RNS: Celiac disease, February 2009
TIME: 2:29
URL: http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=1030
U-M Health Minute: Today’s top health issues and medical research
GI condition once thought rare is common in U.S.
One in 133 people suffer from celiac disease
Suggested Lead: For people with celiac disease eating bread or pasta can lead to terrible GI pain and illness, and if left untreated can lead to cancer. Celiac disease use to be considered a rare disease, but is now thought to affect 1 percent of the population. Here is Andi McDonnell with more.
Dorothy Carpenter had stomach problems her entire life. Eating as much as a bite of bread or pasta could lead to terrible pain.
“If I ate certain things such as a lot of cereal, maybe a lot of breads, and I wasn’t a big bread eater but a sandwich or something, even salads, then I would feel bloaty, uncomfortable and maybe even have diarrhea...
“Actually I didn’t realize that it was a problem. I thought it was just who I was and how different things effected me and never had heard of celiac.”
Her illness went undiagnosed for years until a University of Michigan Health System physician recognized it as celiac disease. By then her long-standing condition had become an intestinal mass, a cancer that forced doctors to remove part of her small intestine.
Celiac disease, a condition characterized by severe, chronic inflammation of the small intestine, develops from exposure to a dietary protein called gluten. Gluten is most commonly found in grains including wheat, rye and barley.
Dr. William D. Chey, (M.D.), director of the Gastrointestinal Physiology Laboratory at the University of Michigan Health System explains who is at risk for celiac disease . . .
“If one had a first degree relative effected with celiac disease, their chance of having celiac disease is markedly increased. Similarly, there’s a number of disease associations that many people and even doctors probably aren’t aware of. So for example, common diseases like diabetes mellitus, auto immune thyroiditis, a certain type of thyroid disease, premature bone loss or iron deficiency anemia have all been associated with celiac disease and in fact, if you are effected by any of those conditions you should be tested for celiac disease. “
Celiac disease was once thought to be a rare disease, however, data from within the last five years show celiac disease is significantly more prevalent than previously thought. It can be identified in up to one in 133 individuals within the United States.
So what’s the bottom line? Chey tells us . . .
“I think that the key take away message is with regard to celiac disease are that a) it’s more common than we previously thought, maybe as high as one- percent in the U.S. population b) that there are tests readily available to your doctor to diagnose this condition and c) that treatment is highly effective and relies upon a diet rather than drugs.”
Andi McDonnell, U-M Health System News
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