Q: I have celiac disease. Will I have to follow a gluten-free diet for the rest of my life?
A: Maybe not forever — there are some exciting new therapies on the horizon! Immunotherapy is one of the most promising. With this treatment, people with celiac disease are exposed to small amounts of gluten in the form of injections under the skin. The hope is that with repeated injections, the immune system will gradually build up a tolerance to the offending gluten protein fragments, become desensitized, and no longer react when gluten is consumed as food.
Immunotherapy is still in the early phases of testing in humans, so there’s still no consensus on if and when it will be available to the public. That said, it’s good to know there’s a glimmer of hope for a future free of “gluten-free”!