Purpose

The Stanford Celiac Sprue Management Clinic (CMC) was initiated in January 2005 to provide long-term medical and nutritional support for adults with Celiac Sprue. 

    Once diagnosed many Celiac patients often receive little long-term care.  The reasons for this are numerous.  In some cases, the individual is unable to find a doctor who is knowledgeable about the disease.  Many physicians in the United States are given limited instruction about Celiac Sprue during their medical school and residency training.  As a consequence, the erroneous concept has evolved that Celiac Sprue is a rare disease that presents mainly in childhood with severe gastrointestinal symptoms.
Another reason for lack of follow-up is that patients are sometimes told that they don’t need any special medical attention, just a quick visit to a dietician.

    In addition, Celiac patients who have few symptoms often consider regular care to be unnecessary. Multiple studies have shown, however, that over half of Celiac patients are not in remission, even though they may be free of typical gastrointestinal symptoms. These individuals are at increased risk for complications such as osteoporosis, anemia, impaired fertility, dental enamel defects, and intestinal cancers.