Celiac Disease on the Rise
July 14, 2009 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Diets and Dieting, Food and Drink, Prevention
According to a Mayo Clinic study published this month in Gastroenterology journal Celiac disease is four times more common today than it was 50 years ago.
Using subjects at Warren Warren Air Force Base (AFB) in Wyoming between 1948 and 1954, the Mayo Clinic study tested blood samples for the antibody that people with celiac disease produce in reaction to gluten. They then compared those results with two sets more recently collected samples from Olmsted County, Minnesota.
The results indicated that today’s young adults are 4.5 times more likely to be suffering from celiac disease than those in the 1950s.
People with celiac disease have a immune reaction to the gluten, a protein that is in wheat, barley and rye. Anytime they ingest gluten, they can develop acute symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal discomfort plus chronic symptoms such as weight loss, anemia, unexplained infertility, loss of teeth and even premature or severe osteoporosis.
One of the problems with celiac disease is that the generality of it’s symptoms, many of which are also indicators of many other diseases including irritable bowel syndrome.
This video, featuring Joseph Murray, the Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist who led this study, explains more about celiac disease, it’s diagnosis, and treatment.
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