Celiac disease may increase death rate
-Celiac disease may increase death rate according to a study published in the Journal of the American 
Medical Association.
Celiac disease is a relatively common disorder of an abnormal sensitivity to Gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Sometimes referred to as a ‘wheat allergy’, Celiac disease may affect as many as 1 percent of the population.
Celiac disease can cause intestinal inflammation and symptoms of abdominal pain, malabsorption and food intolerance. Celiac disease can also be silent and up to 40% of people have no symptoms. Celiac disease may be associated with a higher incidence of certain forms of cancer.
Celiac disease can be silent without intestinal inflammation, and the purpose of this study was to investigate intestinal inflammation that predicted a higher mortality rate.
Study authors analyzed over 40,000 intestinal biopsies of people with Celiac disease. More than 3,700 cases had no intestinal inflammation while the rest of the celiac biopsies had inflammatory changes.
Investigators reported that people with Celiac disease who had intestinal inflammation had a 72% increased risk of dying over a seven year follow-up period compared to people without Celiac disease. People with Celiac disease and no sign of intestinal inflammation had a 35% increased risk of dying.
Controlling Intestinal inflammation is therefore very important. This study shows us that there is an increase in mortality in people with Celiac disease. This is significantly increased with intestine inflammation compared with silent disease.
Intestinal inflammation can usually be controlled with dietary restriction of wheat, barley and rye. This study is important in that it shows us that people with Celiac disease should be encouraged to be vigilant with their diet.
Cristopher Geiler, M.D.
Reference
JAMA. 2009;302:1171-1178, 1225-1226.
Posted on September 16, 2009
