Blood samples indicate huge rise in celiac rates
The rate of celiac disease has been rising at an alarming rate. According to studies done at the Mayo Clinic the rate has increased by four times over the last fifty years! Researchers at the Mayo Clinic studied 9,000 blood samples from an air force base in Wyoming that were collected between the years 1948-1954. They then compared them to 12,000 samples taken from adults currently living in Minnesota. They found that the blood samples from fifty years ago indicated that 1 in 652 people had undiagnosed celiac disease. The blood samples from the adults currently living in Minnesota told a very different tale. Among the older population of Minnesotans the celiac rate was 1 in 121, and among the younger group it was 1 in 106! Celiac disease has exploded over the last fifty years, and many people don’t even know it!
What makes these statistics even more frightening is that 2/3 of those in this study with undiagnosed celiac disease were four times more likely to die early than those without the disease. These results have left some medical professionals with the opinion that the celiac blood test should be administered as often as cholesterol tests. The celiac blood test is simple measures that can detect the anti-bodies found in celiac disease. They are 99% accurate. There is no reason that this test should not be standard medical protocol.
Something needs to be done to spread this message. Food companies have already started to take notice. Who among us celiac sufferers has not yet tasted the Betty Crocker cake mixes? But the medical community needs to rise to this challenge as well. Doctors need to inform their patients (particularly those with celiac disease in their family) that they need to get tested. And patients need to be proactive about this too. If their doctors don’t suggest it, patients need to request the celiac blood test. It really is a potentially life threatening matter.
4 Responsesto “Blood samples indicate huge rise in celiac rates”
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Thanks for bringing these statistics to our attention. I am going to my dooctor tomorrow to get myself and my kids that blood test.
Thanks for the stats! wow. The celiac blood test should definitely be routine but it’s amazing how many doctors don’t really know that much about it. And frightening.
I wonder if it’s due to the overuse of antibiotics — causing yeast imbalance which then leads to higher impermeability of the intestines — which in turn can lead to celiac disease. Hmmmmm…
And a question, this blood test you’re talking about — do you have to be consuming gluten to test positive for celiac disease at the time of the test? Or if you’ve been gluten free will it still show?
If you have been on a gluten free diet the blood tests might produce a false negative. The blood tests are testing for certain anti-bodies that the immune system of a celiac produces in response to the gluten in their diet. If their is no gluten in the diet, there will be no anti-bodies and the tests will come out negative.
Jen