Leading up to May’s Celiac Disease Awareness Month, we’ve been working with our friends at Beyond Celiac to rally the patient community. Beyond Celiac is a national nonprofit focused on uniting patients and partners to drive diagnosis, advance research and ultimately find a cure for celiac disease. Several members of the Crosby team and their extended family are battling this autoimmune disease, so the effort holds special meaning for us.
We developed an animated video to help activate the celiac community to share their personal experience with the disease. The video uses kinetic typography to tell the story of a female character who becomes empowered to defeat the celiac disease “monster.”
The symbol of the “monster” was chosen to highlight the seriousness of celiac disease. Contrary to those who dismiss the disease as a fad, it’s not some imaginary menace. More than 1% of the U.S. population has celiac disease. With 300+ symptoms, the condition is difficult to diagnose. Left untreated, those with celiac are at risk of malnourishment and a host of serious health consequences such as thyroid disease, cancer, and other autoimmune diseases like lupus and diabetes.
The video, which is being deployed across social media, email and web, captures the urgency and importance of patient participation in research for treatments and a cure.
Beyond Celiac is encouraging people with celiac to visit go.beyondceliac.org and complete online surveys to tell the story of what it’s like to live with the condition. With this information, medical science may find a way to beat the celiac disease “monster” once and for all.
