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Celiac disease,
which has been associated with conditions ranging from diabetes,
anemia, short stature, infertility, Down syndrome and diarrhea,
is more common in the United States than previously thought.
According to a
screening of more than 13,000 people in 32 states, more than
1.5 million Americans suffer from celiac disease. Despite
this, few people in the United States had heard of the disease.
People with celiac
disease, a digestive disorder, should not eat foods that contain
gluten, such as wheat, barley and other grains. Those foods
can trigger an autoimmune reaction in the intestines and prevent
the proper absorption of nutrients.
Celiac disease
is an autoimmune disease, like diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
To get the disease, you must have a genetic predisposition
and an environmental factor must trigger the disease. While
the environmental triggers of other autoimmune diseases are
not known, celiac disease is triggered by gluten.
Symptoms vary widely
and can range from anemia and osteoporosis to diarrhea and
constipation, though some people do not have any symptoms
at all.
Many experts believed
that the condition was relatively rare in the United States,
and preliminary studies found celiac disease in about one
out of every 150 people.
However, research
from the largest multi-center, epidemiological study on the
prevalence of celiac disease in the United States found that
among "at-risk" participants, celiac disease was
present in one out of 22 people who had first-degree relatives
with the disorder.
Among adults with
associated symptoms, the disease was present in one out of
every 68 people, while one out of every 25 children with symptoms
was affected. Among study participants who were considered
"not at-risk," celiac disease was found in one out
of every 133 people.
Though there is
no cure for celiac disease, people with the disease can lead
healthy lives by following a gluten-free diet, restricted
of all products derived from wheat, rye, barley, oats, and
a few other grains.
Researchers hope
that the study will raise awareness about the disease and
increase the likelihood that physicians will test patients
for it.
Archives
of Internal Medicine February 10, 2003;163:286-292
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