In 1994 I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which led me to create Celiac.com in 1995. I created this site for a single purpose: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living happy, healthy gluten-free lives. Celiac.com was the first site on the Internet dedicated solely to celiac disease, and since then it has become an invaluable resource to people worldwide who seek information about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet. In 1998 I created The Gluten-Free Mall, Your Special Diet Superstore! which was also another Internet first—it was the first gluten-free food site to offer a shopping cart-style interface, and the ability for people to order gluten-free products manufactured by many different companies at a single Web site.
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2006;18:187-194.
Celiac.com 04/10/2006 - According to findings by Dutch researchers, celiac disease increases the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma—but to a lower level than once believed. Past celiac disease studies have indicated that there is a 30 to 40-fold increased risk of enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma, however, Dr. M. Luisa Mearin and colleagues in The Netherlands investigated the frequency of celiac disease in two large European populations—one was a control group and the other was a group of non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients—and found that 1.2% of the non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients had celiac disease compared to 0.5% of the controls. After adjusting for age and sex differences between the two groups they found that celiac disease patients had a 2.6-fold increase risk of getting non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and this increased risk was only associated with patients who had been diagnosed prior to the study, and not in those with “silent” celiac disease which was found during the study. The odds of T-cell type small bowel lymphoma in celiac disease patients was estimated to be 28 times higher than for other localizations.
The researchers conclude that celiac disease patients have a significantly increased risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the association is lower than previously thought. Celiac disease is mainly associated with T-cell small bowel lymphoma which is, in general, a rare condition.