From GeneReviews re autoimmune disorders and CD

[Guest guest]

I did a quick look-up of what GeneReviews says about celiac disease: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=gene & part=celiac.

This is fabulous resource which provides a collection of information (a review) on practically all studies ever done on a particular disorder. This celiac review was last updated July 2008 and is maintained by 4 geneticists and genetic counselors. Most geneticists and many other clinicians use GeneReviews regularly.

This excerpt may help explain and support some of the things several of us have been saying today about autoimmune disorders and CD:

Best,

From GeneReviews:

Autoimmune disorders associated with celiac disease. Autoimmune disorders occur three to ten times more frequently in individuals with celiac disease than in the general population. These include type 1 diabetes mellitus, thyroiditis, Sjögren syndrome, disease, autoimmune liver disease, and neurologic disorders such as peripheral neuropathy.

The relationship between the increased frequency of second autoimmune diseases and celiac disease is attributed to a shared genetic and immunologic mechanism, although cause and effect is difficult to prove directly. There may be an etiologic effect of the celiac disease itself. One study suggested that the risk of developing these autoimmune conditions is proportional to the duration of gluten exposure [Ventura et al 1999]; however, this was not supported in other studies [sategna Guidetti et al 2001a, Duggan 2004, Viljamaa et al 2005, Green & Jabri 2006].

Although studies suggest that a gluten-free diet does not prevent the development of autoimmune disease [sategna Guidetti et al 2001a], initiation of a gluten-free diet may confer a benefit to individuals with celiac disease with various autoimmune diseases:

Diabetes- and thyroid-specific autoantibodies tend to disappear following treatment by a gluten-free diet [Ventura et al 1999].

Improved linear growth and glycemic control in diet-compliant children with celiac disease and type 1 diabetes mellitus has been recognized in one study [-Albisua et al 2005], although Nóvoa Medina et al [2008] recently reported that a gluten-free diet had no impact on metabolic control of diabetes.

A gluten-free diet may normalize thyroid function in individuals with thyroid disease [sategna-Guidetti et al 2001b].

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