By B.N. Frank

Everybody now seems to know someone who has “gluten sensitivity” or Celiac Disease.  “Gluten-free” products are big business now.  Most chain grocery stores have large sections devoted to them.

This was not the case 20+ years ago when I was much younger and my immune system was shot.  I was fortunate to have good health insurance.  I went to a couple of doctors and eventually I was referred to an allergist.  He had me endure horrible skin prick tests which revealed only that I had a light allergy to mold.  I knew that already.

He recommended an Ear-Nose-Throat doctor who put me on steroids.  That didn’t help at all.  After pleading with the ENT, he ran a camera up my nose and down into my throat.  Nothing looked unusual.

Naturally I was upset.  The ENT was kind enough to tell me about another one of his former patients who he had not been able to help.  She later called him and said that another doctor had run different tests on her and discovered she had high levels of mercury.  The ENT didn’t validate the test or the diagnosis.  However, he offered me the name and phone number of that doctor as long as I understood that it was NOT a referral.  I accepted it and thanked him.

The other doctor was an MD and he also practiced what is now referred to as “alternative” medicine.  He had me do a blood test for food sensitivities.  Test results said I was sensitive to gluten as well as a few other foods.  This was a sad day because I loved almost everything that involved gluten.  But I also felt like hell.  So I decided to stop eating the foods on my “sensitivity” list to see if it would help.  My sinuses cleared up, my digestion improved, my migraines did not return.  Amazing!

My friends and family members were glad that I felt better even though a few were skeptical of why.  One voiced her skepticism loud and clear.  She told me that she thought my new doctor was a whack-job and I was experiencing a “placebo effect.”  She ridiculed me and my “special diet.”  Because of that, I didn’t spend much time with her anymore.

Several years later, she became very sick.  I wasn’t aware of this when it was happening.  Her husband is a doctor so she had great medical insurance.  Apparently after a bunch of horrible tests, she found out she had advanced Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease is much worse than gluten sensitivity.  For me, it means I can’t eat gluten without having a brief unpleasant digestive consequence.  10 years after I stopped eating it, the same doctor who ran the blood work said my body may have recovered from the “sensitivity” so I could try it again to see if it still affected me.  I bought a box of organic whole wheat pasta.  30 minutes after eating a plate of it, I was in the bathroom.  I gave the rest of the box away.  Not that big of a deal.

Celiac Disease is a whole different ball game.  Apparently if my friend accidentally ingests even a speck of it, she can become very sick.  This has happened when eating “gluten free meals” at restaurants.  It has something to do about restaurants using the same cookware to prepare both gluten and gluten-free meals. I don’t have this problem.

She also can’t apply products containing gluten to her skin without becoming itchy or getting a rash.  I don’t have this problem either.

Regardless, because of “Celiac Disease,” gluten-sensitivity is now accepted as something other than a psychological issue.  Unfortunately, “Microwave Sickness” or “ElectroSensitivity” is still often dismissed as a bunch of hooey despite the fact that it was discovered in the 1950s  and there is research from government, independent, industry, and military sources that confirms it is not a bunch of hooey.

Like Celiac Disease, there are many different symptoms for “Microwave Sickness” or “ElectroSensitivity” that may also be attributed to other environmental factors, genetics, lifestyle choices, and of course, psychological issues.  Many of the symptoms actually mimic “The Flu.”  This being said, it is often misdiagnosed.

Research has also proven that exposure to can worsen pre-existing conditions even if it didn’t cause them.

Of course, The Telecom Industry doesn’t want us to understand this.  They also don’t want us to know that no “safe” level of cell phone or wireless (WiFi) radiation has been scientifically determined for children or pregnant women

There is research that also confirms that exposure cell phone and wireless WiFi radiation along with electromagnetic fields has a cumulative toxic effect when combined with other toxins.

There have been more reports coming out about this recently.  One from The Nation has been covered again by other sources already.  The Telecom Industry is being referred to as “Big Wireless” and compared to “Big Tobacco” and “Big Oil.”  Recently Bill Maher alluded to this on his show as well.

Citizens for Safe Technology president, Frank Clegg, was once president of Microsoft Canada.  He stated:

Electrosensitivity is not like an allergy you are born with; it is an illness that builds up over increased time and radiation exposure.

Just as we cannot yet explain why some individuals will die from second-hand smoke and others can live a long life smoking 2 packs a day, we cannot explain why some individuals react to wireless radiation. (Source: Vitality Magazine)

According to sources, 1% of the population has Celiac Disease. There is even a “Celiac Disease Foundation.”  Most also accept gluten sensitivity as being a real health condition – even without a formal diagnosis. 

Experts have stated that 3% of the population is clinically hypersensitive to sources of WiFi and Electrical Pollution (or Electrosmog) and as many as 1/3 of the population is “sensitive” to a lesser degree.  Yet many still insist this as a bunch of hooey. Many medical professionals still don’t consider it at all when evaluating and treating patients.  So again, it is often misdiagnosed.

As Bill Maher so eloquently stated last week:

You are tolerating things right now that will make you cringe in 25 years.

We can’t believe people in old movies smoked. They won’t believe we put the cellphone in our pocket next to our nuts.

Avoiding gluten is easier than ever now.  Avoiding cell phone radiation, wireless WiFi radiation, and Electrosmog is harder than ever now.