My name is Albert Luo, and I am currently a high school student in the San Francisco Bay Area. As someone without celiac disease, I hadn’t heard of celiac disease for most of my life. It wasn’t until I wrote a story for my high school news site about celiac disease and spoke with Beyond Celiac representatives that I learned how this condition can really affect those who live with it.
Becoming An Advocate
While writing this story, some statistics stood out to me: roughly 1% of the population has celiac disease, yet it is estimated that 83% of people remain undiagnosed. This revealed to me that celiac disease is actually fairly common, affecting millions around the world, and yet, most people with it don’t realize they have it. I believe one of the main reasons that celiac disease is so under-diagnosed is because of a lack of awareness; if people don’t know about celiac disease, and pediatricians aren’t thinking about it, people likely won’t get tested. Writing this story also revealed to me the emotional and social challenges that those with celiac disease face. I believe that awareness, especially among those without the disease, can help reduce these burdens and support people with the condition.
I am excited to work with Beyond Celiac to support those with celiac disease and to educate others like me, who may have never heard of the disease before. With the help of Beyond Celiac, I plan to host local workshops and fundraisers in my community to continue raising awareness and supporting celiac disease research through my initiative, Insight Celiac.