Celiac on the Internet
Presenter: Jim Lyles
- Getting Online
- Can You Believe What You Read?
- Celiac-Related Online Resources
- Other Online Resources
- Q&A
Throughout this presentation, items in brackets ([]) are internet web-page addresses.
To visit one of these web pages, type in its address (without the brackets) at the top
of your web browser. Or you can visit the web page that has this presentation and
click on the addresses directly.
Items in braces ({}) are e-mail addresses.
This presentation is located online at either of these locations:
[http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/slideshow.html]
[http://www.tir.com/~lyles/slideshow.html]
Background:
- Parent of two celiac children: Janet, age 11, diagnosed 7 years; Brian, age 9, diagnosed
6 years.
- Member of the Tri-County Celiac Sprue Support Group in SE Michigan, past president,
and editor of their newsletter, The Sprue-nik Press.
- Past regional director for CSA/USA.
- Co-listowner for the CELIAC, CEL-KIDS, and CELIAC-DIABETES e-mail lists and the web
pages associated with them.
- My e-mail address is {lyles@tir.com}.
- You can "borrow" access:
- Many libraries now have internet access available for their patrons.
- College students nearly always have internet access.
- Many businesses have internet access, and some allow personal use during
lunch breaks and after hours. (But check first--many don't!)
- From your home:
- Computers have come down in cost. You can now get an "internet-ready"
computer for $1000. Check out:
- What about all those "free" computers you are seeing ads for? Well, "free"
is a little misleading. They all require you to commit to 36 months of
an internet service provider, at about $22 per month. Plus, the computers
are lower-end models that may not have all the features you'll want. Still,
if the computer and the 36 month commitment suit your needs, you may want
to take advantage of one of these offers.
- Your computer needs to have a modem. Most new computers come with a 56k
modem, but even a 33.6K modem will do the job. You may also want to
consider installing a second phone line for the modem, though you don't have
to. (I use one phone line for both internet access and regular phone calls.)
- For full web access, you'll need to find an Internet Service Provider (ISP):
- ...National online services such as
AOL [http://www.aol.com],
Prodigy [http://www.prodigy.com],
and Compuserve [http://www.compuserve.com]
provide full internet services as well as their own services for $20-22
per month.
- ...National ISPs such as
A+Net [http://www.aplus.net/],
AT&T [http://www.att.com/home/],
EarthLink [http://www.earthlink.net/],
Eisa.com [http://www.eisa.com/],
GTE [http://www.gte.net/],
RCA World Net [http://www.rcaworldnet.com/],
and Spire [http://www.spire.com]
allow you to connect throughout the USA for $15-25 per month.
- ...Local providers are typically $15-20 per month. To find a provider
in your area, visit [http://www.thelist.com/].
- ...FREE ISPs are now available, but you have to put up with ads.
some are more obnoxious than others.
Juno [http://www.juno.com]
is one that that I have tried, and I did not find it too objectionable.
(Plus, they offer a "premium" service, without ads, for less money than
the other national ISPs.)
Another new free ISP is
A list of many of the other known free ISP providers in the USA can be
found at
[http://freeisps.4mg.com/usa.html], along with which two or three
they currently recommend.
- ...Whichever ISP you choose, make sure that there is a local access number
so that you will not have to pay long distance charges each time you go
online. If you live in or near a major city, this will not be a problem;
but if you are isolated out in the boonies somewhere (like I am) then you
may have fewer ISPs to choose from.
- Anyone can say anything. It is easy to make things look "official" on the web.
- There is a lot of "stuff" out there on the internet; how do you sort the
good from the bad? When reading something on the internet, ask yourself some questions:
- Does the article include references to other sources, and/or links to other
internet sites?
- Are professional credentials included?
- Does the article exclusively tout a single company or its products?
- There are no silver bullets or cure-alls. Be leery of any web page that
claims otherwise.
- Before acting on any information, verify it with other sources. And make sure those
sources are actually independent, not connected in some way.
Celiac-Related Online Resources
CELIAC E-mail List
- For those interested in Celiac Disease, related conditions, and the Gluten-Free
diet.
- Started Nov. 1994; now has 3,100+ subscribers. About 20 messages per day.
- 100+ reference files are available via e-mail or the web. For a description
of these files and instructions on obtaining them by e-mail, send an e-mail
message to {listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu} containing this line:
GET CELIAC FILEDESC
Or visit the website associated with the CELIAC list
[http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/basic.html].
- All the previous messages sent to the list are available. They are in files named
"LOGyymmw", with "yy" being the year, "mm" the month, and "w" being a letter
(A-E) signifying the week. For example, to get the posts for the first two weeks
weeks in March, send an e-mail message to {listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu} containing these lines:
GET CELIAC LOG0003A
GET CELIAC LOG0003B
Prior to 1996 the files are monthly; leave off the "w" part of the name. For
example, the posts for the very first month of the CELIAC list are in a file
named LOG9411. You can also obtain the files on the web
[http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/celiac.html].
- Subscriptions are free. To subscribe, send a message to
{listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu} containing this line (but with your
own name):
SUBSCRIBE CELIAC John Doe
Or you can subscribe on the web. Go to [http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/celiac.html] and click on
"Join or leave the list (or change settings)".
Celiac-Related Online Resources
CEL-KIDS E-mail List
- For kids with Celiac Disease and their parents.
- Started Sep. 1995; now has nearly 600 subscribers. Only a few messages each week.
- All the previous messages sent to the list are available. They are in files named
"LOGyymm", with "yy" being the year and "mm" a month. In some cases a file contains
multiple months. For example, to get the posts for September 1998, send an e-mail
message to {listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu} containing this line:
GET CEL-KIDS LOG9809
You can also obtain the files on the web
[http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/cel-kids.html].
- Subscriptions are free. To subscribe, send a message to
{listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu} containing this line (but with your
own name):
SUBSCRIBE CEL-KIDS John Doe
Or you can subscribe on the web. Go to [http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/cel-kids.html] and click on
"Join or leave the list (or change settings)".
Celiac-Related Online Resources
CELIAC-DIABETES E-mail List
- For celiacs who also have either Type I or Type II diabetes.
- Started Jan. 1998; now has about 300 subscribers.
- Subscriptions are free. To subscribe, send a message to
{listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu} containing this line (but with your
own name):
SUBSCRIBE CELIAC-DIABETES John Doe
Or you can subscribe on the web. Go to [http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/celiac-diabetes.html] and click on
"Join or leave the list (or change settings)".
Celiac-Related Online Resources
NO-MILK E-mail List
Celiac-Related Online Resources
Specialized E-mail Lists
There are also special e-mail lists for celiac support group
leaders and for medical and research professionals with an interest in celiac disease.
For more information about either list, send an e-mail message to {celiac-request@maelstrom.stjohns.edu}.
Celiac-Related Online Resources
Web Pages
- General information and reference material:
- The Gluten-Free Page [http://www.gflinks.com/] is the best "one-stop celiac information shop"
on the web.
It contains links to virtually all other celiac-related material on the internet and
is frequently updated.
- The Celiac Support Page [http://www.celiac.com/] is a good starting point for new celiacs. It contains
information from many different sources and is frequently updated.
- The CELIAC E-mail List Page [http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html] is the "official" web page
associated with the CELIAC e-mail list described previously. It contains all the
reference files associated with the CELIAC list, including lists of all the known
celiac support groups in the US and Canada.
- Chat groups:
- E-mail list and newsletter archives:
- Shopping online for gluten-free products:
- You can do your gluten-free product shopping on the internet. There is a Gluten-Free
Product Directory at
[http://www.gfmall.com/], with links to individual vendor web pages.
There is also a "one-stop gluten-free shop" at
[http://www.glutenfreemall.com/].
NOTE: Before entering credit card information on a web page, make sure it is
a secure web page. Look for two things:
- The URL (web page address) for a secure web page starts with "https:" instead
of "http:".
- At the bottom of your web browser you should see a closed padlock. In
Netscape, it is on the lower left; in Internet Explorer it is on the lower right.
If a web page is not secure, then don't enter credit card information, passwords, or
any other sensitive information on that page. Also, never send sensitive information
in an e-mail message, as e-mail is never secure unless you take special steps to
encrypt it. (How do you do that? Don't ask.)
Copyright by Michael Jones, Bill Elkus, Jim Lyles, and Lisa Lewis 1998
- All rights reserved worldwide
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This fact sheet has been designed to be a general information resource.
However, it is not intended for use in diagnosis, treatment, or any
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