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.
Celiac.com 05/09/2005 – Past studies have linked depression and behavioral disorders in teenagers with untreated celiac disease. Researchers in Finland conducted a study that was designed to determine what effect a gluten-free diet has on the psychiatric symptoms of adolescents with celiac disease, and specifically on the hormone prolactin (thyroid function) and on large neutral amino acid serum concentrations. Nine 12 to 16 –year-old adolescents with celiac disease were evaluated using the semi-structured K-SADS-Present and Lifetime Diagnostic interview, and seven were followed up after 1-2, 3 and 6 months on a gluten-free diet.
The researchers found that pre-gluten-free diet adolescents with celiac disease and depression had significantly lower tryptophan competing amino-acid ratios and free tryptophan concentrations, and had significantly higher biopsy morning prolactin levels compared to those without depression. After three months on a gluten-free diet the researchers noted a significant decrease in the patients psychiatric symptoms that coincided with a decrease in celiac disease symptoms and prolactin levels, and a sharp increase in serum concentrations of tryptophan competing amino-acid ratios.
The researchers conclude that their findings support the idea that untreated celiac disease in adolescents can create serotonergic dysfunction due to the impaired availability of tryptophan, and this may play a role in depressive and behavioral disorders.