COLIN LESLIE
RYE, NY TEEN KICKS OFF WALK TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CELIAC DISEASE

Colin Leslie, a 14 year old from Rye, New York, is a teenager on a mission – to educate as many people as he can about the harmful effects of celiac disease, a rare autoimmune disorder that he was recently diagnosed with last year.

Affecting 1 in 133 people, celiac disease is more common than Type I diabetes, yet it sometimes takes more than a decade to detect that someone is suffering from this debilitating illness that attacks the lining of the small intestine. In fact, Colin says, when he first became sick, doctors did not think that celiac disease was the cause of his symptoms. “I went to many different specialists trying to figure out what was causing the headaches and migraines I had 24 hours a day, every day of the week and the joint pains that later developed,” he says. “I had more tests than I can remember including CT scans, spinal tap, MRI, EEG, and massive amounts of blood taken, but what complicated my diagnosis even more was that I did not experience the typical symptoms of celiac disease, which tend to be digestive problems.”

While it takes almost 11 years to diagnose a patient suffering from celiac, if left untreated, the disease can lead to rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, amemia and even cancer. The major cause of celiac disease are foods rich in gluten, such as pasta and bread. As result, Colin is now on a gluten free diet and has made tremendous improvement since modifying his eating habits.

Colin says he was surprised to find that celiac affects approximately 1% of the population, yet awareness of the disease among doctors and the public is surprisingly low. As a result, this high school freshman is spearheading the first annual Colin Leslie Walk for Celiac Disease at Rye High School on October 22 with proceeds benefiting the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center– a facility that is at the forefront of researching options on diagnosing and treating this debilitating illness. Colin says his goal for the event is to raise 50,000 dollars for awareness and research.

With the help of the Westchester Celiac Sprue Support Group, Colin has been able to gain the support needed to turn his vision into reality. This enterprising young man has even found partners for the event – WPLJ radio and Gluten Free Living magazine plan to be on hand for the festivities, and vendors such as Foods by George and Life Field’s Buckwheat Products, will be selling gluten-free food at the event.

Colin’s hope is that the walk becomes an annual tradition so that funds raised on behalf of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center, will bring doctors another step closer to early diagnosis and a cure. He says, “I want to make people aware of this disease so that no one has to go through the long journey to getting diagnosed that I went through.”

To register online for the Colin Leslie Walk for Celiac Disease 2006 or to find out more about diagnosis and treatment, visit the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center at http://www.celiacdiseasecenter.columbia.edu/.

For more information on the first annual Colin Leslie Walk for Celiac Disease you can send an email to celiacwalk@optonline.net. Donations can be made to the Westchester Celiac Sprue Support Group and mailed to the following address:

Westchester Celiac Sprue Support Group
15 Hix Avenue
Rye, NY 10580

Welcome Colin to the Role Mommy Honor Roll!