iThyroid.com

CELIAC DISEASE

Information from Mary Shomon:

CELIAC/AUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISEASE CONNECTION: A CURE FOR AUTOIMMUNE
THYROID PROBLEMS?

The medical journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences has recently
reported that a significant number of people who have autoimmune thyroid
disease also have a condition known as celiac disease. Celiac disease
causes the intestines to react abnormally to a substance called gluten.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut, and
other related grains. Celiac disease is also sometimes called celiac
sprue, sprue, or gluten intolerance. If you have celiac disease, your
body may have difficulty absorbing nutrients from foods, leaving you
malnourished, or deficient in key nutrients and vitamins. Celiac disease
symptoms include various intestinal difficulties, recurring abdominal
bloating and pain, nausea, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and other
problems. The key news out of this research for thyroid patients is
that researchers found that organ-specific autoantibodies (i.e., thyroid
antibodies) can disappear after 3 to 6 months of a gluten-free diet.
Don't rush right out and start on a gluten-free diet, however. You
should have a blood test while eating your *regular* diet, and if you
are positive, THEN go on the gluten-free diet to confirm the test
results and diagnosis. For the percentage of people with autoimmune
hypothyroidism who have celiac disease, diagnosis and a gluten-free diet
may represent a permanent cure for their hypothyroidism. A detailed
article, along with references and more information on celiac disease
and the gluten-free diet, is located in an article at my website.

http://thyroid.about.com/library/weekly/aa040700a.htm

In persons with celiac disease, ingestion of gluten increases prolactin production.

Scand J Gastroenterol Suppl 1998;228:122-9

Coeliac disease: always something to discover.

Varkonyi A, Boda M, Endreffy E, Nemeth I, Timar E

Dept. of Paediatrics, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical University, Szeged, Hungary.

The authors present more than 20 years' experience with coeliac disease, with a summary of their published studies. Hair shaft characteristics were determined by scanning electron microscopy. Hair diameter was significantly lower and cuticular erosion scores higher in those who were not on gluten-free diets as compared to controls, showing a tendency towards normal values following start of gluten-free diets. Proton-induced X-ray emission showed significantly lower zinc content of the hair shaft in the group with acute coeliac disease and after a short-term diet, which approached the normal range only after a year-long diet. The serum prolactin levels in healthy controls and in coeliac patients on the diet were within normal limits, whereas in children with coeliac disease taking gluten in their meals, a significant hyperprolactinaemia was found. The erythrocyte glutathione content of coeliac children was elevated, and the glutathione disulfide level was significantly decreased, as compared to values in normal controls. The erythrocyte glutathione disulfide level and glutathione disulfide/erythrocyte glutathione ratio in coeliac children also differed from those in children with iron deficiency. With genotyping, the DQB1*0201/2 (p < 0.00001) and DR3 (p < 0.00001), DR7 (p < 0.01) alleles showed significant positive association with the disease.

CELIAC DISEASE AND VITAMIN D

From the Nutrition Almanac (4th Ed. pg. 83): "Celiac disease is indirectly related to a vitamin D deficiency resulting from structural  damage and unabsorbed fats and calcium salts and vitamin D that are flushed out in the stool."

Organ-Specific Autoantibodies Linked to Dietary Gluten in Celiac Disease Patients WESTPORT, Sep 07, 2000 (Reuters Health) - Patients with celiac disease have high levels of diabetes- and thyroid-related autoantibodies that "disappear" when the patients are placed on a gluten-free diet. The finding confirms the high prevalence of organ-specific autoantibodies in patients with celiac disease, and supports the theory that these antibodies are gluten-dependent, Dr. Alessandro Ventura, of the Universita di Trieste, Italy, and colleagues say in the August issue of the Journal of Pediatrics. The investigators tested 90 children with celiac disease for serum antibodies to islet cells, glutamic acid decarboxylase, insulin, and thyroperoxidase. The overall prevalence of diabetes- and thyroid-related autoantibodies was 11.1% and 14.4%, respectively. Prior studies have suggested that the presence of organ-specific autoantibodies in patients with celiac disease is "related to the presence of a second autoimmune disease." However, the fact that serum organ-specific autoantibodies tended to disappear in the current study when patients were placed on a gluten-free diet supports the position that these antibodies are at least partly gluten-dependent. "A gluten-free diet started early may prevent the other autoimmune diseases frequently associated with celiac disease," Dr. Ventura and colleagues hypothesize. However, further studies will be needed to determine the clinical significance of the organ-specific autoantibodies in these patients and to confirm this hypothesis. J Pediatr 2000;137:263-265.