Familiar Diagnosis
For those who haven’t seen House, your typical episode goes a lot like this: Patient is admitted with mysterious symptoms which multiply and befuddle as the show progresses. House snarks at everyone, Holmeses out everyone’s dirty personal life issues, and identifies the mystery ailment or ailments right around the last commercial break, just in time to save the patient (except when the ailment is fatal.)
The Ailment of the Week tonight was Celiac Disease, a gluten intolerance that I’m VERY familiar with. My mother has had it since I was three, my dad’s cousin has it, and at least one good friend of mine has it, possibly two. I’m at high risk for developing it someday. Even if the 1 in 130 people ratio I heard is correct, that’s a lot of people. Luckily, the symptoms generally aren’t nearly as dramatic as on House.
Me: My mom has Celiac Disease.
Random Person: What’s that?
Me: Remember that episode of House where the woman had a niacin deficiency that made her go crazy and kill her baby? It was because she was an undiagnosed Celiac and wasn’t on a proper gluten-free diet.
R.P.: …So you’re mom’s insane?
Me: No, but she used to be really thin.
Part of me is glad to see Celiac mentioned in pop culture, as it is very common but often misdiagnosed. The symptoms vary and, in the past, it seemed like many medical professionals knew little or nothing about it. But the episode did much to further the public’s understanding of the disease itself.