Wheat Allergy Increases Risk of Death

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WHAT IS CELIAC DISEASE?

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Wheat Allergy Increases Risk of Death

Friday August 3 5:47 PM ET

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Celiac disease, a form of wheat allergy (also

found in rye, barley, oats, spelt), doubles patients' risk of death, a new

study has found. The risks are particularly severe for patients who are

diagnosed late in the disease or do not adhere to a strict diet free of

gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains.

 

Celiac disease, also known as celiac sprue, is a genetic disorder that

causes bowel disorders, diarrhea or weight loss because of an insensitivity

to gluten. It affects approximately one in 200 people. Patients often

develop cancers of the intestines, which is thought to lead to a higher

death rate.

 

Among 1,072 patients diagnosed with celiac disease in Italy from 1962 to

1994, Dr. Giovanni Carrao, a gastroenterologist at the University of

Milan-Bicocca in Italy, and colleagues found 53 deaths, compared with an

expected 26 deaths in the general population. The leading cause of death

was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

 

Relatives of patients with celiac disease did not have a higher than

average risk of death, nor did patients who lived three years following

diagnosis.

 

``Our results show that delay in diagnosis, poor adherence to treatment and

severity of symptoms at presentation unfavorably affects patients'

outlook,'' said Carrao. The study was published in the August 4th issue of

The Lancet.

 

SOURCE: The Lancet, 2001; 358: 356-361.