'Hidden' Celiac Disease Is Becoming Less Of A Problem In The U.S.

(Reuters Health) – - Fewer people in the U.S. have celiac disease without realizing it, a new study finds. The actual proportion of people with celiac disease in the United States has not changed since 2009, researchers say. “The total prevalence is stable,” Dr. Joseph Murray told Reuters Health in a phone interview. But there are fewer people walking around with “hidden” celiac disease. “When you look at the proportion that are diagnosed versus undiagnosed, that’s gone up dramatically. Go back six years and most patients were undiagnosed, with only about one in five getting diagnosed,” said Murray, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota who was part of the study team. “This increase in proportion diagnosed could be a reflection of increasing awareness of celiac disease,” said Murray. It’s also possible that people are getting the diagnosis more readily due to more wide use of testing, he said. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects roughly one of every 100 people in the U.S. People with celiac disease must avoid foods that contain the gluten protein from wheat, barley or rye; otherwise, their immune system attacks their intestines, resulting in malnutrition and a host of other problems. As reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Murray and his colleagues examined data from the large National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, also known as NHANES, from 2009 to 2014. Alto...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news