Seward County Independent

    The dust from wheat and oat harvest during the mid-summer months may be affecting those with a wheat allergy or celiac disease (CD).
     CD is controlled by removing wheat, barley, rye and oats (WBRO) and their derivatives from the diet, said Mary Schluckebier, Celiac Sprue Association (CSA), Omaha, executive director.
     During wheat and oat harvest, it is impossible for people with wheat and oat allergies or CD to avoid the dust particles in the air that cause adverse reactions, Schluckebier said.
     She said the best precautions are to take a full shower (wash body and hair) immediately after returning indoors, wash all clothes worn outside, don't open windows in house, use air conditioning and keep skin covered when outside during wheat harvest, which will last about three weeks in 2007, from the last week of June to the second week of July, according to Tucker Boss, grain origination employee for the United Farmers Co-Op, York. Boss said in Seward County, there is very little oat to be harvested in 2007.
     Schluckebier said that if the weather is hot and dry at the time of wheat harvest, the airborne dust particles will be more prevalent than if it is cooler and humid.
     This season's wheat harvest has been hot and dry, Boss said.
     Schluckebier said the nice thing about the location of Seward County is there is not landscape, like mountains, that would stop a breeze and trap dust particles. In addition, she said that the wheat fields are located to the west and south of the city of Seward and most times a breeze will catch the wheat dust and blow it away from town.
     Schluckebier said an allergy to wheat and having CD are two different issues, but the symptoms can be similar.
     She said someone with an allergy can experience many of the same symptoms as a person with CD; however, someone with an allergy doesn't have damage to their small intestine, lose the ability to absorb nutrients and have the same medical problems as an untreated person with CD.
     She said that celiac is a lifelong disease. Because it is easily controlled by diet management early diagnosis may help those affected by CD to avoid symptoms by making diet changes as early as possible.
     Schluckebier said that during wheat harvest people with CD or an allergy to wheat may be experiencing symptoms and not know why.
     "My stomach hasn't been feeling good in the last couple weeks and that's interesting because I didn't even know it was wheat harvest time here," said Laura Albertson, 22, and a senior majoring in psychology and behavioral science at Concordia University.
     Albertson was diagnosed with CD when she was 15-years-old when she was experiencing painful stomach aches, drastic weight loss and was always sick.
     She said she had to eliminate all gluten food and products. Gluten is a certain type of protein found in WBRO that is damaging to a person with CD, according to the CSA CD basics pamphlet.
     Since moving to Seward from Colorado Springs, Colo., she said she has not felt as well in the summer as she does other months. She said now she thinks that the harvest may have something to do with the stomach aches, her most common symptom.
     Albertson talked about the food she misses that was eliminated from her diet when she was diagnosed with CD.
     "I was disappointed that I couldn't eat some of the food that I grew up with like sandwiches," Albertson said. "They were so easy to make."
     She said that when there's time she makes tapioca flour bread from scratch, using a combination of grains, but not including WBRO.
     "There's no easy cooking," she said. "And a lot of times gluten-free products are very expensive."
     If you have question regarding CD call the Celiac Sprue Association, Seward, at (402) 643-4101.