You may not even have a clue about it but still may be suffering from celiac disease. If you are at risk for celiac disease, you need to get yourself screened, even if you show no symptoms, so says a study carried out by Tampere University Hospital and School of Medicine in Finland.
Celiac is a digestive disease that interferes with absorption of nutrients from food and causes digestive problems in the small intestine when gluten - a common protein found in wheat, barley and rye - is consumed.
Many people may have this disease but may not be aware of it and so the researchers suggest screening of at-risk populations of celiac disease irrespective of the absence of symptoms. According to the researchers, the number of people suffering from celiac has grown in US and it has been found out that around 2 million people do not know that they have the disease.
For the purpose of the study, around 3,031 healthy people, related in some way to people with celiac disease were chosen. Out of this 40 people who tested positive to antibodies specific to celiac disease were selected. Among them through random selection some were made to follow gluten free diet. Others were asked to follow their normal diet. At the end of the study, it was found that people on gluten free diet experienced improved gastrointestinal health and in general better overall health when compared to the others.
"We found that regardless of the clinical presence of celiac disease, most screen-detected patients benefited from early treatment of a gluten-free diet," said Dr. Katri Kaukinen, from the gastroenterology department at Tampere University Hospital and School of Medicine in Finland. 85 percent of the participants were ready to continue gluten free diet.
"In addition, the results showed that endomysial-antibody positive patients had an evident gluten-dependent disorder and, therefore, it could be argued that detection of antibody positivity could be sufficient for the diagnosis of celiac disease," she explained. She further stated that an intensified serologic testing of population at risk for celiac should be encouraged. However, she noted that more research in this regard is required before expanding screening to general population.
