Letters to the Editor for Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Gluten issues aren’t a recent phenomenon

I read this article with much interest. I would like to thank Mr. Bauman for bringing this to everyone’s attention.

Too often I see references like this to the notion that somehow celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are modern conditions. Writings about gluten problems start about 100 CE. The first modern research that confirmed that gluten was the true culprit emerged shortly after WWII in the Netherlands and predates dwarf wheat.

Diagnosis of gluten related problems has been complicated by the extremely wide range of resultant conditions. The list includes about 100 common disorders from arthritis, atrial fibrillation, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, brain lesions and dementia to lupus and more. Because each person has a different manifestation of the disease, tracking down the source of the problem has taken centuries.

The only treatment is a strict, gluten-free diet and that means avoiding all variations of wheat, rye and barley products. All flours made from these products must be avoided regardless of variety, processing or sprouting, as all of these are still excellent sources of the offending gluten. Many people also have to avoid oats and corn that contain their own gluten too.

Reliable antibody testing is now available from Cyrex Laboratories to help determine if a gluten-free diet makes sense for you or not.

Daniel Schlenger

Carson City

GOP invents ‘scandals’ surrounding Obama

What has been going on for the last two weeks in American politics? Much ado over nothing. We’ve been watching another witch hunt sponsored by the Republicans, with a trifecta of controversies that they have turned into wild conspiracies.

Republicans are using the same playbook and theatrics they used to invent scandal after scandal targeting President Bill Clinton. The dates and names have changed, but it still the same old vengeful Republicans targeting President Obama this time around, using the controversies of Benghazi, the Internal Revenue Service and the Associated Press flap.

Benghazi is a scam blown out of proportion by loony Republicans hoping to turn it into another Watergate. The Associated Press flap was just a policy dispute that Republicans have tried to make more out of than was there. The Internal Revenue Service Tea Party controversy developed because there was a large number of requests from Tea Party groups wishing to be granted non-profit status. The Tea Party is not a nonprofit social welfare group, but a group of political activists. The Internal Revenue Service should have and did check the Tea Party out carefully. That’s their job.

Republicans have taken these three unrelated controversies and mixed them into a toxic brew for political gain.

Ron Lowe

Nevada City, Calif.