Is Celiac Disease Hidden Among IBS Sufferers?
If you’ve ever experienced cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea and or constipation, you know how miserable it can feel. And unfortunately, these symptoms could indicate irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but they could also be signs of celiac disease, which leaves us wondering...could celiac disease be hidden among IBS sufferers?
According to Beyond Celiac, yes! Between 5 and 15% of those diagnosed with celiac disease were originally diagnosed with IBS and the prevalence of celiac disease in people who also have IBS is 4 times greater than in the general population!
For those of you who don’t know, IBS is a functional disorder. Meaning, there is nothing structurally wrong with the gut, unlike in celiac disease or in Crohn’s Disease. Individuals with IBS typically have a sensitive digestive system with heightened reactivity, which causes the bowel to respond differently to normal gut stimuli. While celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine. It is a reaction to gluten, one of the primary proteins in wheat, barley, and rye, that causes the immune system to mistakenly attack the cells lining the wall of the small intestine.
So, if you've been diagnosed with IBS but haven't been tested for celiac disease, you should talk to your family doctor about ordering the blood tests for celiac disease. For more information on the blood test for celiac disease check out this handy handout. But if you’ve already been tested and the results came back negative for celiac disease, you might want to consider a trial of the gluten-free diet. Studies have found that a subset of people with IBS, but without celiac disease, suffer from non-celiac gluten sensitivity and see their IBS symptoms improve or clear up when they eat gluten-free.
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Article written for MyHealthyGut
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