Children's Book On Cd Proeeds To Support Celiac Research

By Author: Tina Turbin
Total Articles: 4762
Comment this article

If you're like most Americans, you probably haven't even heard of celiac disease (http://GlutenFreeInfo.info), an autoimmune disorder which causes an immune reaction that can affect the entire body, causing a variety of both physical and mental problems. The cause? An allergy to gluten, a component of wheat, barley, and rye. The problem with celiac disease is that doctors don't know much about it either. They don't know that it affects an estimated 300 million Americans and that with a simple test, a diagnosis can be made and the easy treatment can begin -- a gluten-free diet. The reason why you and your doctors probably haven't heard about celiac disease is lack of funding for celiac disease research, something which celiac community members and advocates are seeking to remedy. One such celiac advocate, children's author Tina Turbin (http://TinaTurbin.com), author of the celebrated Danny the Dragon (http://DannyTheDragon.com) series, has announced that the proceeds of her latest Danny the Dragon project, a Danny the Dragon CD, are going toward helping to support celiac research.

Many years ago, Turbin found herself ...
... experiencing many painful symptoms and without any answer to what the source was or how to treat it. Desperate for knowledge about her condition, she decided to do her own research. Soon, it became clear to her that the answer was an allergy to gluten. Even clearer was how little doctors knew about celiac disease and the vast numbers of people suffering without a diagnosis and treatment.

With the growing popularity of her Danny the Dragon series, Turbin decided to launch the soon-to-be released Danny the Dragon CD, containing a reading of "Danny Meets Jimmy", the first book in her children's series, by a talented vocal artist followed by a compilation of ten original classic songs by up-and-coming composers. Previously, she had been keeping her fans in a state of anticipation when she said on her Danny the Dragon website that the proceeds of this project were going to go toward a cause which was "near and dear" to her heart in her research and humanitarian efforts and that she would announce the cause later. She has now announced that the proceeds will go to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center.

An estimated 300 million Americans have celiac disease and only three percent of them know it. When Turbin isn't working on the latest installment of her Danny the Dragon series or the Danny the Dragon Cookbook, she's working hard to change this statistic by raising awareness and support for this disease, which affects more people twice as many of those who suffer from Crohn's disease, ulceric colitis, and cystic fibrosis combined.

Although the amount of research on celiac disease is growing, it depends entirely on the generosity of private benefactors for its funding. Without these charitable donations, there would be no way to continue this research and the efforts to raise awareness. Out of the estimated fifty autoimmune diseases that have been discovered by doctors, it is the only one which isn't supported in its research by the U.S. government.

The Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center, headed by Dr. Peter Green, MD, is one of the major research centers around studying and bringing awareness to celiac disease. It is one-hundred percent focused on studying celiac disease and carries out research connecting it with various other diseases which it is believed to lead to if left untreated. Its goal is to change the lives of celiac disease sufferers for the better around the world, a goal which it is actively achieving, little by little, every day.

Turbin highly encourages celiac researchers and supporters to engage in whatever creative efforts they can to raise awareness and funding and predicts that her announcement may start a new trend among artists in the celiac community. With the support of centers such as Columbia University's Celiac Disease Center with the release of the Danny the Dragon CD, we can look forward to seeing similar funding projects launched and also to seeing the fruits of these proceeds reaped with increased awareness of celiac disease, which has the potential to change the lives of millions of people for the better.

For more information on eating and living gluten free, visit http://GlutenFreeHelp.info. For more information on Tina Turbin, visit http://TinaTurbin.com.
About Author:
Tina Turbin (http://TinaTurbin.com) is a published children's author, writer, researcher, humanitarian and mom. Through her work with children and adults, Tina's research led her topics in celiac disease, gluten and nutrition, leading to her extensive interviews, and revelations in this field. Her web site, http://GlutenFreeHelp.info, is just one of her ways to help improve the quality of lives and health for others.