A lot of research recently has suggested that celiac sprue may be the root cause or a major contributor to many other diseases in particular those of the autoimmune variety. Celiac disease itself is an autoimmune disease which makes it difficult to impossible for the body to absorb vital nutrients from food for health and survival. Because immune antibodies that are sent to attack the gluten particle also attack the villi lining the small intestine flattening them it makes it difficult for food to be digested and for nutrients to be properly absorbed.

Recent research has suggested the tendency for celiac is at least partly genetic and is usually present at birth although it can lie dormant for years. Couple that with the tendency for those with celiac disease to have other sorts of autoimmune diseases and it makes for a convincing case that this disease could have something to do with triggering other autoimmune disorders. Research is being done now to explore this connection and what they are finding leads researchers to believe that there may very well be a link between celiac disease and the high prevalence of autoimmune diseases in the same people.

Specifically a study was done on 172 patients with autoimmune thyroid disease and two control groups. In that study 3.4% of the patients that had thyroid disease also had celiac disease, where the rate of celiac disease in the control groups was between 0.6% and 0.25%.  During the study it was also discovered that it was possible undiagnosed celiac disease could trigger an autoimmune disease. This study left them fairly convinced that celiac disease that was undiagnosed or untreated, could “switch on” some immunological mechanism causing other disorders. This mechanism is yet unknown and much more research is needed to understand the connection between different autoimmune diseases.

What is known is that celiac patients produce organ- specific autoantibodies that in the case of thyroid disease can attack the thyroid, and cause autoimmune thyroiditis. The good news is that when a patient with celiac disease adheres to a gluten free diet within three to six months the organ specific autoantibodies will disappear.