A panel of experts recently released a report that proposed a new way of classifying gluten-related disorders, according to The Wall Street Journal. The authors of the report, which was partially supported by a company that sells gluten-free products and published in the journal BMC Medicine, assert that people’s reactions to gluten should be considered on a spectrum, rather than diagnosed as simply showing tolerance or intolerance to gluten.
“It is well possible that many individuals are on a gluten-free diet for no sound medical reasons,” wrote the authors of the report, which was quoted in The Wall Street Journal article. Researchers and gastroenterologists are trying to find a precise measure or biomarker for diagnosing gluten sensitivity.
The Wall Street Journal reports that as of this year, about 1 percent of people in the U.S. have celiac disease, which shows a fourfold increase over the past 50 years, and is a statistic that has raised some red flags in the medical community.