Recently a reader left a comment for me about an unfortunate interview in which Dr. Drew discusses celiac disease and leaky gut with a famous actress.
As those of us with celiac disease know, we are often questioned (not always in a constructive manner) by family and friends who do not understand the medical challenges we face.
Here is what we are often told about our conditions and the steps we take to remediate them:
- just a little bit won’t hurt you (fill in that sentence with gluten or other substances that make you ill)
- it’s all in your head
- you’re just following the latest fad
These types of questions are not malicious, they come from a place of ignorance and lack of education.
Unfortunately, it seemed that during his show, Dr. Drew was not entirely aware or informed when it came to his subject matter and did not display a comprehensive understanding of celiac disease and leaky gut. This is most regrettable as the doctor missed an opportunity to educate his audience on a disease that is widespread in the American population and around the world.
Celiac awareness and education is much farther along in other countries; in fact, in Italy, children are tested for celiac disease before they reach the age of 6. Celiac disease meets the World Health Organization standards for universal screening and is considered an epidemic by this organization.
Here is the video in which Dr. Drew takes a less than sympathetic tone towards an individual with celiac disease and leaky gut:
As you can see from the video Dr. Drew is not familiar with leaky gut and does not entirely understand the concept of this medical disorder. Dr. Drew, here is a description of leaky gut from Dr. Andrew Weil, who says that leaky gut:
..affects the lining of the intestines. The theory is that leaky gut syndrome (also called increased intestinal permeability), is the result of damage to the intestinal lining, making it less able to protect the internal environment as well as to filter needed nutrients and other biological substances. As a consequence, some bacteria and their toxins, incompletely digested proteins and fats, and waste not normally absorbed may “leak” out of the intestines into the blood stream. This triggers an autoimmune reaction.
Leaky gut can lead to the following disorders:
- chronic inflammation
- food allergies
- skin rashes
- joint pain
- fatigue
So, here is my urgent plea to Dr. Drew: please use your platform as a public persona to further education regarding medical issues, rather than perpetuating common stereotypes and misinformation. This is a small request from those of us in the celiac community who work so hard in the name of celiac awareness and education.
Now is the time to rectify the unfortunate interview of Jennifer Esposito with a story on what celiac disease actually is and how it impacts the lives of millions of Americans. Leave a comment below if you wish to urge Dr. Drew to remedy this situation.
Steve Davis says
We need more awareness for all these diseases. I have not been formally diagnosed yet, but am pretty confident I do have celiacs. My wife also has Multiple Sclerosis, and because of me having to go Gluten Free, she is too. Many of here symptoms have been reduced or eliminated. MS and Celiacs is very similar in that they both share that “but you don’t look sick” persona. Hopefully more shows will bring awareness to the cause without sensationalization. (Not sure if that is a word. LOL) We were on Anderson Cooper last year to talk about my wife’s MS, but much of the interview was edited. Lastly, I gotta say Dr. Drew’s interviewing style was a bit harsh and he needs to understand that because he is a Dr, doesn’t mean we will understand the answers he was looking for. Let people explain it as they experience it!!
vedjen says
Agreed. Dr. Drew should be ashamed of his lack of preparedness for his interview with Jennifer Esposito. As the tagline for the interview is that she was suspended from the show because of medical conditions — a quick google search will bring up her new site which is all about celiac, her experience with celiac, and her new gf products.
But I digress. We’re talking Dr. Drew here. Celebrity Rehab, anyone?
Mad props to Jennifer Esposito though. I was impressed with how well she kept it together even after it was clear he was ignorant to Celiac and leaky gut and kept trying to put words in her mouth.
Marianna March says
I feel this was an unfortunate interview that did little to educate the public about the seriousness of celiac disease. I would love for someone more educated on the matter to be able to participate in a televised conversation regarding celiac disease to better help the public to understand the disease.
Amy G. says
Jennifer is a class act. I don’t understand what Dr. Drew’s angle was with trying to trip her up and embarrass her at the beginning. I so hope that she returns to “Blue Bloods.” It isn’t the same without her!
Mary Ann says
I hope that Dr. Drew WILL educate himself on celiac disease and leaky gut syndrome. Maybe Dr. Weil and Dr. Drew can get together and do a show about this chronic disease. This reminds me of how Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was seen just a few years ago!
Dr. Drew use your platform to clarify this disease. If you don’t know what it is, then there must be a huge number of people who need more info as well!
Erin says
Kudos to Jennifer for retaining her composure while Dr. Drew made mis-assumptions, was condescending and exercised medical hubris.
Sara says
I am horrified by his manner and his tone. This would have been a perfect moment for him to learn by listening, rather then interrupting Jennifer. I hope that he will do some research about leaky gut syndrome and then educate his viewers, because they sadly were not given the opportunity to learn from Jennifer who it appears would have loved to explain more.
Elyse says
Thank goodness there are other educated and compassionate doctors in the world. Dr. Drew should be ashamed not because of his apparent ignorance about Celiac disease and leaky gut, but because of the number of times he interrupted this woman who is sharing a personal health story on television.
Christa says
Education, for him and then for others, seems to be needed here… thanks, Elana!
Rachel Smith says
I too would like to see more education regarding this disease. It can be very debilitating to those of us that live with this every day.
Lauren says
He should be ashamed of himself. The way he acted in this interview was quite unprofessional and also portrayed him to be a bit under-educated. He changed his tone a bit as the interview went on, but the first 2 minutes really left a bad taste in my mouth.
Enid Barnes says
I agree with everyone re his unprofessionalism and the spin that he was trying to put on things. It was like he was trying to do some kind of investigative piece. He kept prodding her to answer in a way that would demonstrate his “understanding:” that she was being ‘overly-dramatic,’ and that this was probably psychosomatic. He certainly was not LISTENING, and there is no excuse for him, especially as a physician, to be so obtuse, undereducated, and insensitive.
c.eaton says
unfortunately for invisible chronic illnesses like celiacs, chron’s, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue it is common for most physicians even trained specialists to have this tone…it’s just that in this case a situation that happens frequently with myself in the confides of a patient room, this was televised for the world to see. Doctors can be facetious, condescending, arrogant and just plain mean and rude.
Fiona says
He came across as insensitive and rude. It’s strange… his TV shows display him as more patient with others. I would never have thought he’d be so short sighted.