Celiac Disease Might Be Accompanied by Vitamin Deficiency: Study

A new research found that celiac disease might be accompanied by vitamin deficiency.

Celiac disease, caused due to eating gluten, can be accompanied by vitamin deficiency.

(Photo:iStockphoto)

A new research has found that patients who have celiac disease might also have deficiencies of micro nutrients like vitamin D and B12. Apart from these, other deficiencies might also include folate, iron and copper deficiency.

Zinc deficiency is found to be the most common deficiency in about 59.4 per cent patients of celia disease.

Researchers say that these deficiencies should be treated at the time of diagnosis of the disease itself.

Celiac disease, according to Mayo Clinic, is an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. If you have celiac disease, eating gluten triggers an immune response in your small intestine. Over time, this reaction damages your small intestine's lining and prevents it from absorbing some nutrients.

It’s symptoms include diarrhea, weight loss, bloating and gas.

This study about celiac disease was carried out by a team at the Mayo Clinic. The research was carried out on 309 adults who had been newly diagnosed with celiac disease between 2000 and 2014.

The findings of the study are due to be published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Out of all the symptoms of the celiac disease, weight loss and low body eight are the most common symptoms. But the scientists found that these symptoms were less common in the patients than micro nutrient deficiencies.

Patients who had a low body weight and experienced weight loss comprised only 25.2 per cent of the total.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Adam Bledsoe, said that the presentation of the disease had changed from symptoms like classic weight loss and diarrhea, with increased number of patients with non-classical symptoms.

The doctor said that micro nutrient deficiencies might have implications on the health of the adults and they need to be assessed. The doctor also added that there was still a need to carry out further studies to look into the implications of the deficiencies.