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Diagnosis / Symptoms

Is Gluten Absorbed Through Skin?

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

As a quick follow-up post to my earlier post titled Do Disposable Diapers Contain Gluten, I received a comment from Nancy Lapid of About.com offering some information about the research she has done.

Over on About she answers the question, can gluten be absorbed through the skin:

Answer: No. Gluten molecules are too large to be absorbed through the skin. If you are having skin reactions to cosmetics or other products that contain gluten, it’s possible that you are having an allergic reaction to one or more of the product’s ingredients. Your doctor or a dermatologist can help you identify the cause.

Special issues in small children: Even though gluten can’t be absorbed through the skin, it’s best to avoid skin care products (or shampoos) that contain gluten if they are to be applied on a small child who might put the treated skin area or hair into his or her mouth.

Thanks Nancy for the clarification!   This is great news, as parents of children with Celiac have enough to worry about without adding diapers and skin products containing gluten to the list.

Link Between Autism and Celiac Disease?

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Worried that your autistic child may have Celiac Disease? According to a recent study, there is no link between autism and Celiac Disease, meaning Autistic children are no more likely than anyone else to have Celiac.

Here is an excerpt from their study:

Researchers compared blood samples of 34 children with autism to samples of 34 children without autism who had been referred to an outpatient clinic of the same hospital. They looked for two antibodies used to help detect celiac disease “anti-gliadin antibodies and anti-endomysial antibodies. Biopsies of the small intestine were offered to children who tested positive for either antibody to confirm the diagnosis. Each group contained 18 boys and 16 girls between the ages of four and 16.

The study found autistic children were no more likely than children without autism to develop celiac disease. Anti-gliadin antibodies were found in four children with autism and two without autism. Biopsies on all six children came back negative for celiac disease.

“This study shows food allergies often associated with autism may have no connection to the gluten intolerance experienced by people with celiac disease,” said study author Samra Vazirian, MD, with Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran.

Click over to check out the rest of the information regarding this study.

Urinary Stone Disease in Adults with Celiac Disease

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

For adults with Celiac Disease or other intestinal diseases, one of the things that you are at high risk for is Urinary Stone Disease (USD). I just noticed that recently a study was done on adults with USD and Celiac Disease, which was documented over at Jurology.

For their study, they took patients who were 18 years or older, untreated, and also newly diagnosed with celiac disease by serum markers and jejunal biopsy.  Clinical presentation of celiac disease was assessed focusing on 5 disorders of diarrhea, and deficiency of calories (low body mass index or weight loss), lipid (low prothrombin time or low serum lipids), iron (low hemoglobin or low serum ferritin), and calcium (low serum calcium or low bone densitometry). Urinary stone disease history was also assessed via questionnaire (imaging, stone excretion, stone disruption/removal), and urinary variables were measured in a 24-hour collection in a subgroup of patients.

Here is an excerpt of their findings:

Study Results

Under untreated conditions (baseline) urinary stone disease was independent of celiac disease presentation and more prevalent in patients with celiac disease than in a population sample used as a control (608 and 3,540, 7.9% and 5.0%, sex and age adjusted odds ratio 4.0, 95% CI 2.7–5.9). Excluding from analysis individuals with baseline urinary stone disease, the incidence of urinary stone disease history was not significantly different between the treated celiac disease (gluten-free diet) and control population (458 and 3,003, 2.4% vs 3.9%). The urine of untreated patients with celiac disease differed from that of healthy volunteers with 120% higher oxalate and 43% lower calcium (in 45 and 45, p <0.001). A gluten-free diet corrected urinary abnormalities (p <0.01).

If you’d like to learn more, click over to read the rest of their post!

What are the Symptoms of Celiac Disease?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

Worried you might have Celiac Disease? Unlike many other diseases, food allergies, and/or food intolerances, Celiac Disease does not have a few standard symptoms you can easily look for. That is why it often takes an average of 5 years before receiving a correct celiac diagnosis.

Currently, there are two ways to know that you have Celiac Disease. The first and recommended method is to talk to your doctor about getting tested (which usually involves a simple blood test and/or an endoscopy). The second option is the new Celiac Home Test Kit, which allows anyone to take the initial blood test from home, then consult their doctor with the results.

With that said, you may be wondering what symptoms you should be experiencing before discussing the possibility of Celiac with your doctor. Here is some general information about Celiac Disease symptoms that you will hopefully find useful.

Adult Celiac Disease Symptoms

Celiac Disease may appear at any time in a person’s life. In fact, recent studies support that it may even be more common in the elderly, or anyone that has experienced a life-altering event. The disease can also be triggered for the first time after surgery, a simple viral infection, severe emotional stress, pregnancy, or childbirth.

Celiac Disease is a multi-system, multi-symptom disorder and symptoms in adults are extremely varied. Symptoms can even mimic other bowel disorders and are not always gastrointestinal. (For example, adults with Celiac Disease are often originally misdiagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome prior to receiving a correct diagnosis.)

Children’s Celiac Disease Symptoms

Infants, toddlers, and young children most commonly exhibit growth failure, vomiting, a bloated abdomen, and behavioral changes.

General Symptoms of Celiac Disease May Include One or More of the Following:

  • Recurring bloating, gas, or abdominal pain
  • Chronic diarrhea or constipation or both
  • Unexplained weight loss or weight gain
  • Pale, foul-smelling stool
  • Unexplained anemia
  • Bone or joint pain
  • Behavior changes/depression/irritability
  • Vitamin K Deficiency
  • Fatigue, weakness or lack of energy
  • Delayed growth or onset of puberty
  • Failure to thrive (in infants)
  • Missed menstrual periods
  • Infertility male & female
  • Spontaneous miscarriages
  • Canker sores inside the mouth
  • Tooth discoloration or loss of enamel

In addition to the above symptoms, there are also a few situations where a child should be tested for Celiac Disease:

Have You or a Family Member Been Diagnosed With the Following?

  • Type 1 Diabetes
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Fibromyalgia
  • IBS
  • Eczema
  • Sjogren’s Syndrome
  • Peripheral Neuropathy
  • Thyroid Disease
  • Osteoporosis
  • Dermatitis Herpetiformis (see below)

Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH) Skin Rash

Dermatitis Herpetiformis is the skin manifestation of celiac disease characterized by blistering and intensely itchy skin. The rash has a symmetrical distribution and is most frequently found on the face, elbows, knees, and buttocks. DH patients can also have gastrointestinal damage without perceptible symptoms. If you believe you may have DH, please consult your doctor about being tested for Celiac Disease.