Interesting Reuters report of study howing Asthma-Celiac link

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Reuters has a new article, "Asthma Linked to Celiac Disease," that reports on a study just out in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.The Reuters report is at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/us-asthma-linked-celiac-disease-idUSTRE71N4WF20110224. Excerpt: "Dr. Jonas Ludvigsson of Orebro University Hospital and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and colleagues compared

more than 28,000 Swedes diagnosed with celiac to more than 140,000 similar people without the disease.Ludvigsson cautioned that the study simply shows an association between the two diseases, not that one causes the other.It's

also unclear, he added, what might explain the association. "Personally, I think the role of vitamin D deficiency should be stressed," he told Reuters Health by email.People

with celiac are more likely to develop osteoporosis and tuberculosis, both diseases in which vitamin D plays a role. If a person with celiac also has low levels of vitamin D, this could in turn affect the immune system, which could increase the risk of developing asthma, Ludvigsson noted."Another potential mechanism could be that asthma and celiac disease share some immunological feature," he added. "If you have it, you are at increased risk of both diseases." HogleFreelance academic librarianInstructor, online researchEmail: jjhogle@...Web: (under de- and re-construction) www.blueroom.comReality ain't what you think it isArt Graphics & Photographs[http://www.blueroom.com/realityaint.htm]