I am going to make a personal plea to Dear Abby and ask all of you and everyone I can to do the same thing. The Dear Abby Column, over years has made a big difference in our society and I am committed that Dear Abby could and can help millions of parents right now. But first a bit of background. The Dear Abby column, today, Tuesday, June 23, 2009 was titled “Parents share secret shame” or “Parents of ‘Problem’ Children Share Mom’s Secret Shame” and it was remarkable on one hand and sad on the other. Here is a link for today’s column: http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/
The column basically talks about children who are “difficult” to manage and how badly the Mom’s feel, and how often they have negative feelings about their child as a result. So far, that is a good conversation to get out into the public. But it gets better!! One of the writers (Enlightened in Minnesota) discovered after 3 years of dealing with a child who was “spinning out of control, constantly whining, aggressive toward his siblings and unpleasant to be around even on a good day” that he has celiac disease. This is the good news. There are hundreds and hundreds of children YET to be diagnosed with celiac disease!
Authoritative medical experts estimate that close to 3 million Americans have celiac disease or roughly 1% of the population. The kicker is that 97% of them don’t yet know that they have it! In children this often shows up as behavior issues or irritability!! Dear Abby, you could help get nearly 3 million Americans diagnosed with celiac disease and not only save millions of Moms and Dad’s aggravation, but you would be saving lives as well! Some people with celiac disease die before they get diagnosed. Untreated celiac disease (read undiagnosed) increases the risk of cancer 200-300%!
Here is the sad news, what was missing from this Dear Abby column was the rich research that proves conclusively that foods, food dyes, preservatives, food additives and chemicals can cause learning issues, behavior issues, emotional issues and social problems in children. So, I wrote to Dear Abby on line, which you can do also, and I urge you to do this. Here is the link: http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/dearabby_form.html
If you have not checked out the Feingold Association and their fabulous website and group, please do! They can be found at www.Feingold.org Their site is loaded with information and research. Another site loaded with information is Dr. Doris J. Rapp, M.D.’s website at www.DrRapp.com Dr. Rapp, M.D., has been a physician for more than 50 years. In her clinical practice, she saw the impact of food and other allergens on children. Dr. Rapp has written several books to help parents including the National Bestseller “Is This Your Child?”
It is high time that the public understood that for more than 2,500 years physicians starting with Hippocrates, the Greek physician considered to be the Father of Medicine, have known that food can injure some people. Dear Abby, would you please join forces with the Feingold Association, Dr. Doris Rapp, myself and the many other organizations that recognize that food can affect how you think and feel? This would help millions of parents who are struggling!! Readers, I request that you contact Dear Abby! Here is the address for snail mail: Dear Abby, PO BOX 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. If enough Moms’ like us write to Dear Abby, I believe that she will get the message and help us help others!
Let the games begin!
Love,
Lisa
Comments