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Diagnosis / Symptoms

Celiac Adults Face Higher Risk of Sepsis

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Ever heard of Sepsis before? Me either! However, it is something that some of our older readers with Celiac Disease should probably be aware of.

According to a recent study published in the August edition of Gut, it looks like adults who are a diagnosed later in life with Celiac Disease face a higher risk of Sepsis.

As usual, Celiac.com has published a post covering Sepsis, and the potentially higher risk that exists for Celiacs diagnosed later in life:

People diagnosed with celiac disease as adults developed sepsis at slightly higher levels than inpatient reference patients (HR = 1.5, p = 0.006). The elevated risk for sepsis was also seen when celiac disease patients were compared with reference subjects from the general population (HR = 2.6, p < 0.001). Celiac disease patients diagnosed in childhood showed a slightly elevated increased risk of sepsis when compared to the general population (HR = 1.8, p = 0.003).

You can read more about Sepsis and also learn a bit about a condition called Hyposplenism by reading Celiac.com’s featured post here.

Does Celiac Disease Cause Miscarriages?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

Does Celiac Disease cause miscarriages? 10 or more years ago that would have been a difficult question to answer, but in the last decade the internet has become much more mainstream and people are able to share their experiences. I think this is especially true in situations related to how Celiac Disease affects pregnancy and the infant years of a child.

So can Celiac Disease cause a miscarriage? It seems there has been information to support both yes and no, but there are a large number of testimonials all over the internet who had a number of miscarriages and later found out they have been suffering from Celiac Disease.

One recent example I found was over at Gluten-Free Help, where Celiac Disease and Reproductive Problems were discussed.

After the loss of her daughter, Bast suffered several early miscarriages before she succeeded in carrying another child without apparent complications until the sixth month. Then the diarrhea began again. A few weeks later, when she again felt very little fetal movement, her new, high-risk obstetrician performed an emergency caesarian section. Her premature, 3-pound baby—another girl—survived and eventually thrived.

Several years and many doctors later, Bast was diagnosed with celiac disease. Could the disease be responsible for her miscarriages and stillborn baby? According to what she learned during a lecture at the 9th International Symposium on Celiac Disease in 2000, the answer was yes. The discovery prompted Bast to form the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA).

The post then gives additional examples and covers the connection between Celiac Disease and miscarriages, making for a great resource if you have some concerns about miscarriages.

Celiac Disease vs. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

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Generally, whenever someone tells you their story about being diagnosed with Celiac Disease, it is very common for people to say that they were originally incorrectly diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is commonly referred to as IBS.  This is because IBS is considered to be the most common disorder with close to 20% of Americans believed to have some form of it.

Unfortunately, the treatments are different and when someone with Celiac Disease is incorrectly diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome their symptoms do not typically get better.   Sometimes it can take years before a correct diagnosis is eventually made.

So what is the difference between Celiac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease, where the immune system attacks gluten in the digestive system, damaging the tissue of the intestines at the same time. Individuals with Celiac Disease are genetically predisposed to the disease but can develop it at any age. It can often be triggered by a stressful event such as surgery or pregnancy.

The causes of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, on the other hand, are not well understood. Many believe it originates in the central nervous system with changes in the nerves that control sensation or muscle contractions in the bowel. The walls of the bowels or intestines, which usually contract rhythmically to allow food to pass through, start to contract irregularly, meaning that food is pushed through too quickly or too slowly. Because IBS tends to affect women more than men, hormone changes are also often thought to play a role in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

The triggers for IBS and Celiac Disease often appear to be similar. IBS can be triggered by stress or a particular illness such as gastroenteritis in the same way as Celiac Disease. IBS can also be triggered by eating certain types of food that the body is intolerant to, including foods that contain gluten, but gluten does not cause the symptoms of IBS as it does with Celiac Disease, it only aggravates them. With IBS, the immune system does not produce antibodies to fight the food that is aggravating the condition.

The Long-Term Effects of Celiac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The crucial difference between Celiac Disease and IBS is that with Celiac Disease the gut is actually damaged by the gluten-fighting antibodies, leading to long-term complications, whereas with IBS, although the gut may be inflamed, no long-term damage is done.

The effects of IBS are likely to be more emotional than physical as people find it hard to lead a normal, happy life while experiencing IBS symptoms. The complications associated with Celiac Disease can be as severe as malnutrition, osteoporosis, and possibly bowel cancer, although the link between these two diseases is often contested.

The moral of the story is if you have IBS get a blood test to rule out Celiac Disease. You don’t want to do a bunch of severe damage to your body if you can help it, and it can easily be avoided with a simple blood test!

Nutrient Deficiencies and Celiac Disease

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If you have Celiac Disease, are you aware that you might not be getting enough nutrients?  Celiac Disease can often affect a person’s digestive ability resulting in decreased nutrient absorption. In addition, a gluten-free diet can reduce the intake of some important nutrients. Common nutrient deficiencies seen in celiac disease include calcium, magnesium, vitamin b12, vitamin D, iron, and folic acid.

As always, it is important to discuss your nutrient status with your physician both upon diagnosis and while maintaining a gluten-free diet. Also, keep in mind that some vitamins and supplements may contain gluten, but there are plenty of naturally gluten-free foods that are excellent sources of these nutrients:

  • Calcium – Dark leafy green vegetables, broccoli, sea vegetables (wakame and kombu), sprouts, tofu (calcium prepared), whole or low-fat milk, enriched soy or rice milk, raw almonds, sesame seeds, navy beans, dried tapioca, and aged cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss, and Parmesan
  • Magnesium – Pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, spinach, quinoa, halibut, soybean, buckwheat flour, and legumes
  • Vitamin B12 – Organic beef, organic dark meat poultry, and gluten-free brewer’s yeast
  • Vitamin D – Fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, tuna, and oysters, fortified dairy and non-dairy products, butter, and sunshine
  • Iron  – Organic beef, organic dark meat poultry, tuna, black strap molasses, enriched brown rice, prunes, raisins, spinach, kidney beans, lima beans, and pumpkin seeds
  • Folic acid – Dark leafy green vegetables, asparagus, bananas, legumes, citrus fruits, organic beef, organic lamb, fish, nuts, and root vegetables

If you aren’t already, you’ll want to listen to your body and take extra precautions to ensure you are getting the properiate nutrient intake.

Does the Gluten-Free Diet Help Migraines?

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Over the past two years, I’ve spent a lot more time researching Celiac Disease and probably the most surprising thing I’ve found is the number of other problems that can possibly be or are attributed to having untreated Celiac Disease.

Whenever I see these types of posts, I do my best to feature them here to help get the word out to everything. Today I read this post over at The Daily Headache where Karen Yesowich Schmucker shares her experiences battling migraines:

Does maintaining a gluten-free diet help migraine? There is some evidence to suggest that some migraineurs are helped by it. Some report the total disappearance of migraine while others have fewer and less severe attacks. I fall into the latter category. I found out (by accident) a little over a year ago that I am gluten intolerant and I have followed a gluten-free diet since December 2006. Do I still get migraines? Yes, but not as many and not as severe. I have not had a classic migraine (with aura) in about a year. Does my neurologist think that gluten caused my migraines? No, but it could have created a situation where migraine was more likely to occur, especially since I had evidence of malabsorption and was deficient in several important minerals like magnesium, even though I was supplementing at 400 mg per day!

As a direct result of my experience, my neurologist now tests his patients who show gastrointestinal symptoms for gluten sensitivity. But he doesn¹t test all his patients. He (incorrectly, according to experts on celiac) believes that one must have these types of symptoms before testing makes sense. However, with celiac, symptoms often do not appear until the disease has progressed and a patient is not absorbing nutrients. Here are some of the symptoms noted in celiac literature: fatigue, anemia, migraine, eczema, psoriasis, mineral deficiencies, as well as gastrointestinal complaints such as bloating, gas, constipation and/or diarrhea. So the bottom line is: finding out you have gluten intolerance may or may not help your migraine, but the health benefits of discovery and treatment by themselves are compelling. I went gluten-free hoping to rid myself of debilitating headaches, but knowing what I know now makes me glad I did it regardless of the effect on my headaches.

Bloggers and people sharing their experiences go a long way toward helping others with similar problems, so I really appreciate Karen sharing her story with us!