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Older Celiac Patients on Gluten-free Diet Show Reduced Cognitive Performance
- By Jefferson Adams
- Published 06/21/2012
- Cognitive Impairment and Celiac Disease
- Rating:
Jefferson Adams
Jefferson Adams is a freelance writer living in San Francisco. His poems, essays and photographs have appeared in Antioch Review, Blue Mesa Review, CALIBAN, Hayden's Ferry Review, Huffington Post, the Mississippi Review, and Slate among others.
View all articles by Jefferson AdamsCeliac.com 06/21/2012 - Retrospective studies and case reports have suggested that older patients with celiac disease may suffer from impaired cognitive function. To evaluate this possibility, a research team recently conducted a study of people with celiac disease who are over age 65.
The researchers included S. Casella, B. Zanini, F. Lanzarotto, C. Ricci, A. Marengoni, G. Romanelli, A. Lanzini, of the Gastroenterology Unit of the Department of Medicine at University and Spedali Civili in Brescia, Italy.
The researchers wanted to evaluate functional and cognitive performances in celiac disease, and in control patients, older than 65 years.
For their study, they recruited 18 celiac disease patients aged 75-years or older (±4 years, group A) who had been on a gluten free diet for an average of 5.5 years (±3 years), along with a control group of 18 patients matched for sex and age, averaging 76 years of age (±4 years, group B).
The team then administered a number of functional and cognitive neuropsychological tests. They recorded the results as "row scores" and as "equivalent scores" by relating "raw scores" to reference rank categories.
For the functional tests, they found that the Barthel Index of functional performance was similar for both groups.
However, for the cognitive tests, they found that the "raw score" was significantly lower in celiac disease than controls. The cognitive tests included Mini Mental Test Examination (p=0.02), Trail Making Test (p=0.001), Semantic Fluency (p=0.03), Digit Symbol Test (p=0.007), Ideo-motor apraxia (p
The also found that the "equivalent score" was also lower in celiac disease than controls for tests of Semantic memory. The results showed that cognitive performance is worse in elderly patients with celiac disease than in healthy control patients, despite prolonged treatment with a gluten-free diet.
They write that "awareness on the increasing phenomenon of late-onset celiac disease is important to minimize diagnostic delay and prolonged exposure to gluten that may adversely and irreversibly affect cognitive function."
Source:
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13 Responses to "Older Celiac Patients on Gluten-free Diet Show Reduced Cognitive Performance"
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25 Jun 2012 7:46:41 AM PDT How would you prove that cognitive performance is not just a result of their age in general? Some of these studies make no sense at all....
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26 Jun 2012 11:08:56 AM PDT Control group!
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27 Jun 2012 12:48:17 AM PDT It is true, I felt it on myself.
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25 Jun 2012 3:50:24 PM PDT It would be interesting to find out what the Vitamin B12 levels have been in the patients who had lower scores. Low B12 can also affect cognition.
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25 Jun 2012 5:23:27 PM PDT The title of the article and what the conclusions showed were contradictory. The title suggests that the gluten-free diet may have some bearing on patient cognition, but the article suggests that patients with celiac disease may suffer from a decline in cognition. This was confusing for me. There are a great many people on the gluten-free diet who do not suffer from celiac disease.
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26 Jun 2012 10:19:18 AM PDT Sorry for the confusion. We wanted to make it clear that the gluten-free diet does not seem to help prevent or reverse this, which is of course unfortunate.
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25 Jun 2012 8:28:43 PM PDT I was diagnosed celiac disease at the end of January and since May, I have been following a gluten-free diet. Last month my doctor began giving me B12 shots so I do hope they will help with cognition.
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25 Jun 2012 9:09:08 PM PDT I am younger than that and I have such issues. I can't think of words even if I know of them. I forget things as well. I can also get very angry too over stuff I have no control of. I found I can't eat other things as well as gluten.
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24 Mar 2013 4:13:46 PM PDT This has been a struggle of mine my whole life.
I see it in my head and can't get it off my tongue. I'm smart, but come across stupid and weird I'm sure of it. Angry outbursts are just a common thing for me too. I was properly diagnosed 9 months ago (after years of being treated for ulcers and parasites). I feel now that I'm eating gluten-free, I am able to recognize my issues, but don't feel they have diminished. I certainly don't feel sick anymore though, and NO MORE throwing up! That alone is an improvement. I however feel like I'm becoming 'stupid.' |
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26 Jun 2012 9:18:54 AM PDT Nutritional deficiencies related to malabsorption of vitamins, minerals, and simple carbohydrates are clearly associated celiac disease, as well as gluten sensitivity, such that patients present with anemia, osteoporosis, low blood sugar, etc. – many of which can impact cognitive function.
Doctors needs to key in on this with patients of all ages to diagnose and support them with not only a gluten-free but vitamin and mineral supplements to restore as soon as possible any longstanding deficits. This therapy should also include omega-3 oil (despite a recent study that disputed omega's connection to brain health). Even if negative for CD, anyone with diseases related to malabsorption, the gastrointestinal system, inflammation, chronic infections and many others should be placed on a trial gluten-free diet for a month as gluten is a known inflammatory. (One major hospital in Boston recommends that folks going through chemotherapy avoid gluten intake to decrease inflammation and lessen potential nausea.) Chances are many elders present with arthritis, gastrointestinal, cardiac issues, and other disorders often dismissed as simple aging issues. With my diagnosis, I am more convinced that my parents also had issues directly related to gluten. A small town near me received a grant to test elders for celiac disease, and they identified 2-3 folks with CD with long-standing medical issues that are related to the disease. I can tell you that I feel younger, and people have noted that I look younger since my gluten-free diet. Wouldn't it be great if someone could prove that many "old-age" disorders are associated with gluten or are more severe due to the intake of gluten? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could eliminate or lessen the use of prescription medications by simply putting elders (and others with chronic disorders) on a gluten-free diet? |
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27 Jun 2012 3:51:20 PM PDT It's important to note that if they are 65+ and have only been on the gluten-free diet for ~5.5 years average, then that means most of them discovered celiac disease and started gluten-free diet relatively late in their lives.
The article should point out that this study really says nothing about cognitive effects for people who been on the gluten-free diet much longer than 5 years and those who are younger, of course. Also, for a proper control, they include the newly diagnosed- confirmed celiacs who haven't started the diet yet. |
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27 Jun 2012 3:57:49 PM PDT Oh also, the p value simply means that the populations are distinctly statistically different. "Significant" in scientific writing simply means not a result of chance, not to be confused with significant meaning huge difference. The actual difference they didn't go to at all, other than the obvious lower numbers- by how much?
Or more simply, the difference in scores does not necessarily imply a level of cognitive difference that would be noticeable by a normal person in their daily lives. |
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02 Jul 2012 9:13:25 PM PDT Number of people in this test: way too few. Meaningless test!
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