For many of the individuals with celiac disease, the diagnosis brings a lifelong dietary change that can often be very difficult to live with.  Researchers are looking for ways to treat, better diagnose and prevent this disease but up till now the only treatment has been to avoid all gluten.

There is good news though as researchers are currently testing a new drug- AT-1001.  The earlier results are encouraging, with a test group of 86 patients, those that received the new drug had a significant reduction in their symptoms after one week.  The drug works by blocking gluten from crossing the intestinal mucosa, resulting in less damage to the small intestine.

This is good news especially for those that still have symptoms even after following a strict gluten free diet, since their systems are so sensitive, that even the smallest contamination can cause problems for them.  A drug like this would allow them more freedom to be able to do things like go to a restaurant or even a grocery store without fear of coming in contact with gluten.  There is still much testing to be done on this new drug, but researchers are hopeful that AT-1001 will perform well in long term tests, and eventually make it on the market for celiac sufferers.

In another study that is being done, researchers are looking at the way the human body breaks down gluten. Since gluten is not completely broken down by the human body, it passes thru the intestines in fragments. In the celiac individual these particles are toxic and they are what create the damage to the small intestine.

Researchers are experimenting with enzymes to see if they can break the gluten fragments down to the point where they are not longer toxic to the celiac patient.  In a study of 20 patients, researchers found that in the 10 patients whose food was treated with enzymes, there was a significant change in their fecal fat excretions as compared to the 10 patients who did not received the enzymes leading them to believe that adding the enzymes to break down the gluten, would result in less damage to the intestines.  Again more testing will be needed to confirm these results with larger test groups and larger amounts of gluten.

Both these studies however do bring hope that there will soon be a treatment that will allow celiac sufferers to worry less about the fears of cross contamination and allow them to live a more normal lifestyle.