Loading ...It is the nature of operating in the gluten-free food space that we at Custom Choice Cereal read about links between celiac disease and various other conditions. Most prominent are the connection of celiac disease and type I diabetes or the controversially discussed relation to autism (or the “leaky gut” as a symptom).
We just came across a article published on the blog RonPaulIsHope that discussed the possible relationship between celiac disease and asthma. It mentions that
- a 2005 study of (a small sample of ) 86 celiacs in the Maltese islands revealed that 27.8% of them also had asthma. Asthma was thus was statistically significant more common in patients with celiac disease than in the general Maltese population
- asthma preceeded celiac disease in 16 patients, and a “gluten-free diet had led to improvement in asthma in 6 patients, possible improvement in 2 patients, and no change in 8 patients” in the 2005 study
- a 2001 study in Finland looked at the 1987 Finnish Medical Birth Register data of 60,254 births and concluded that “the cumulative incidence of asthma in children with celiac disease (24.6%) [...] was significantly higher than in children without it (3.4%)”
We can only reiterate the conclusion that is drawn at the end of the article: the studies do not prove a causal relationship between celiac disease and asthma. However, they suggest that they might be correlated. Hopefully this will be the subject of further research.
The main take-away is that if you suffer from celiac disease or gluten intolerance and have asthma, going on a gluten-free diet can help reduce the severity of your asthma.
