Left unntreated, celiac disease can lead to long-term health complications. Often diagnosis occurs only because a patient has developed one or more of these serious conditions that resist treatment.
Iron deficiency anemia
Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen
Left unntreated, celiac disease can lead to long-term health complications. Often diagnosis occurs only because a patient has developed one or more of these serious conditions that resist treatment.
Iron deficiency anemia
Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body; iron is necessary for the production of those blood cells. Without enough iron, the body cannot produce sufficient red blood cells to adequately distribute oxygen, a condition called iron deficiency anemia. Malabsorption of nutrients, like iron, is common for individuals with celiac disease, and there is a high occurrence of anemia (up to 33%) in celiac disease patients. The relationship is so strong, in fact, that people whose anemia has no obvious cause (i.e. blood loss) should be tested for celiac disease.
Early onset osteoporosis or osteopenia
Osteopenia is the thinning of bones that occurs when the body uses up bone mass faster than it can get replaced. At its most severe, this condition becomes osteoporosis, in which bones become so brittle and fragile that even a cough might cause bone breakage. Damage to the small intestine, such as is present for untreated or newly diagnosed celiac patients, can prohibit calcium absorption, leading to osteopenia and osteoporosis at a much younger age than for unaffected individuals. Adherence to a gluten-free diet can actually result in improved bone density, though it is also important to take other, more traditional precautions to maximize bone health.
Infertility and miscarriage
Infertility is defined as the inability of a couple to achieve pregnancy after 12 months of regular intercourse without contraceptive use. A number of studies over the last couple of decades have suggested some link between infertility (and/or miscarriage, an inability to successfully carry a fetus until it can survive outside the womb) and celiac disease, though the relationship is not yet completely clear. There is a slightly higher prevalence of undiagnosed celiac disease in women experiencing infertility, and adoption of a gluten-free diet has seemed to lead to increased fertility in those patients.
Lactose intolerance is the inability to properly digest the sugar (lactose) found in milk and other dairy products. As this type of digestion occurs in the small intestine, it is not surprising that lactose intolerance and celiac disease commonly co-occur, in a condition called secondary lactose intolerance. As many as 24% of people with lactose intolerance may also have celiac disease. Interestingly, by following a gluten-free diet and allowing the intestinal villi to heal, lactase enzyme production may be re-established, effectively ending the lactose intolerance.
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
A vast amount of our vitamin and mineral absorptio