text:
Preheat the oven to 500°F with rack in upper third, or set to broil.
Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tsp harissa (optional), then transfer to a bowl. Pat the chicken breasts dry and add to the bowl, coat with the garlic mixture. Generously crack black pepper on top, turning the breast over to make sure you cover both sides with the seasoning. Place in a foil-lined large shallow baking dish, and sprinkle 1/2 tsp brown sugar on top.
Roast for 10 minutes, skin side up, in the upper portion of the oven to brown the skin. When browned, move to the lower third of the oven and continue to cook for 10 – 15 minutes.
Remove from oven. Slice into the breast to check the doneness, the meat should no longer be pink; or, use a meat thermometer to confirm the chicken is heated through to 165 degrees F. Let sit on the countertop to cool for 10 minutes before slicing into 1/2″ thick pieces. You should have 4-6 pieces.
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Add large baking sheet to the oven to heat up.
Cut the squash in half from the stem to the navel. Using a large metal spoon, scoop out the stringy interior and the seeds. Slice squash into 2″ half moon slices. You should have about 6 slices.
In a mixing bowl, add 1 tsp sweet paprika, 4 tbs olive oil and a squeeze of half a lemon. Stir to combine, add squash slices and toss in the oil mixture until they are evenly coated. Sprinkle with 1 tsp Maldon Salt, cracked pepper and 1 tsp brown sugar.
Place half moon squash pieces on the sheet, flat side down. Add to the squash to the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven when a knife slips easily through the flesh and the tops of the squash is caramelized. If you want to achieve a more golden surface, broil the squash at the last minute quickly, but keep a eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Remove parsley, tarragon and chervil leaves from stems. Chop all your herbs finely (including the chives). In a small dish, combine honey and vinegar, and whisk to dissolve the honey. Add olive oil in a slow stream and whisk to emulsify.
On a large platter, arrange squash and chicken slices and sprinkle sumac over the chicken. Drizzle dressing over the whole dish and toss your herbs on top. Serve.

lowercased:
preheat the oven to 500°f with rack in upper third, or set to broil.
mince and mash garlic to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tsp harissa (optional), then transfer to a bowl. pat the chicken breasts dry and add to the bowl, coat with the garlic mixture. generously crack black pepper on top, turning the breast over to make sure you cover both sides with the seasoning. place in a foil-lined large shallow baking dish, and sprinkle 1/2 tsp brown sugar on top.
roast for 10 minutes, skin side up, in the upper portion of the oven to brown the skin. when browned, move to the lower third of the oven and continue to cook for 10 – 15 minutes.
remove from oven. slice into the breast to check the doneness, the meat should no longer be pink; or, use a meat thermometer to confirm the chicken is heated through to 165 degrees f. let sit on the countertop to cool for 10 minutes before slicing into 1/2″ thick pieces. you should have 4-6 pieces.
pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. add large baking sheet to the oven to heat up.
cut the squash in half from the stem to the navel. using a large metal spoon, scoop out the stringy interior and the seeds. slice squash into 2″ half moon slices. you should have about 6 slices.
in a mixing bowl, add 1 tsp sweet paprika, 4 tbs olive oil and a squeeze of half a lemon. stir to combine, add squash slices and toss in the oil mixture until they are evenly coated. sprinkle with 1 tsp maldon salt, cracked pepper and 1 tsp brown sugar.
place half moon squash pieces on the sheet, flat side down. add to the squash to the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. remove from oven when a knife slips easily through the flesh and the tops of the squash is caramelized. if you want to achieve a more golden surface, broil the squash at the last minute quickly, but keep a eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn.
remove parsley, tarragon and chervil leaves from stems. chop all your herbs finely (including the chives). in a small dish, combine honey and vinegar, and whisk to dissolve the honey. add olive oil in a slow stream and whisk to emulsify.
on a large platter, arrange squash and chicken slices and sprinkle sumac over the chicken. drizzle dressing over the whole dish and toss your herbs on top. serve.


text:
Super fun LO, love the bold colours, great job!!
That background is so very cool!
Love all the different ways you created circles!
Love the way you did the bg paper. Great photos!
Looks like they were acting crazy but having a lot fun!
what a super fun page!
Love the camera paper, so many fun colors!
Very bright and happy fun layout!
FUN page!! LOVE the painted circles and the strips of paper. What a bright, fun, funny page to go with such fun photos!
Lots of fun! The bright colors are great!
Cute photos and your bg work is terrific!
This is so fun!! Awesome background!! Love the stitching too! Thanks for playing in the September Sewing Challenge!
Love how you multiplied the round circles of the original many times on your page. Also love the camera paper. This is a perfect use for it as everyone seems to be hamming for the camera. Nice layout.
Great painted bg, very fun and colorful!
Crazy circles, crazy stitching! Love the brilliant colors, fun layout!!
Love the playfulness of this. Great job with the random circles of paint.
Love what you did with the paint! This is a layout full of fun!
terrific bg detail! Love the stitching and happy feel you created!
Such a fun page....great pics and love the vibrant colors!
colorful and so FUN!! love the stitching and misting. the background you created is awesome.
haha fun page for these fun pics!
what a "crazy", fun lo! love it!

lowercased:
super fun lo, love the bold colours, great job!!
that background is so very cool!
love all the different ways you created circles!
love the way you did the bg paper. great photos!
looks like they were acting crazy but having a lot fun!
what a super fun page!
love the camera paper, so many fun colors!
very bright and happy fun layout!
fun page!! love the painted circles and the strips of paper. what a bright, fun, funny page to go with such fun photos!
lots of fun! the bright colors are great!
cute photos and your bg work is terrific!
this is so fun!! awesome background!! love the stitching too! thanks for playing in the september sewing challenge!
love how you multiplied the round circles of the original many times on your page. also love the camera paper. this is a perfect use for it as everyone seems to be hamming for the camera. nice layout.
great painted bg, very fun and colorful!
crazy circles, crazy stitching! love the brilliant colors, fun layout!!
love the playfulness of this. great job with the random circles of paint.
love what you did with the paint! this is a layout full of fun!
terrific bg detail! love the stitching and happy feel you created!
such a fun page....great pics and love the vibrant colors!
colorful and so fun!! love the stitching and misting. the background you created is awesome.
haha fun page for these fun pics!
what a "crazy", fun lo! love it!


text:
Knowing God (20th Anniversary Ed.), J. I. Packer, 1993, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill., ISBN 9780830816507, 286 pages, $20.00, softcover.
Earlier this year, the Christian world received sad news of British-Canadian theologian J.I. Packer's retirement from public ministry due to the advance of macular degeneration that has taken his eyesight from him. He is nearly 90 years old, an elder statesman of a theological resurgence among evangelical believers across denominations. In addition to his tireless work teaching, lecturing, and writing at the collegiate and seminary levels, much of his reputation flows from a series of articles on the character of God and our relationship to Him that were gathered and published as Knowing God in 1972.
Though this work has been driving home deep truths about our Triune Lord since well before I was born, it was to my great detriment that I only just recently picked it up for myself. Every accolade Knowing God has received through the years was just praise-I have seldom read such a clear, emphatic presentation of so much Christian doctrine. To ears ready to hear and hearts ready to obey, Packer's masterpiece is sort of a devotional "jet fuel" to feed the fire of spiritual maturity.
All of the cultural opposition to and "slippage" of the Christian faith that Packer spoke prophetically into in the early 1970s has only accelerated in the years since, giving his theological diagnoses to the ps ychological and social ills he imagines his readers face a very current punch. Of course, because his subject is the eternal God as revealed in His Word, the advice herein would be just as prescient had he written in the 1870s (in fact, he so often quotes Spurgeon, it almost feels like he did).
The content of Knowing God is a three-part layout. The first addresses the Biblical admonition to know God, marveling in the facts that 1) He wants us to know Him, 2) that we are even capable of such, and 3) that we are more known by God than we know Him.
The second segment does much of the philosophical heavy lifting of the book, drawing out the attributes of God to wrestle with our human frailty of belief. He leaves no stone unturned in seeking to confront readers with the God of the Bible in all His glory, immutability, majesty, wisdom, truth, love, grace, judgment, wrath, goodness, and jealousy. In effect he spends this longest section of the book in catechizing us in robust systematic theology, digging for practical application of hard truths.
Finally, Packer focuses in on the Gospel message, dwelling on Christ's atonement and our adoption through Him as God's sons. He calls readers to lean upon their God, to know Him not as an intellectual exercise, but as the source and pillar of all their strength. He writes as someone who has seen God's face, fervently pleading with others to look to Him likewise and live.
This pastoral heart most characterizes Packer's work. It is a systematic theology (and a good one), but it is a systematic theology for pilgrims. Other books have more academic depth, but few achieve the devotional concern for the holiness, peace, and joy of the Christian. If one has any criticism of Packer, it is for his ecumenical efforts (none of which play in at all to this particular work), which have been seen as overbroad by many. Reading Knowing God, however, it is easy to see that any overstepping of acceptable boundaries between Christian traditions on Packer's part was not from faddishness or fame-seeking, but from his deep love for the brethren flowing out of a heart captured by the One True God.

lowercased:
knowing god (20th anniversary ed.), j. i. packer, 1993, intervarsity press, downers grove, ill., isbn 9780830816507, 286 pages, $20.00, softcover.
earlier this year, the christian world received sad news of british-canadian theologian j.i. packer's retirement from public ministry due to the advance of macular degeneration that has taken his eyesight from him. he is nearly 90 years old, an elder statesman of a theological resurgence among evangelical believers across denominations. in addition to his tireless work teaching, lecturing, and writing at the collegiate and seminary levels, much of his reputation flows from a series of articles on the character of god and our relationship to him that were gathered and published as knowing god in 1972.
though this work has been driving home deep truths about our triune lord since well before i was born, it was to my great detriment that i only just recently picked it up for myself. every accolade knowing god has received through the years was just praise-i have seldom read such a clear, emphatic presentation of so much christian doctrine. to ears ready to hear and hearts ready to obey, packer's masterpiece is sort of a devotional "jet fuel" to feed the fire of spiritual maturity.
all of the cultural opposition to and "slippage" of the christian faith that packer spoke prophetically into in the early 1970s has only accelerated in the years since, giving his theological diagnoses to the ps ychological and social ills he imagines his readers face a very current punch. of course, because his subject is the eternal god as revealed in his word, the advice herein would be just as prescient had he written in the 1870s (in fact, he so often quotes spurgeon, it almost feels like he did).
the content of knowing god is a three-part layout. the first addresses the biblical admonition to know god, marveling in the facts that 1) he wants us to know him, 2) that we are even capable of such, and 3) that we are more known by god than we know him.
the second segment does much of the philosophical heavy lifting of the book, drawing out the attributes of god to wrestle with our human frailty of belief. he leaves no stone unturned in seeking to confront readers with the god of the bible in all his glory, immutability, majesty, wisdom, truth, love, grace, judgment, wrath, goodness, and jealousy. in effect he spends this longest section of the book in catechizing us in robust systematic theology, digging for practical application of hard truths.
finally, packer focuses in on the gospel message, dwelling on christ's atonement and our adoption through him as god's sons. he calls readers to lean upon their god, to know him not as an intellectual exercise, but as the source and pillar of all their strength. he writes as someone who has seen god's face, fervently pleading with others to look to him likewise and live.
this pastoral heart most characterizes packer's work. it is a systematic theology (and a good one), but it is a systematic theology for pilgrims. other books have more academic depth, but few achieve the devotional concern for the holiness, peace, and joy of the christian. if one has any criticism of packer, it is for his ecumenical efforts (none of which play in at all to this particular work), which have been seen as overbroad by many. reading knowing god, however, it is easy to see that any overstepping of acceptable boundaries between christian traditions on packer's part was not from faddishness or fame-seeking, but from his deep love for the brethren flowing out of a heart captured by the one true god.


text: A brief moment in time and the stroke of a pen are all that is required to create the legal bond of marriage; but it takes a lifetime of love, commitment, and laughter to make a marriage durable and eternal. The process of marriage does not begin or end today; it is a lifelong pursuit.Your relationship already has all of the necessary components for success, but you must maintain that from here forward by remembering what is important in your relationship and why you are making this commitment to one another today. BRIDE and GROOM, as long as you are both respectful of each other, you will make it through the numerous changes and chapters your lives will take. As long as you honor the promises that you will make to each other today, you will creat4e a life of love and happiness.

lowercased: a brief moment in time and the stroke of a pen are all that is required to create the legal bond of marriage; but it takes a lifetime of love, commitment, and laughter to make a marriage durable and eternal. the process of marriage does not begin or end today; it is a lifelong pursuit.your relationship already has all of the necessary components for success, but you must maintain that from here forward by remembering what is important in your relationship and why you are making this commitment to one another today. bride and groom, as long as you are both respectful of each other, you will make it through the numerous changes and chapters your lives will take. as long as you honor the promises that you will make to each other today, you will creat4e a life of love and happiness.


text:
This study exhibits road space prioritisation of three types of public transport systems. The study first goes into a literature review of road space prioritisation and aspects of modelling this. These types of systems were then modelled using a case study of a single corridor in Durban, South Africa. Both a macroscopic modelling and microscopic modelling package were used to model a base year and various public transport scenarios. This was done to illustrate the effects of road space prioritisation along a corridor of the city. The three public transport scenarios performed were: a quality bus scenario, a bus rapid transit system scenario and a mini-bus -taxi scenario. For a certain purpose, a relationship in road capacity could be formed between the macroscopic model and the microscopic model. A costing analysis of these three scenarios was done at the end of the results chapter. It was concluded that the bus rapid transit system was the most feasible public transport system for the corridor based on the demand pattern used in this study for that specific corridor.
Moodley, L. 2017. Modelling road space prioritisation for public transport using AIMSUN: a case study in Durban. University of Cape Town.

lowercased:
this study exhibits road space prioritisation of three types of public transport systems. the study first goes into a literature review of road space prioritisation and aspects of modelling this. these types of systems were then modelled using a case study of a single corridor in durban, south africa. both a macroscopic modelling and microscopic modelling package were used to model a base year and various public transport scenarios. this was done to illustrate the effects of road space prioritisation along a corridor of the city. the three public transport scenarios performed were: a quality bus scenario, a bus rapid transit system scenario and a mini-bus -taxi scenario. for a certain purpose, a relationship in road capacity could be formed between the macroscopic model and the microscopic model. a costing analysis of these three scenarios was done at the end of the results chapter. it was concluded that the bus rapid transit system was the most feasible public transport system for the corridor based on the demand pattern used in this study for that specific corridor.
moodley, l. 2017. modelling road space prioritisation for public transport using aimsun: a case study in durban. university of cape town.


text:
Originating in German soil, today Riesling is Germany’s numero uno grape variety, known for its characteristic “transparency” in flavor and presentation of terroir (the idea of being able to ‘taste the place’), and its balance between fruit and mineral flavors. The emphasis is all about freshness on fruit and a balance between sweetness and acidity. The winemaking is very simple and straightforward emphasizing the flavors of the grape, and downplays the role (read as ego) of the winemaker. The best vineyards are on steep hill sides, the grapes are almost always hand-picked and hurried to the winery for processing with as little damage to the skins as possible: freshness of juice is seen as crucial. The great German Rieslings have exceptional intensity of fruit flavor deriving directly from the vineyard. Riesling wines from Germany cover a vast array of tastes from sweet to off-dry halbtrocken to dry trocken. Late harvest Rieslings can ripen to become very sweet dessert wines of the beerenauslese (BA) and trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) class - trockenbeerenauslese is expensive to buy and difficult to say. I think the unapproachability of these German words has scared away many an American wine drinker.
Winemakers in Alsace try their damndest to make a Riesling as different from that of Germany as the laws of chemistry and bio-chemistry will allow. Rather than thin, delicate little things, these are much richer and higher in alcohol. Rieslings produced in Alsace tend to be mostly very dry with a cleansing acidity. They are thick bodied wines that coat the palate. These wines age exceptionally well with a quality vintage aging up to 20 years. This is beneficial since the flavors in an Alsace wine will often open up after three years, developing softer and fruitier flavors.
Now these are the wines that have inspired the Bright White Riesling of Municipal Winemakers. I learned how to love and how to make Rieslings in this style during my time in Oz. Here’s an interesting factoid. Germany has the most Riesling planted, more than 20,000 hectares or 50,000 acres of Riesling vines, more than 60 per cent of the world’s supply. But guess what? Australia is in second place, ahead of Alsace in France and Austria, both of which are famous for their Rieslings. Perhaps more important than the quantity of Australian Riesling, however, is its quality. With its predominantly dry, full-bodied, very direct and often rather citrus fruited style, and even the best examples are at around $15-$20 a bottle, I would argue it has won more modern wine drinkers over to Riesling than German Riesling. The German equivalent, in similar dry styles, is not widely exported and in fruitier, lighter form seems to be an acquired taste. On the face of it, one might imagine Australian vineyards were a bit too hot for Riesling (seeing how it comes from Germany). But this is the variety, imported by settlers escaping religious persecution in Silesia in the 19th century, that was the dominant Australian white wine grape until Chardonnay wrested that crown not much more than 15 years ago. Today, Riesling vines have been systematically replaced by Chardonnay in the country’s hotter, less suitable areas, such as the sweltering inland irrigated vineyards that supply the ocean of wine labeled South Eastern Australia and the sun-baked floor of the Barossa Valley, which tend to ripen Riesling too fast to develop any flavors of real interest. But at the same time Riesling vines have been planted in many of the country’s more recently developed, cool climate wine regions, which apparently constitute a surprising half of all designated wine appellations in Australia. Jeffery Grosset, perhaps the king of Riesling in Australia has made the move over to stelvin screwcaps. He has virtually single-handedly led first Clare Riesling makers and then more and more Australian winemakers into bottling both whites and reds under screwcap, so we can expect his Rieslings to last even longer to judge from early indications of how wines age under screwcap. If Clare Rieslings when young are steely, sometimes to the point of austerity, they develop a rather lime-like, very refreshing fruit quality with age and can eventually become quite toasty. Eden Valley Rieslings, can be rather more floral and overtly fruity but still with the dry finish that makes these wines so great with food, especially spicy, Asian-inspired salads and stir fries. Eden Valley are my personal fav Rieslings and can continue to develop in bottle for years.
For winemakers in this country, the riesling renaissance has been under way for 30 years, but wine drinkers have become aware of it only during the last decade. Chardonnay, it seems, is a hard act to follow. Much of the renewed interest in the riesling grape has centered on German and Alsatian examples, but contrary to most expectations, Americans have begun to turn out fine versions of our own. There is some question as to who started the riesling renaissance, but there is little doubt what happened to the variety that made this comeback necessary. It was us Californians. We took a perfectly good grape and for a century made really bad wine with it. People forget now, but in its earliest days, the Northern California wine country had a Teutonic air to it. Winemakers with names like Dresel and Schram and Gundlach imported German grape varieties in the 1850's and 60's and made what they called riesling from them. Most were failures. The ''rieslings'' that survived were often blends of a touch of riesling and lots of sylvaner, folle blanche and other California-friendly varieties. By the 1950's, California riesling was little more than jug wine, scorned by anyone who had tasted the real thing. Today, there are some good California rieslings -- by Smith-Madrone in the Napa Valley, by Navarro in Mendocino, and a handful of others. But the grape has never played an important role on the California wine scene. Riesling is a difficult grape to grow and, for a newcomer to wine, can be equally difficult to appreciate. It can be austere and steely, with breathtaking acidity to match its intense fruit. A good riesling hits you right away. Only in the sweeter versions, where the sugar masks the tartness, can it be considered user-friendly. For occasional drinkers, a great riesling can be a turnoff. For its committed fans, however, it is the finest grape in the world.

lowercased:
originating in german soil, today riesling is germany’s numero uno grape variety, known for its characteristic “transparency” in flavor and presentation of terroir (the idea of being able to ‘taste the place’), and its balance between fruit and mineral flavors. the emphasis is all about freshness on fruit and a balance between sweetness and acidity. the winemaking is very simple and straightforward emphasizing the flavors of the grape, and downplays the role (read as ego) of the winemaker. the best vineyards are on steep hill sides, the grapes are almost always hand-picked and hurried to the winery for processing with as little damage to the skins as possible: freshness of juice is seen as crucial. the great german rieslings have exceptional intensity of fruit flavor deriving directly from the vineyard. riesling wines from germany cover a vast array of tastes from sweet to off-dry halbtrocken to dry trocken. late harvest rieslings can ripen to become very sweet dessert wines of the beerenauslese (ba) and trockenbeerenauslese (tba) class - trockenbeerenauslese is expensive to buy and difficult to say. i think the unapproachability of these german words has scared away many an american wine drinker.
winemakers in alsace try their damndest to make a riesling as different from that of germany as the laws of chemistry and bio-chemistry will allow. rather than thin, delicate little things, these are much richer and higher in alcohol. rieslings produced in alsace tend to be mostly very dry with a cleansing acidity. they are thick bodied wines that coat the palate. these wines age exceptionally well with a quality vintage aging up to 20 years. this is beneficial since the flavors in an alsace wine will often open up after three years, developing softer and fruitier flavors.
now these are the wines that have inspired the bright white riesling of municipal winemakers. i learned how to love and how to make rieslings in this style during my time in oz. here’s an interesting factoid. germany has the most riesling planted, more than 20,000 hectares or 50,000 acres of riesling vines, more than 60 per cent of the world’s supply. but guess what? australia is in second place, ahead of alsace in france and austria, both of which are famous for their rieslings. perhaps more important than the quantity of australian riesling, however, is its quality. with its predominantly dry, full-bodied, very direct and often rather citrus fruited style, and even the best examples are at around $15-$20 a bottle, i would argue it has won more modern wine drinkers over to riesling than german riesling. the german equivalent, in similar dry styles, is not widely exported and in fruitier, lighter form seems to be an acquired taste. on the face of it, one might imagine australian vineyards were a bit too hot for riesling (seeing how it comes from germany). but this is the variety, imported by settlers escaping religious persecution in silesia in the 19th century, that was the dominant australian white wine grape until chardonnay wrested that crown not much more than 15 years ago. today, riesling vines have been systematically replaced by chardonnay in the country’s hotter, less suitable areas, such as the sweltering inland irrigated vineyards that supply the ocean of wine labeled south eastern australia and the sun-baked floor of the barossa valley, which tend to ripen riesling too fast to develop any flavors of real interest. but at the same time riesling vines have been planted in many of the country’s more recently developed, cool climate wine regions, which apparently constitute a surprising half of all designated wine appellations in australia. jeffery grosset, perhaps the king of riesling in australia has made the move over to stelvin screwcaps. he has virtually single-handedly led first clare riesling makers and then more and more australian winemakers into bottling both whites and reds under screwcap, so we can expect his rieslings to last even longer to judge from early indications of how wines age under screwcap. if clare rieslings when young are steely, sometimes to the point of austerity, they develop a rather lime-like, very refreshing fruit quality with age and can eventually become quite toasty. eden valley rieslings, can be rather more floral and overtly fruity but still with the dry finish that makes these wines so great with food, especially spicy, asian-inspired salads and stir fries. eden valley are my personal fav rieslings and can continue to develop in bottle for years.
for winemakers in this country, the riesling renaissance has been under way for 30 years, but wine drinkers have become aware of it only during the last decade. chardonnay, it seems, is a hard act to follow. much of the renewed interest in the riesling grape has centered on german and alsatian examples, but contrary to most expectations, americans have begun to turn out fine versions of our own. there is some question as to who started the riesling renaissance, but there is little doubt what happened to the variety that made this comeback necessary. it was us californians. we took a perfectly good grape and for a century made really bad wine with it. people forget now, but in its earliest days, the northern california wine country had a teutonic air to it. winemakers with names like dresel and schram and gundlach imported german grape varieties in the 1850's and 60's and made what they called riesling from them. most were failures. the ''rieslings'' that survived were often blends of a touch of riesling and lots of sylvaner, folle blanche and other california-friendly varieties. by the 1950's, california riesling was little more than jug wine, scorned by anyone who had tasted the real thing. today, there are some good california rieslings -- by smith-madrone in the napa valley, by navarro in mendocino, and a handful of others. but the grape has never played an important role on the california wine scene. riesling is a difficult grape to grow and, for a newcomer to wine, can be equally difficult to appreciate. it can be austere and steely, with breathtaking acidity to match its intense fruit. a good riesling hits you right away. only in the sweeter versions, where the sugar masks the tartness, can it be considered user-friendly. for occasional drinkers, a great riesling can be a turnoff. for its committed fans, however, it is the finest grape in the world.


text:
Independent metal label Battle Kommand may currently only be on the radar of a select few but that's about to change. Formed in 2004 by Nachtmystium vocalist/guitarist Blake Judd, the Chicago-based outfit has released approximately 30 titles ranging from black, doom and death metal to experimental, noise and ambient rock. While its success has been formidable given its size, Battle Kommand is receiving a huge leg-up.
Fellow metal label Candlelight Records, responsible for over 400 titles from acts such as Emperor, Opeth, 1349, Crowbar and Obituary, has extended its operations to include working with Battle Kommand internationally. Kicking off the new merger, Candlelight will re-release Nachtmystium's full catalogue followed by the label's entire four-year output before working towards signing new acts. Where applicable, bonus material will be added.
Thanks to the union, Battle Kommand will see the benefit of Candlelight's massive distribution via Caroline in the U.S., EMI Music in Canada and Plastic Head Music in Europe/U.K. In turn, Candlelight receives rights to work Battle Kommand's discography and gains another ally with a finger on the pulse of underground extreme music.
"With Candlelight's funding behind BKR's new signees," says Judd, "I anticipate that more of our artists will be touring here and abroad. A more major push for all of our artists marks a major step for the label, and we intend to push-forward with full force...it is with much honour that we can announce this collaboration."

lowercased:
independent metal label battle kommand may currently only be on the radar of a select few but that's about to change. formed in 2004 by nachtmystium vocalist/guitarist blake judd, the chicago-based outfit has released approximately 30 titles ranging from black, doom and death metal to experimental, noise and ambient rock. while its success has been formidable given its size, battle kommand is receiving a huge leg-up.
fellow metal label candlelight records, responsible for over 400 titles from acts such as emperor, opeth, 1349, crowbar and obituary, has extended its operations to include working with battle kommand internationally. kicking off the new merger, candlelight will re-release nachtmystium's full catalogue followed by the label's entire four-year output before working towards signing new acts. where applicable, bonus material will be added.
thanks to the union, battle kommand will see the benefit of candlelight's massive distribution via caroline in the u.s., emi music in canada and plastic head music in europe/u.k. in turn, candlelight receives rights to work battle kommand's discography and gains another ally with a finger on the pulse of underground extreme music.
"with candlelight's funding behind bkr's new signees," says judd, "i anticipate that more of our artists will be touring here and abroad. a more major push for all of our artists marks a major step for the label, and we intend to push-forward with full force...it is with much honour that we can announce this collaboration."


text:
At the beginning of the season, there were a number of candidates looking to be relegated from the Premier League. Promoted sides Reading and Southampton were among these candidates, along with the likes of QPR, Wigan, and even Aston Villa.
Even at this stage of the season, it is yet to be known who the hot favorites for relegation are. With just 9 games remaining, the bottom 6 are separated by just 8 points, meaning no teams are safe. All of the teams threatened with relegation didn’t get their seasons off to the best of starts, with all of them dropping points in the opening few weeks.
QPR’s season probably started the worst, as they fell to a 5-0 home defeat to Swansea on the opening day, which spelled the beginning of a 16 game winless run in the league. They weren’t able to beat the teams around them in the table, nor were they able to get any points off ‘bigger’ teams in the league.
This could quite possibly have come from the fact they made more than 10 signings in the summer window, which didn’t allow the players to gel together and develop understandings before the season began. In the last few months though, they have started to play much better and pick up the important results they need as they were rooted at the bottom of the table.
Then came the 17th game of the season; QPR beat Fulham at home to give them their first win. This is when their fortunes began to change. January signings Jermaine Jenas and Andros Townsend have had a huge impact on the squad and have since started to pick up draws and wins. They have also closed the gap on their nearest rivals, which will have given them more confidence and belief that they can escape the drop zone. Whether this means they have higher chances of surviving is debatable, but one thing is for sure, the Rangers won’t go down without an almighty fight.
Aston Villa are another team who are in the massive scrap for survival. Paul Lambert came in as new manager last summer and rung the changes by bringing in young, British players. Many Villa fans were unhappy with the signings made by Lambert, but it is easy to see what he is trying to do at the club. Most of the players were very inexperienced when it comes to playing at the Premier League level, and that is the main reason why they haven’t managed to pick up results.
But one player who has been a revelation for them this season is Christian Benteke. Brought in from Belgian side Genk, he was very little known, but having scored more than 15 goals this term, he could be the reason Villa stay up this season. Things haven’t really gone their way so far, with vital decisions going against them to deny them a point or even all 3. They have also been rather unlucky in games, as they have seen themselves dominate games yet not get any points for it.
This just shows you that their attacking side of their game just isn’t really up to scratch. Most recently, they lost 1-0 to defending champions Manchester City, and anyone that had watched the game would’ve seen that Villa had the majority of play. But one mistake from Ciaran Clarke cost them the points when he slipped to allow Carlos Tevez to slot home for what was the only goal of the game.
But coming off the back off of two wins against Reading and QPR, you just wonder if the momentum is swinging Villa’s way. Benteke, Gabby Agbonlahor, and Andreas Weimann will certainly be crucial and will need to be influential in the young Villa side if they are to tighten their grip on a place out of the bottom 3.
Despite being in the bottom 3 for more-or-less the whole season, Reading have done really well. There are one of the 3 promoted teams this season and have surprised many people with the football they’ve played and the results they have managed to pick up. This season, they have become the late goal specialists, having scored late on in games against West Brom, Chelsea, and Sunderland. Adam Le Fondre has been the man for the late goals, scoring the majority of them for Reading despite coming off the bench.
They did that well, because in January, Le Fondre won Player of the Month, and then manager Brian McDermott won Manager of the Month. But with the Royals out of form and without a win in the last 5 games, as well as having sacked Brian McDermott, these can be considered as worrying times for Reading, and you wonder if they will recover from this.
With their strikers out of form and with them being unable to find any real consistency, is the Premier League journey for Reading over before it has really started? Some would argue that it is the end, but others would argue that they have seen enough fight and belief from the players have a strong enough feeling that their club will survive. If anything is to happen, it is truly now or never for them with time no longer on their side.

lowercased:
at the beginning of the season, there were a number of candidates looking to be relegated from the premier league. promoted sides reading and southampton were among these candidates, along with the likes of qpr, wigan, and even aston villa.
even at this stage of the season, it is yet to be known who the hot favorites for relegation are. with just 9 games remaining, the bottom 6 are separated by just 8 points, meaning no teams are safe. all of the teams threatened with relegation didn’t get their seasons off to the best of starts, with all of them dropping points in the opening few weeks.
qpr’s season probably started the worst, as they fell to a 5-0 home defeat to swansea on the opening day, which spelled the beginning of a 16 game winless run in the league. they weren’t able to beat the teams around them in the table, nor were they able to get any points off ‘bigger’ teams in the league.
this could quite possibly have come from the fact they made more than 10 signings in the summer window, which didn’t allow the players to gel together and develop understandings before the season began. in the last few months though, they have started to play much better and pick up the important results they need as they were rooted at the bottom of the table.
then came the 17th game of the season; qpr beat fulham at home to give them their first win. this is when their fortunes began to change. january signings jermaine jenas and andros townsend have had a huge impact on the squad and have since started to pick up draws and wins. they have also closed the gap on their nearest rivals, which will have given them more confidence and belief that they can escape the drop zone. whether this means they have higher chances of surviving is debatable, but one thing is for sure, the rangers won’t go down without an almighty fight.
aston villa are another team who are in the massive scrap for survival. paul lambert came in as new manager last summer and rung the changes by bringing in young, british players. many villa fans were unhappy with the signings made by lambert, but it is easy to see what he is trying to do at the club. most of the players were very inexperienced when it comes to playing at the premier league level, and that is the main reason why they haven’t managed to pick up results.
but one player who has been a revelation for them this season is christian benteke. brought in from belgian side genk, he was very little known, but having scored more than 15 goals this term, he could be the reason villa stay up this season. things haven’t really gone their way so far, with vital decisions going against them to deny them a point or even all 3. they have also been rather unlucky in games, as they have seen themselves dominate games yet not get any points for it.
this just shows you that their attacking side of their game just isn’t really up to scratch. most recently, they lost 1-0 to defending champions manchester city, and anyone that had watched the game would’ve seen that villa had the majority of play. but one mistake from ciaran clarke cost them the points when he slipped to allow carlos tevez to slot home for what was the only goal of the game.
but coming off the back off of two wins against reading and qpr, you just wonder if the momentum is swinging villa’s way. benteke, gabby agbonlahor, and andreas weimann will certainly be crucial and will need to be influential in the young villa side if they are to tighten their grip on a place out of the bottom 3.
despite being in the bottom 3 for more-or-less the whole season, reading have done really well. there are one of the 3 promoted teams this season and have surprised many people with the football they’ve played and the results they have managed to pick up. this season, they have become the late goal specialists, having scored late on in games against west brom, chelsea, and sunderland. adam le fondre has been the man for the late goals, scoring the majority of them for reading despite coming off the bench.
they did that well, because in january, le fondre won player of the month, and then manager brian mcdermott won manager of the month. but with the royals out of form and without a win in the last 5 games, as well as having sacked brian mcdermott, these can be considered as worrying times for reading, and you wonder if they will recover from this.
with their strikers out of form and with them being unable to find any real consistency, is the premier league journey for reading over before it has really started? some would argue that it is the end, but others would argue that they have seen enough fight and belief from the players have a strong enough feeling that their club will survive. if anything is to happen, it is truly now or never for them with time no longer on their side.


text:
So this hack may veer on the compulsive obsessive side but trust us, it is the holiday hack from heaven. This one was devised by one of us (we’ll name no names) for last Summers holidays. It was helpfully greeted with eye rolls and snickering. The whole premise behind it was to allow the entire family (and we are talking about adults here too) to take personal responsibility for finding key items. The objective was to rid the phrase ‘where’s the…?’ from the entire holiday. But also to dispel the notion that we somehow magically know where everything is ALL of the time. Even though we mostly do.
Enter the ‘it’s-labelled-you-can’t-blooming-miss-it’ holiday hack. You need to get yourself some transparent (key requirement) zippy bags. The ones pictured were an Ebay purchase but you can find similar in Boots. Decide what the categories you will need to make sure everyone in your family can grasp. i.e. so they can work out each bags contents and you will not need to be disturbed for clarification. Label them (WH Smith sell lots of colourful labels) and then fill to your hearts content.
We chose four categories for demonstration purposes (which is co-incidentally one job of the holiday to do list!) but these can be amended to suit your lifestyle.
Lots of the obvious things you need on en route: passports, cleansing wipes, tissues, ear plugs, twin headphone adapter (plug them into the same movie with two sets of headphones). Hand gel (you can never have enough) and a couple of snacks. In fact last year we had a bag just for ‘snacks’ (maybe a bit OTT).
This includes items such as savlon, paracetamol, allergy tablets, arnica, thermometer, plasters, nail clippers, burn cream.
Totally wish this included shot glasses and a mini bottle of tequila however the contents include playing cards, Rory’s story cubes (amazing for imaginative storytelling), crayons, top trumps, go fish, scissors, paper, pens & pencils, sharpener, figet spinners (aim is accidentally lose these in transit).
Anything you might require during the day. We included mini sun creams, pen, tissues, wipes, sunglasses, antibacterial hand gel, hair bobbins and clips, SPF lip balm, some local currency. Also mossy spray and bite cream are handy.
Although you might scoff at this idea but believe us it won’t be for long. Because whilst lying back on the lounger reading your best holiday read you can observe responsibility been taken in real time! Quite the phenomenon really.
And just in case you wondered the adult cynics were handing over compliments by the end of the holiday!

lowercased:
so this hack may veer on the compulsive obsessive side but trust us, it is the holiday hack from heaven. this one was devised by one of us (we’ll name no names) for last summers holidays. it was helpfully greeted with eye rolls and snickering. the whole premise behind it was to allow the entire family (and we are talking about adults here too) to take personal responsibility for finding key items. the objective was to rid the phrase ‘where’s the…?’ from the entire holiday. but also to dispel the notion that we somehow magically know where everything is all of the time. even though we mostly do.
enter the ‘it’s-labelled-you-can’t-blooming-miss-it’ holiday hack. you need to get yourself some transparent (key requirement) zippy bags. the ones pictured were an ebay purchase but you can find similar in boots. decide what the categories you will need to make sure everyone in your family can grasp. i.e. so they can work out each bags contents and you will not need to be disturbed for clarification. label them (wh smith sell lots of colourful labels) and then fill to your hearts content.
we chose four categories for demonstration purposes (which is co-incidentally one job of the holiday to do list!) but these can be amended to suit your lifestyle.
lots of the obvious things you need on en route: passports, cleansing wipes, tissues, ear plugs, twin headphone adapter (plug them into the same movie with two sets of headphones). hand gel (you can never have enough) and a couple of snacks. in fact last year we had a bag just for ‘snacks’ (maybe a bit ott).
this includes items such as savlon, paracetamol, allergy tablets, arnica, thermometer, plasters, nail clippers, burn cream.
totally wish this included shot glasses and a mini bottle of tequila however the contents include playing cards, rory’s story cubes (amazing for imaginative storytelling), crayons, top trumps, go fish, scissors, paper, pens & pencils, sharpener, figet spinners (aim is accidentally lose these in transit).
anything you might require during the day. we included mini sun creams, pen, tissues, wipes, sunglasses, antibacterial hand gel, hair bobbins and clips, spf lip balm, some local currency. also mossy spray and bite cream are handy.
although you might scoff at this idea but believe us it won’t be for long. because whilst lying back on the lounger reading your best holiday read you can observe responsibility been taken in real time! quite the phenomenon really.
and just in case you wondered the adult cynics were handing over compliments by the end of the holiday!


text:
Celiac disease is a serious genetic autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. Therefore, people with celiac disease must eat a gluten-free diet. The disease affects 1 in 100 people worldwide, and one in 133 people in the United States. Two and one-half million Americans are undiagnosed and are at risk for long-term health complications.
Gluten, the culprit, is a family of dietary proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, oat, and other grains. It is the protein that makes dough elastic and gives bread its chewy texture. It is naturally poorly digested, and therefore more likely to engage the immune system than other proteins, even in people without celiac disease.
In people with celiac disease, it damages the intestinal villi, which are very small finger-like projections found along the wall of the small intestine. When the villi are injured, the small intestine can’t properly absorb nutrients from food. So, again, people with celiac disease must avoid foods that contain gluten. Sometimes, they may feel isolated, as they must eat differently than others.
And…. we have not only a new trend in college dining halls, but also new insight in what actually causes celiac disease. A new study (Reovirus infection triggers inflammatory responses to dietary antigens and development of celiac disease), published last week (April 7, 2017) in the journal Science, shows that Infection with reovirus, a common but otherwise harmless virus, can trigger the immune system to react to gluten, leading to the development of celiac disease. How? Usually, a regulatory immune response blocks inflammation to dietary antigens. However, a reovirus infection at sites where dietary gluten is present results in the induction of danger signals that confuse the immune system and lead it to develop an aggressive inflammatory immune response against gluten—it is this aggressive inflammatory response that may induce celiac disease.
For the study, which was carried out in a mouse model, researchers used two different closely related but genetically different reovirus strains. They showed that genetic differences between viruses can change how they interact with the immune system. Both reovirus strains induced protective immunity and did not cause overt disease. However, one of the reovirus strains triggered an inflammatory immune response and the loss of oral tolerance to gluten, whereas the other strain did not.
The study also found that celiac disease patients produces much higher levels of antibodies against reoviruses than those without the disease. The celiac patients who had high levels of reovirus antibodies also had much higher levels of IRF1 gene expression, a transcriptional regulator that plays a key role in the loss of oral tolerance to gluten. This suggests that infection with a reovirus can leave a permanent mark on the immune system, a mark that sets the stage for a later autoimmune response to gluten.
in the United States, babies are usually weaned from breastfeeding and given their first solid foods—often containing gluten—around six months of age. Children with immature immune systems are more susceptible to viral infections at this stage, and for those genetically predisposed, the combination of an intestinal reovirus infection with the first exposure to gluten could create the right conditions for developing celiac disease.
I think this is a groundbreaking discovery as so many people are affected by celiac disease. Hopefully, this will help foster further research not only to prevent celiac disease but also to possibly cure those who already have it. After doing some research, I found that reoviruses are oncolytic and are being looked at as potential treatments for cancer. In a study done by Kim et al., it was found that an attenuated reovirus targeted cancer cells in severely immunodeficient mice without killing healthy stem cells. The attenuated reovirus also exhibited reduced toxicity compared to a wild-type reovirus . The study also implies that attenuated reoviruses could be used to treat cancer in pregnant women (1). With the recent connection of reoviruses to celiac disease, I cannot help but wonder whether this will influence their potential use for treating cancer. Could reovirus cancer treatments cause an individual to develop celiac disease? If children infected with reovirus are at a higher risk of celiac disease, are reoviruses really safe to use for cancer treatment in pregnant women?
I find all the points you discuss fascinating – thanks for sharing. I didn’t know that reovirus was being used as a treatment for cancer. Going off on your comment, I decided to investigate the specific cancers that use reovirus-based therapy. I found out that reovirus can be employed for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and is more effective if used in combination with other drugs. (1) Reolysin (the drug name that uses reovirus) works by inducing stress in the endoplasmic reticulum, which eventually leads to apoptosis. Amazingly, Reolysin can selectively attack the cancerous cells due to reovirus’ ability to differentiate cells that express mutations in activated Ras signaling, specifically KRas. These mutations help facilitate viral uncoating and production of viral progeny in the cell. (2) I do share your concerns though about the potential side effects of using reovirus as a treatment – this should be thoroughly studied as the treatment looks quite promising.
Over the past couple of years, scientists are starting the discover the importance of gut microbial and its effects on food digestion and the immune system. In the case of Celiac Disease, a virus or maybe a bacterial infection can affect the intestinal tract leading to developing celiac disease. But what about other autoimmune diseases that deal with food absorption? According to a new study (1) gut, microbial metabolites protect against type 1 diabetes. In this study, they took mice that had type 1 diabetes and fed them a diet that would increase the amounts of acetate and butyrate released by gut microbial. It turns out that if your gut microbial produce increase levels of acetate it decreases the frequency of autoreactive T cells in lymphoid tissues. Acetate effects the B cell preventing them from activating more autoreactive T cells. Increased levels of butyrate increased the number and function of regulatory T cells. It appears that dietary changes for people with T cell-dependent autoimmune diseases may be an effective natural way of treatment. Another study (2) suggested that there might be a connection between an accumulation of autoreactive T cells in the gut-associated lymphatic tissue and other autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. I think we often overlook our diet and how it affects our overall health and not just our waistline. These emerging studies could also lead to new noninvasive ways of treatment.
Shannon, it is so interesting that autoreactive T cells could do so much damage and contribute do a disease that is widely accepted as a genetic disorder. This post made me want to look up what else autoreactive T cells could do in the human body and I found that they are also a large part of development of Rheumatoid Arthritis (1). The autoreactive T cells actually reduce glycolysis and cause the CD4+T cells to hyperproliferate and attain the inflammatory symptoms we see as symptoms in Rheumatoid Arthritis. This made me wonder what dietary changes could these patients make to reduce their levels of autoreactive T cells? According to a new study (2), by taking a fish oil supplement can reduce the number of autoreactive T cells all together. They also showed in this study that the fish oil also promoted an increase in CD8+ T cells in mice. More supporting evidence was found in another study (3) that showed that fasting in regular intervals also decreases autoreactive T cells that contribute to multiple sclerosis symptoms. Seeing how diet can influence all of these major diseases is eye opening and definitely needs to be explored as alternative or combination treatments for patients.
Researchers are connecting the dots more and more everyday between autoimmune diseases and bacterial infections causing them. In a recent study, a connection was made between gut mycobacteria imbalance and the development of Chron’s disease as well as ulcerative colitis (1). There is a very particular balance of bacteria that are good for us and help digest our foods for us throughout our digestive tract, but when this balance is lost, some of the bacteria can grow exponentially, causing havoc in the gastrointestinal system. The bacteria is kept in check by our bodies by controlling the pH and temperature along the GI tube, when these checks are overridden the bacteria are allowed to have a field day and grow without being controlled by the host body. One study that was found recently, focuses on what happens to your gut microbiome when you starve the body of carbohydrates as in a ketogenic diet (2). As you starve your body from carbohydrates to try and lose weight the Bacteriodes that call your gut home and whose sole purpose is to digest carbs begin to die off. This pruning of the gut microbiota allows for more invasive species to overgrow and populate areas of the GI tract that they usually are not found in. This also promotes the growth of very harmful strains of bacteria to grow that are usually kept in check by the growth of the Bacteriodes, such as Clostridium difficule (2). The research on this topic is now pointing toward the overgrowth of some bacteria getting through the gut walls and into the abdominal cavity to elicit an immune response. After a prolonged period of bacteria entering the gut, the body starts to see the intestines as foreign cells, and it immune system shifts its focus to fighting off the ‘invader,’ that is actually the body’s own cells. This is what is supposedly causing the autoimmune diseases such as Chron’s.
With research coming out on how viruses and bacteria can cause autoimmune diseases it makes you wonder how strong a role genetics play. It seems like gut flora is the missing link for a lot of diseases. In “Does the Gut Microbiota Influence Immunity and Inflammation in Multiple Sclerosis Pathophysiology?” their aim was to determine if gut microflora plays a role in developing MS (1). While it is unclear how exactly gut microflora contributes to the development of MS, there is a relationship. As you mentioned earlier a stable gut flora protects against inflammation. In another study, it was noted how there are gut microbiota-host interactions that play a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases (2). Again, the pathophysiology is unclear but with immerging studies I imagine the relationship will soon be discovered. I think more research so go into the gut-immunity-brain axis.
This article was very interesting to me as it pertains to gluten and how reovirus plays a part in celiac disease. Many people suffer with gluten and have to take great measures to get by day by day. One thing I found interesting was the idea how reovirus, usually considered an inoffensive virus, can “trick” the immune system to believe that gluten is harmful and causes the immune system to have a belligerent response to gluten. This is dangerous not only to adults but the article also pointed out that it can be critical to children and infants. Studies have been done to test rotavirus vaccinations in children with celiac disease as well as type 1 diabetes (1). According to Outi, their studies suggest that this vaccination can be beneficial for children who have a high chance of contracting celiac disease or type 1 diabetes. This research is just the tip of the iceberg in learning more on the relationship of rotavirus and celiac disease.
Offering tastier gluten free foods should be a major matter in the upcoming years. Not only gluten free diet reduces the tragedy of celiac disease; but it also minimizes the symptoms associated with schizophrenia. A study that was published in April 2017 showed that schizophrenic patients who follow a gluten free diet suffer way less than those who have gluten included in their diet (1). Gluten could be associated with more diseases and some more studies on gluten effects on the human body should be done. Therefore, having tastier gluten free foods available in schools, hotels, hospitals, restaurants, ..etc. should be a major concern within the next years.
Your comment on how gluten-free options can reduce symptoms of schizophrenia is interesting. I do not know much about schizophrenia but I know people with this disorder suffer with the symptoms associated as well as the community surrounding them. I believe having a gluten-free diet benefits these individuals in more ways than one. I found an article stating how athletes who adhere to a gluten-free diet had better success in their goals as well as their body systems (1). Little is known on this study but it’s interesting how gluten-free diets can be beneficial for anyone.
Coeliac disease is a serious ailment affecting more and more children every year. Because of the rapid increase in coeliac disease diagnosis, it is important to diagnose exactly what type of gluten-related disease a person has. Depending on the severity of the coeliac disease, doctors can determine a patient’s ideal diet to decrease the negative effects of the disease and better the overall lifestyle of the patient. In a study done recently, it was reported that anti-glutaminase antibodies are specific for the diagnosis of coeliac disease and in determining specific symptoms . There are three specific gluten-related disorders: coeliac disease, wheat allergy, and noncoeliac gluten sensitivity. However, further research must be conducted to better understand noncoeliac gluten sensitivity as not much is known about this disease. It is important to conduct research on, not only coeliac disease but also, the other kinds of gluten-related ailments. These are important especially in relation to the health of young children. It is detrimental to the already fragile immune system of a child to develop coeliac disease. Like this blog post mentioned, this disease can affect all aspects of someone’s life and, as an aspiring pediatrician, I would like to see more emphasis on discovering how to aid children in preventing coeliac disease.
I had heard of celiac disease before but I was unaware that there were other gluten related disorders. After reading your post, I agree that there needs to be more research into these disorders as well. In a study by Unde et al., they attempted to identify markers for systemic immune activation in wheat sensitive individuals who did not have celiac disease. They determined that these individuals had higher levels of CD14 and LPS-binding protein in their serum. They noted that there was systemic immune activation because of antibody reactivity to bacterial LPS and flagellin. They also found levels of fatty acid-binding protein 2 which indicated damage to the intestinal epithelium (1). I think more research like this will bring other gluten sensitive disorders to light. It may also help us determine more distinctions between celiac disease and other gluten related sensitivity disorders.
I have always been interested in studying Celiac disease. I always wanted to learn why and how it affects so many people. I also would not mind trying to find a cure for the disease.
I remember I had a friend during my first year of college who was very strict about avoiding foods containing any gluten at all. At first, I thought that she was avoiding foods containing gluten due to some sort of a diet fad or something of that nature. However, I later discovered that she was allergic to gluten and had suffered complications earlier in her life due to damage in her small intestine. I remember some of our mutual friends would be annoyed whenever we would want to eat certain items but she would always have us change our plans to eat something that was gluten free instead. I can thus relate to the article in that people who are allergic to gluten or have Celiac disease oftentimes feel isolated with limited options and with friends who are not interested in sharing gluten free meals with them. I think there should be a bigger push across college campuses to include more gluten free options that are enjoyable for both those who are unable to eat gluten and for their friends as well.
I also found it fascinating that the Reovirus is involved with Celiac disease induction. Another study has also described an association between Celiac disease and chronic Hepatitis C caused by the HCV virus (1). It will be interesting to see what other pathogens contribute to Celiac disease and what preventative measures (such as vaccines) can be employed to prevent the development of Celiac disease in the first place.
I agree with your comment; the school should have more gluten free options for some people.I didn’t know much about gluten when I was growing up. I used to hear commercials talking about gluten-free products, and I thought it was just that product that had gluten. It turns out most of the stuff we eat have gluten. It must be a real pain to have that allergic reaction. However new studies have alternative ways for Celiac disease treatment without avoiding gluten products. In a study done by Marino and his colleagues shows that modification of gliadin peptides inhibits their ability to induce an immune system response. This is done by using microbial transglutaminase for the change of the gliadin peptide. This is a good alternative, but there are some side effects we know about and some we don’t. Since this is relatively new, we don’t know long-term side effects. Eating gluten free products is the best choice.
I find this article to be very informative since I was not so familiar with celiac disease and how exactly it effects the human body. I have noticed a change in the food diets of our country that now normalizes gluten-free products. Just as the article mentioned, I inferred that gluten was another fad diet that was avoided by the general public to lose weight or become healthier. Though this study initially mentions it is mainly the presence of gluten itself that damages that lining of the small intestine, multiple studies have also included reovirus as being the cause for the immune confusion and eventual self-attacking episodes. The article Celiac Disease: Reovirus, Inflammatory Response, and Dietary Antigens agrees with the correlation between the reovirus and celiac disease and wanted to take studies further with a vaccine. Since there has been a vaccine made for celiac, their job was to test out the vaccine and see if there may have been an increased risk of actually developing the disease in children. However, after testing out a large amount of subjects throughout a five-year study, they did not see an increase in children with the vaccination than children without the vaccine. Though more trials may still need to be done as for the effectiveness of the vaccine against the virus, a negative correlation is currently not found.
I, too, was not aware of celiac disease and how many people it affects. I’m glad i got a chance to read about it, it opened my eye to something I’ve been so unaware about for so long. It’s refreshing ti know our country is making more and more gluten-free diets as this condition affects more and more people each year. It’s never easy living with an autoimmune disease, and it is very informative to know more research are being done about the causes and the possible correlation this disease has with the reovirus virus. Even possibly a vaccine for the disease.
This post talk about how reovirus can trigger celiac disease by inducing the immune system to react to gluten. They also found out that there is higher level of reovirus antibody present in the patient with celiac disease compare with those who without the disease. Not all reovirus strains can trigger the autoimmune reaction. During their study, they found out that the ability of the strain to trigger the inflammatory immune response is depending on their genes since reovirus with different genes interact with the immune system differently. Autoimmune disease, especially inflammation of the digestive track, has been close linked to the viral or bacterial infection by many researches. Under normal condition, the intestinal mucosa is protected by the tight junction which limit the passage of the foreign antigen. Many of the research shows that certain kinds of virus or bacteria can modulate the intercellular tight junction and therefore, the intestinal mucosa permeability is increase. When the permeability is increase some foreign antigen such as gluten and other diary antigen can pass through the gut mucosal barrier and cause inflammation. The mechanism that those antigens trigger autoimmune reaction is called “molecular mimicry” which microbial antigens are postulated to resemble self-antigen (1). I think that the reovirus play an important role in the “molecular mimicry “mechanism of gluten. Once the autoimmune reaction is activated, it becomes independent of continue exposure to the environmental trigger and therefore self-perpetuating and irreversible (2) which means the autoimmune reaction cannot be shuttled off although the triggered antigen is being removed. Many of the inflammation bowel disease such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is triggered by the incontrollable immune system. Many people may ask why gluten consumption is very susceptible in triggering autoimmune reaction? The reason for this is that gluten is made up of gliadin and glutenins which contains many toxic epitopes that can exerting cytotoxic and other gut permeating activities. Celiac disease also has close genetic association with HLA genes which is a highly specific humoral autoimmune response against tissue transglutaminase auto-antigen (2). The present of gluten in the GI track also lead to upregulation of the zonulin which is the only physiologic modulator of intercellular tight junctions described so far that is involved in trafficking of macromolecules and, therefore, in tolerance/immune response balance (2) and people with acute celiac disease have higher level of zonulin. Therefore, gluten is very susceptible in triggering the autoimmune disease and I think that future study can be conducted to investigate the relationship between the reovirus infection and the zonulin pathway.
Celiac disease is one of many severe autoimmune diseases known to cause cancer cells. The fact that 2.5 million Americans are undiagnosed and risk complications due to long term exposure, indicates the urgency for intervention and development of vaccination. Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) is a cell surface protein receptor for MHC class II antigen presenting cells. Gluten proteins, in the small intestine mucosa of patients infected with reovirus, readily binds HLA antigen DQ (HLA-DQ2 or -DQ8) with high affinity and activates T cell specific for gluten proteins that cause destruction of intestinal vili (1). Addison’s disease, autoimmune thyroid diseases, and Type 1 diabetes are examples of endocrine disorders that exhibit genes for HLA autoimmune response. Therefore, gluten proteins in reovirus infected patient, will cause celiac disease and may induce other HLA-linked diseases that is detrimental to our health.
Celiac disease is a severe genetic autoimmune disorder in which the gluten digestion leads to the small intestine being damaged. When people with is disease take in food with gluten, the body sees this as a foreign invader and sends a signal to the immune system, which attacks the small intestine. The only treatment available for people with this disease is a strict gluten-free diet. With more awareness being brought forth by this disease, it should also start the discussions about the many other autoimmune disorder relating to food or not. For example, pernicious anemia, the autoimmune condition in which the body absorption of B12 is flipped, resulting in a B12 deficiency (1). Of course, more studies can be done to get to the bottom line of why autoimmune exists in the first place. But in the case of celiac disease, it is an enormous progress that society is more aware and understanding of the importance of a gluten-free diet and making it more available.

lowercased:
celiac disease is a serious genetic autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. therefore, people with celiac disease must eat a gluten-free diet. the disease affects 1 in 100 people worldwide, and one in 133 people in the united states. two and one-half million americans are undiagnosed and are at risk for long-term health complications.
gluten, the culprit, is a family of dietary proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, oat, and other grains. it is the protein that makes dough elastic and gives bread its chewy texture. it is naturally poorly digested, and therefore more likely to engage the immune system than other proteins, even in people without celiac disease.
in people with celiac disease, it damages the intestinal villi, which are very small finger-like projections found along the wall of the small intestine. when the villi are injured, the small intestine can’t properly absorb nutrients from food. so, again, people with celiac disease must avoid foods that contain gluten. sometimes, they may feel isolated, as they must eat differently than others.
and…. we have not only a new trend in college dining halls, but also new insight in what actually causes celiac disease. a new study (reovirus infection triggers inflammatory responses to dietary antigens and development of celiac disease), published last week (april 7, 2017) in the journal science, shows that infection with reovirus, a common but otherwise harmless virus, can trigger the immune system to react to gluten, leading to the development of celiac disease. how? usually, a regulatory immune response blocks inflammation to dietary antigens. however, a reovirus infection at sites where dietary gluten is present results in the induction of danger signals that confuse the immune system and lead it to develop an aggressive inflammatory immune response against gluten—it is this aggressive inflammatory response that may induce celiac disease.
for the study, which was carried out in a mouse model, researchers used two different closely related but genetically different reovirus strains. they showed that genetic differences between viruses can change how they interact with the immune system. both reovirus strains induced protective immunity and did not cause overt disease. however, one of the reovirus strains triggered an inflammatory immune response and the loss of oral tolerance to gluten, whereas the other strain did not.
the study also found that celiac disease patients produces much higher levels of antibodies against reoviruses than those without the disease. the celiac patients who had high levels of reovirus antibodies also had much higher levels of irf1 gene expression, a transcriptional regulator that plays a key role in the loss of oral tolerance to gluten. this suggests that infection with a reovirus can leave a permanent mark on the immune system, a mark that sets the stage for a later autoimmune response to gluten.
in the united states, babies are usually weaned from breastfeeding and given their first solid foods—often containing gluten—around six months of age. children with immature immune systems are more susceptible to viral infections at this stage, and for those genetically predisposed, the combination of an intestinal reovirus infection with the first exposure to gluten could create the right conditions for developing celiac disease.
i think this is a groundbreaking discovery as so many people are affected by celiac disease. hopefully, this will help foster further research not only to prevent celiac disease but also to possibly cure those who already have it. after doing some research, i found that reoviruses are oncolytic and are being looked at as potential treatments for cancer. in a study done by kim et al., it was found that an attenuated reovirus targeted cancer cells in severely immunodeficient mice without killing healthy stem cells. the attenuated reovirus also exhibited reduced toxicity compared to a wild-type reovirus . the study also implies that attenuated reoviruses could be used to treat cancer in pregnant women (1). with the recent connection of reoviruses to celiac disease, i cannot help but wonder whether this will influence their potential use for treating cancer. could reovirus cancer treatments cause an individual to develop celiac disease? if children infected with reovirus are at a higher risk of celiac disease, are reoviruses really safe to use for cancer treatment in pregnant women?
i find all the points you discuss fascinating – thanks for sharing. i didn’t know that reovirus was being used as a treatment for cancer. going off on your comment, i decided to investigate the specific cancers that use reovirus-based therapy. i found out that reovirus can be employed for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and is more effective if used in combination with other drugs. (1) reolysin (the drug name that uses reovirus) works by inducing stress in the endoplasmic reticulum, which eventually leads to apoptosis. amazingly, reolysin can selectively attack the cancerous cells due to reovirus’ ability to differentiate cells that express mutations in activated ras signaling, specifically kras. these mutations help facilitate viral uncoating and production of viral progeny in the cell. (2) i do share your concerns though about the potential side effects of using reovirus as a treatment – this should be thoroughly studied as the treatment looks quite promising.
over the past couple of years, scientists are starting the discover the importance of gut microbial and its effects on food digestion and the immune system. in the case of celiac disease, a virus or maybe a bacterial infection can affect the intestinal tract leading to developing celiac disease. but what about other autoimmune diseases that deal with food absorption? according to a new study (1) gut, microbial metabolites protect against type 1 diabetes. in this study, they took mice that had type 1 diabetes and fed them a diet that would increase the amounts of acetate and butyrate released by gut microbial. it turns out that if your gut microbial produce increase levels of acetate it decreases the frequency of autoreactive t cells in lymphoid tissues. acetate effects the b cell preventing them from activating more autoreactive t cells. increased levels of butyrate increased the number and function of regulatory t cells. it appears that dietary changes for people with t cell-dependent autoimmune diseases may be an effective natural way of treatment. another study (2) suggested that there might be a connection between an accumulation of autoreactive t cells in the gut-associated lymphatic tissue and other autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. i think we often overlook our diet and how it affects our overall health and not just our waistline. these emerging studies could also lead to new noninvasive ways of treatment.
shannon, it is so interesting that autoreactive t cells could do so much damage and contribute do a disease that is widely accepted as a genetic disorder. this post made me want to look up what else autoreactive t cells could do in the human body and i found that they are also a large part of development of rheumatoid arthritis (1). the autoreactive t cells actually reduce glycolysis and cause the cd4+t cells to hyperproliferate and attain the inflammatory symptoms we see as symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis. this made me wonder what dietary changes could these patients make to reduce their levels of autoreactive t cells? according to a new study (2), by taking a fish oil supplement can reduce the number of autoreactive t cells all together. they also showed in this study that the fish oil also promoted an increase in cd8+ t cells in mice. more supporting evidence was found in another study (3) that showed that fasting in regular intervals also decreases autoreactive t cells that contribute to multiple sclerosis symptoms. seeing how diet can influence all of these major diseases is eye opening and definitely needs to be explored as alternative or combination treatments for patients.
researchers are connecting the dots more and more everyday between autoimmune diseases and bacterial infections causing them. in a recent study, a connection was made between gut mycobacteria imbalance and the development of chron’s disease as well as ulcerative colitis (1). there is a very particular balance of bacteria that are good for us and help digest our foods for us throughout our digestive tract, but when this balance is lost, some of the bacteria can grow exponentially, causing havoc in the gastrointestinal system. the bacteria is kept in check by our bodies by controlling the ph and temperature along the gi tube, when these checks are overridden the bacteria are allowed to have a field day and grow without being controlled by the host body. one study that was found recently, focuses on what happens to your gut microbiome when you starve the body of carbohydrates as in a ketogenic diet (2). as you starve your body from carbohydrates to try and lose weight the bacteriodes that call your gut home and whose sole purpose is to digest carbs begin to die off. this pruning of the gut microbiota allows for more invasive species to overgrow and populate areas of the gi tract that they usually are not found in. this also promotes the growth of very harmful strains of bacteria to grow that are usually kept in check by the growth of the bacteriodes, such as clostridium difficule (2). the research on this topic is now pointing toward the overgrowth of some bacteria getting through the gut walls and into the abdominal cavity to elicit an immune response. after a prolonged period of bacteria entering the gut, the body starts to see the intestines as foreign cells, and it immune system shifts its focus to fighting off the ‘invader,’ that is actually the body’s own cells. this is what is supposedly causing the autoimmune diseases such as chron’s.
with research coming out on how viruses and bacteria can cause autoimmune diseases it makes you wonder how strong a role genetics play. it seems like gut flora is the missing link for a lot of diseases. in “does the gut microbiota influence immunity and inflammation in multiple sclerosis pathophysiology?” their aim was to determine if gut microflora plays a role in developing ms (1). while it is unclear how exactly gut microflora contributes to the development of ms, there is a relationship. as you mentioned earlier a stable gut flora protects against inflammation. in another study, it was noted how there are gut microbiota-host interactions that play a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases (2). again, the pathophysiology is unclear but with immerging studies i imagine the relationship will soon be discovered. i think more research so go into the gut-immunity-brain axis.
this article was very interesting to me as it pertains to gluten and how reovirus plays a part in celiac disease. many people suffer with gluten and have to take great measures to get by day by day. one thing i found interesting was the idea how reovirus, usually considered an inoffensive virus, can “trick” the immune system to believe that gluten is harmful and causes the immune system to have a belligerent response to gluten. this is dangerous not only to adults but the article also pointed out that it can be critical to children and infants. studies have been done to test rotavirus vaccinations in children with celiac disease as well as type 1 diabetes (1). according to outi, their studies suggest that this vaccination can be beneficial for children who have a high chance of contracting celiac disease or type 1 diabetes. this research is just the tip of the iceberg in learning more on the relationship of rotavirus and celiac disease.
offering tastier gluten free foods should be a major matter in the upcoming years. not only gluten free diet reduces the tragedy of celiac disease; but it also minimizes the symptoms associated with schizophrenia. a study that was published in april 2017 showed that schizophrenic patients who follow a gluten free diet suffer way less than those who have gluten included in their diet (1). gluten could be associated with more diseases and some more studies on gluten effects on the human body should be done. therefore, having tastier gluten free foods available in schools, hotels, hospitals, restaurants, ..etc. should be a major concern within the next years.
your comment on how gluten-free options can reduce symptoms of schizophrenia is interesting. i do not know much about schizophrenia but i know people with this disorder suffer with the symptoms associated as well as the community surrounding them. i believe having a gluten-free diet benefits these individuals in more ways than one. i found an article stating how athletes who adhere to a gluten-free diet had better success in their goals as well as their body systems (1). little is known on this study but it’s interesting how gluten-free diets can be beneficial for anyone.
coeliac disease is a serious ailment affecting more and more children every year. because of the rapid increase in coeliac disease diagnosis, it is important to diagnose exactly what type of gluten-related disease a person has. depending on the severity of the coeliac disease, doctors can determine a patient’s ideal diet to decrease the negative effects of the disease and better the overall lifestyle of the patient. in a study done recently, it was reported that anti-glutaminase antibodies are specific for the diagnosis of coeliac disease and in determining specific symptoms . there are three specific gluten-related disorders: coeliac disease, wheat allergy, and noncoeliac gluten sensitivity. however, further research must be conducted to better understand noncoeliac gluten sensitivity as not much is known about this disease. it is important to conduct research on, not only coeliac disease but also, the other kinds of gluten-related ailments. these are important especially in relation to the health of young children. it is detrimental to the already fragile immune system of a child to develop coeliac disease. like this blog post mentioned, this disease can affect all aspects of someone’s life and, as an aspiring pediatrician, i would like to see more emphasis on discovering how to aid children in preventing coeliac disease.
i had heard of celiac disease before but i was unaware that there were other gluten related disorders. after reading your post, i agree that there needs to be more research into these disorders as well. in a study by unde et al., they attempted to identify markers for systemic immune activation in wheat sensitive individuals who did not have celiac disease. they determined that these individuals had higher levels of cd14 and lps-binding protein in their serum. they noted that there was systemic immune activation because of antibody reactivity to bacterial lps and flagellin. they also found levels of fatty acid-binding protein 2 which indicated damage to the intestinal epithelium (1). i think more research like this will bring other gluten sensitive disorders to light. it may also help us determine more distinctions between celiac disease and other gluten related sensitivity disorders.
i have always been interested in studying celiac disease. i always wanted to learn why and how it affects so many people. i also would not mind trying to find a cure for the disease.
i remember i had a friend during my first year of college who was very strict about avoiding foods containing any gluten at all. at first, i thought that she was avoiding foods containing gluten due to some sort of a diet fad or something of that nature. however, i later discovered that she was allergic to gluten and had suffered complications earlier in her life due to damage in her small intestine. i remember some of our mutual friends would be annoyed whenever we would want to eat certain items but she would always have us change our plans to eat something that was gluten free instead. i can thus relate to the article in that people who are allergic to gluten or have celiac disease oftentimes feel isolated with limited options and with friends who are not interested in sharing gluten free meals with them. i think there should be a bigger push across college campuses to include more gluten free options that are enjoyable for both those who are unable to eat gluten and for their friends as well.
i also found it fascinating that the reovirus is involved with celiac disease induction. another study has also described an association between celiac disease and chronic hepatitis c caused by the hcv virus (1). it will be interesting to see what other pathogens contribute to celiac disease and what preventative measures (such as vaccines) can be employed to prevent the development of celiac disease in the first place.
i agree with your comment; the school should have more gluten free options for some people.i didn’t know much about gluten when i was growing up. i used to hear commercials talking about gluten-free products, and i thought it was just that product that had gluten. it turns out most of the stuff we eat have gluten. it must be a real pain to have that allergic reaction. however new studies have alternative ways for celiac disease treatment without avoiding gluten products. in a study done by marino and his colleagues shows that modification of gliadin peptides inhibits their ability to induce an immune system response. this is done by using microbial transglutaminase for the change of the gliadin peptide. this is a good alternative, but there are some side effects we know about and some we don’t. since this is relatively new, we don’t know long-term side effects. eating gluten free products is the best choice.
i find this article to be very informative since i was not so familiar with celiac disease and how exactly it effects the human body. i have noticed a change in the food diets of our country that now normalizes gluten-free products. just as the article mentioned, i inferred that gluten was another fad diet that was avoided by the general public to lose weight or become healthier. though this study initially mentions it is mainly the presence of gluten itself that damages that lining of the small intestine, multiple studies have also included reovirus as being the cause for the immune confusion and eventual self-attacking episodes. the article celiac disease: reovirus, inflammatory response, and dietary antigens agrees with the correlation between the reovirus and celiac disease and wanted to take studies further with a vaccine. since there has been a vaccine made for celiac, their job was to test out the vaccine and see if there may have been an increased risk of actually developing the disease in children. however, after testing out a large amount of subjects throughout a five-year study, they did not see an increase in children with the vaccination than children without the vaccine. though more trials may still need to be done as for the effectiveness of the vaccine against the virus, a negative correlation is currently not found.
i, too, was not aware of celiac disease and how many people it affects. i’m glad i got a chance to read about it, it opened my eye to something i’ve been so unaware about for so long. it’s refreshing ti know our country is making more and more gluten-free diets as this condition affects more and more people each year. it’s never easy living with an autoimmune disease, and it is very informative to know more research are being done about the causes and the possible correlation this disease has with the reovirus virus. even possibly a vaccine for the disease.
this post talk about how reovirus can trigger celiac disease by inducing the immune system to react to gluten. they also found out that there is higher level of reovirus antibody present in the patient with celiac disease compare with those who without the disease. not all reovirus strains can trigger the autoimmune reaction. during their study, they found out that the ability of the strain to trigger the inflammatory immune response is depending on their genes since reovirus with different genes interact with the immune system differently. autoimmune disease, especially inflammation of the digestive track, has been close linked to the viral or bacterial infection by many researches. under normal condition, the intestinal mucosa is protected by the tight junction which limit the passage of the foreign antigen. many of the research shows that certain kinds of virus or bacteria can modulate the intercellular tight junction and therefore, the intestinal mucosa permeability is increase. when the permeability is increase some foreign antigen such as gluten and other diary antigen can pass through the gut mucosal barrier and cause inflammation. the mechanism that those antigens trigger autoimmune reaction is called “molecular mimicry” which microbial antigens are postulated to resemble self-antigen (1). i think that the reovirus play an important role in the “molecular mimicry “mechanism of gluten. once the autoimmune reaction is activated, it becomes independent of continue exposure to the environmental trigger and therefore self-perpetuating and irreversible (2) which means the autoimmune reaction cannot be shuttled off although the triggered antigen is being removed. many of the inflammation bowel disease such as crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is triggered by the incontrollable immune system. many people may ask why gluten consumption is very susceptible in triggering autoimmune reaction? the reason for this is that gluten is made up of gliadin and glutenins which contains many toxic epitopes that can exerting cytotoxic and other gut permeating activities. celiac disease also has close genetic association with hla genes which is a highly specific humoral autoimmune response against tissue transglutaminase auto-antigen (2). the present of gluten in the gi track also lead to upregulation of the zonulin which is the only physiologic modulator of intercellular tight junctions described so far that is involved in trafficking of macromolecules and, therefore, in tolerance/immune response balance (2) and people with acute celiac disease have higher level of zonulin. therefore, gluten is very susceptible in triggering the autoimmune disease and i think that future study can be conducted to investigate the relationship between the reovirus infection and the zonulin pathway.
celiac disease is one of many severe autoimmune diseases known to cause cancer cells. the fact that 2.5 million americans are undiagnosed and risk complications due to long term exposure, indicates the urgency for intervention and development of vaccination. human leucocyte antigen (hla) is a cell surface protein receptor for mhc class ii antigen presenting cells. gluten proteins, in the small intestine mucosa of patients infected with reovirus, readily binds hla antigen dq (hla-dq2 or -dq8) with high affinity and activates t cell specific for gluten proteins that cause destruction of intestinal vili (1). addison’s disease, autoimmune thyroid diseases, and type 1 diabetes are examples of endocrine disorders that exhibit genes for hla autoimmune response. therefore, gluten proteins in reovirus infected patient, will cause celiac disease and may induce other hla-linked diseases that is detrimental to our health.
celiac disease is a severe genetic autoimmune disorder in which the gluten digestion leads to the small intestine being damaged. when people with is disease take in food with gluten, the body sees this as a foreign invader and sends a signal to the immune system, which attacks the small intestine. the only treatment available for people with this disease is a strict gluten-free diet. with more awareness being brought forth by this disease, it should also start the discussions about the many other autoimmune disorder relating to food or not. for example, pernicious anemia, the autoimmune condition in which the body absorption of b12 is flipped, resulting in a b12 deficiency (1). of course, more studies can be done to get to the bottom line of why autoimmune exists in the first place. but in the case of celiac disease, it is an enormous progress that society is more aware and understanding of the importance of a gluten-free diet and making it more available.