Coeliac disease and anaemia

Although coeliac disease had been thought to be a rare disease, essentially of Europeans, recent studies suggest that it is one of the most frequent genetically-based diseases occurring worldwide. Iron deficiency (or anaemia) could often be the only obvious symptom of the disease thereby delaying a diagnosis of coeliac disease.

A study reported in the World Journal of Gastroenterology in December looked at the prevalence of coeliac disease in over 4,000 patients with iron deficiency, 206 of whose deficiency was ‘of obscure origin’. Further investigation indicated that there is a high prevalence of coeliac disease in patients with iron deficiency ‘of obscure origin’ and that a gluten-free diet can improve anaemia in patients with relatively mild coeliac disease.

Read more

Click here for more research on coeliac disease

 

Top of page

If you found this article interesting, you will find many more general articles and research reports on coeliac disease here, and lots of information on the management of coeliac disease here.
You can also find articles and research reports on gluten intolerance here and articles on a wide range of other digestive conditions here.

For hundreds of gluten free foods see our freefrom food section here, and for nearly 800 gluten-free recipes see here.

And if you would like to get our FREE fortnightly e-newsletter with new products, recipes, articles and all the latest news from the allergy and freefrom world, just sign up here.