November 1, 2023 – Women with Celiac disease A big latest study suggests that girls are at much higher risk of other health complications, including ovarian failure, endometriosis and pregnancy loss.
“The key message here is this Celiac disease is associated with a higher risk of health disorders in women,” said researcher Rama Nanah, MD, a clinical hospitalist on the Cleveland Clinic. Women with celiac disease should concentrate on these links and doctors should monitor fastidiously for extra risks, she said.
Compared to women without the condition, those with celiac disease also had significantly higher rates of polycystic ovary syndrome, irregular menstruation and infertility.
The study found that in comparison with women without celiac disease, women with celiac disease have a six times higher risk of primary ovarian failure, two and a half times higher risk of endometriosis, and twice the chance of recurrent pregnancy loss.
However, researchers couldn't determine why celiac disease increases this risk in women.
They examined the prevalence of health disorders in 9,368 women with celiac disease and one other 25 million women without celiac disease, matching age, race and body mass index to a national medical records database.
More common in women
The number of individuals diagnosed with celiac disease continues to rise and stays more common in women, Nanah said at ACG 2023 in Vancouver, Canada, a significant conference sponsored by the American College of Gastroenterology. For example, other researchers report that girls do that about twice as common as in men be diagnosed with celiac disease.
The diagnosis was based on a positive blood test, biopsy results, and/or a code within the records that a girl had received dietary counseling regarding celiac disease.
Nanah and her colleagues included women and girls aged 10 to 60. The 10- to 18-year-olds with celiac disease were nearly 4 times more more likely to have what’s referred to as delayed menarche, during which a woman doesn’t start menstruating until age 15, or inside three years of breast formation in adults. In the subsequent age group, women ages 19 to 35, women with celiac disease had higher rates of polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, endometriosis and infertility. Women ages 36 to 45 with celiac disease were also more more likely to have these three conditions, in addition to menopausal symptoms, including early menopause. Women ages 46 to 60 were also more more likely to experience menopausal symptoms in the event that they were diagnosed with celiac disease.
The study adds to previous research linking celiac disease to higher rates of complications while pregnant, labor and delivery. Nanah said her large study may help make clear some previous conflicting evidence on these links and supply a brand new link to higher rates of PCOS in women with celiac disease.
The large number of girls from a various outpatient population were strengths of the research. Because non-research data were used, some aspects, equivalent to the impact of food regimen on the incidence of health disorders, couldn’t be determined.
Closer follow-up really useful
The study suggests that women and girls with celiac disease should get tested for these other health conditions. The research is impactful “because it allows us to keep an eye on co-existing conditions that can impact our patients' quality of life, including infertility,” said session co-moderator Dr. Shannon Chang, a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone Health in New York City, said when asked for comment.
Because doctors can't do rather more for individuals with celiac disease than suggest a low-gluten food regimen, most victims don't return for medical treatment frequently, Chang said. The message to primary care physicians and obstetricians/gynecologists is to think about these other conditions in women with celiac disease and to ask patients for normal follow-up visits.