This was an interesting article that I think the co-author (Joseph Murray, MD) himself should read. I've highlighted the important statements and then grouped them together at the end for a better understanding. From Science Daily - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120731094104.htm

"Roughly 1.8 million Americans have celiac disease, but around 1.4 million of them are unaware that they have it, a Mayo Clinic-led analysis of the condition's prevalence has found. Meanwhile, 1.6 million people in the United States are on a gluten-free diet even though they haven't been diagnosed with celiac disease, according to the study published July 31 in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Researchers have estimated the rate of diagnosed and undiagnosed celiac disease at similar levels prior to this study, but this is the most definitive study on the issue. "This provides proof that this disease is common in the United States," says co-author Joseph Murray, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. "If you detect one person for every five or six (who have it), we aren't doing a very good job detecting celiac disease."

Celiac disease is a digestive disorder brought on when genetically susceptible people eat wheat, rye and barley. A gluten-free diet, which excludes the protein gluten, is used to treat celiac disease. Roughly 80 percent of the people on a gluten-free diet do so without a diagnosis of celiac disease.

"There are a lot of people on a gluten-free diet, and it's not clear what the medical need for that is," Dr. Murray says. "It is important if someone thinks they might have celiac disease that they be tested first before they go on the diet."

"So that is something we don't fully understand," Dr. Rubio-Tapia says. The study found the rate of celiac disease in the U.S. is similar to that found in several European countries."

Condensed version:

Roughly 1.8 million Americans have celiac disease, but around 1.4 million of them are unaware that they have it,

1.6 million people in the United States are on a gluten-free diet even though they haven't been diagnosed with celiac disease,

"we aren't doing a very good job detecting celiac disease."

Roughly 80 percent of the people on a gluten-free diet do so without a diagnosis of celiac disease.

"There are a lot of people on a gluten-free diet, and it's not clear what the medical need for that is"

"that is something we don't fully understand"

Most people who have celiac, haven't been diagnosed by MDs because MDs are generally clueless when it comes to understanding the human body and physiology (Note that this is a gastroenterologist making this statement and his specialty is the digestive tract.) They tend to brush off people with celiac as having a mental condition instead of a physical condition. As the numbers show, most people are better at diagnosing themselves than an MD would ever be. As doctor Murray states about MDs,

- "we aren't doing a good job detecting celiac disease"

- "it's not clear what the medical need for that is"

- "that is something we don't fully understand"

People don't need to be tested in order to go on a gluten-free diet. First of all, they are tired of waiting around hoping that the medical field will get clued in. Secondly, they are tired of the pill approach for everything. Thirdly, they have found through the use of the diet, that they were able to help themselves. Fourthly, they have learned that just because an MD doesn't have a clue, doesn't mean that they are a nut case.

There is a world filled with holistic doctors and practitioners of every sort who have practices centered on patient care and are willing to listen to their patients. A holistic doctor is more likely to look at what he doesn't know and learn from it, long before he would ever blame the patient as being crazy and in need of meds. MDs have their heads so far up their sigmoid colon that they can't see their own deficits. Maybe the pharmaceutical industry should come up with a pill for that.

For those interested in improving their health and quality of life, I recommend Dr. McCombs Candida Plan - http://CandidaPlan.com