Celiac disease is more common in patients with diabetes in the United States than has been thought, reported researchers in the October issue of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology.
They examined 218 patients aged 4 to 21 years with insulin-dependent diabetes seen in the Division of Gastroenterology and the Diabetes Center at Children's Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin, both in Milwaukee. Using screening blood tests for IgA endomysial antibody and small-bowel biopsies for confirmation, they found that 10 patients had celiac disease.
Another study found that less than 1% of otherwise healthy US children and adults have celiac disease (J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2000;31(suppl 2):A1081).
"We found a 4.6% incidence of celiac disease in our study," said Steven Werlin, MD, professor of pediatric gastroenterology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. "That's significantly more than the 1% or less that is in the general population." . . . [Full Text of this Article]
