices will come down a bit. Everything tastes So Much too and its been a real treat to eat again even if I do have Celiac disease, the foods I am eating now on this Gluten-Free diet are very delicious and my Favorite cookbook of all is the Gluten Free Kitchen by Roben (pardon me for not remembering the full name). There is a recipe in there for Pound Cake that is WONDERFUL !!
"Pamela's" product line of Gluten-Free baking goods (breads, pancakes, brownies etc.) are the Best I've eaten so far. YUMMO!!
So if you find out you have Celiac disease, try to look at it as a Positive thing...as it may have just Saved your life rather than hindered it.
This is what I tell myself everyday. It has been a real eye opening journey to learn more about the Wheat and other foods we eat and think nothing about. SOY is another food that has been Waaaay overmarketed and now they are finding its Not so safe afterall, and its another huge allergen.

Again, these are just the things I have read in my own journey to learn more about my disease and the methods that have helped me. These may not be what helps you, but through your own trials and research, hopefully you will find what does work best for your body and will have as dramatic results as I've had.

Thankfully there is a lot of info out there now about Celiac disease, but more and more Awareness needs to be out there so it might help others. I personally believe that at least 50% of those folks taking those "pretty colored" pills we see advertised on TV every 5 mins. it seems for heartburn and acid reflux, could simply be Celiac's and all they'd have to do to lessen their aches and pains would be to Stop Eating ALL Wheat and Gluten and Get Gluten-Free!