HEALTHCeliac symptoms varied; disease not so rareResearchers warn that many more people than previously thought have this digestive illness and remain undiagnosed.By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. March 3, 2003. Washington -- Physicians should expand the classic definition of celiac disease beyond chronic diarrhea, weight loss and a big belly in youngsters who recently began eating gluten-containing foods. The definition should include, for starters, constipation, weight gain and excessive fatigue. A study by the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research found that one in 133 Americans not considered at risk for celiac disease may have the serious digestive disease, a number much higher than the one in 4,700 Americans currently diagnosed. "We now believe that more than 1.5 million Americans suffer from celiac disease, making it twice as common as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and cystic fibrosis combined," said Alessio Fasano, MD, the study's principal investigator and professor of pediatrics, medicine and physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. The multicenter study took place over five years and included blood samples from 13,145 adults and children. Researchers found that celiac disease, caused by an intolerance to gluten, was present in one out of 22 of those who had first-degree relatives with the disorder and in one out of 133 who were not thought to be at risk. Study results were published in the Feb. 10 Archives of Internal Medicine. Many people with the disease are thought to be undetected by the radar of even the most attentive physician because the symptoms are actually very wide-ranging, contrary to what has been taught in medical schools. [...]Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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