Gluten Free for Life: Celiac Disease, Medical Recognition, and the Food Industry

＂Gluten Free for Life is the first book to apply social, cultural, and historical perspectives to celiac disease, a serious autoimmune condition affecting one percent of the population-three million Americans. Because celiac destroys the villi of the small intestine, it is considered gastrointestinal, but it can affect many of the body’s systems. As a result, the symptoms are extremely various. The only therapy is life-long adherence to a gluten-free diet＂--

Emily K. Abel is Professor Emerita at the UCLA-Fielding School of Public Health. She is the author of many books, including Hearts of Wisdom: American Women Caring for Kin, 1850-1940; Limited Choices: Mable Jones, A Black Children’s Nurse in a Northern White Household (with Margaret K. Nelson); and Elder Care in Crisis: How the Social Safety Net Fails Families. Her book Tuberculosis and the Politics of Exclusion won the 2008 Viseltear Award for outstanding book in the history of public health from the Medical Care Section, American Public Health Association.