Daily Diet: Increase in Incidence of Celiac Disease

Apparently you are never too old to be diagnosed with celiac disease, and new findings challenge the notion that it is something that you develop in childhood. A study published in the latest issue of the Annals of Medicine has found not only an increased incidence of the disease, but that the incidence (or risk) of celiac disease rises with age.

Researchers found that the incidence of celiac disease has doubled in the United States every 15 years since 1974. The number of individuals with celiac disease blood markers rose from 1 in 501 in 1974 to 1 in 219 in 1989, and then to 1 in every 133 people in 2003. Results also confirmed previous research that elderly people are twice as likely to develop the disease compared to the general population.

Celiac disease is an inherited digestive system disorder caused by an intolerance to gluten that affects the digestive process of the small intestine. Once thought to be a rare condition, research shows that it affects about 3 million people. The disease often goes undiagnosed because there are as many as 300 different symptoms, many of them subtle and seemingly unrelated. In fact, it is sometimes confused with irritable bowel syndrome, iron-deficiency anemia, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis, intestinal infections, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

When a person who has celiac disease eats foods containing gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, their immune system responds by attacking the small intestine, destroying the intestinal villi, thus inhibiting the absorption of vital nutrients into the body. Left untreated, the disease may increase the risk of many other conditions, including hepatitis, thyroiditis, lymphoma, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Although genetic markers for celiac disease have been identified, the actual trigger that causes an individual to lose gluten tolerance is unknown. Study leader Alessio Fasano, M.D., director of the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research, said, “Even if you have these genetic markers, it's not your destiny to develop an autoimmune disease. Our study shows that environmental factors cause an individual's immune system to lose tolerance to gluten, given the fact that genetics was not a factor in our study since we followed the same individuals over time.”

The only treatment for celiac disease is a gluten-free diet. But despite the fact that manufacturers are required to label food that contains gluten, adhering to a gluten-free diet can be tricky business. In addition to the obvious places gluten can be found in a normal diet, such as breads, cereals and pasta, there are many hidden sources of gluten. Everyday products such as medicines, vitamins and even lip balms contain gluten, as does thickening agents, emulsifiers, fillers, flavor enhancers, and food stabilizers.