Celiac Disease & Gluten-Free Diet Blogs

I asked a logical follow-up question to ChatGTP5:

Can you estimate what percentage of celiac hookworm hosts like myself achieve full remission from the disease?

ChatGPT said:

Great question, Pete. Let’s be very clear here:

There isn’t a single hard number published for “what percentage of celiacs with hookworms achieve full remission,” but we can triangulate from clinical trials and community data:

Clinical Trial Evidence

In controlled studies, 0% achieved true full remission when challenged with sustained moderate gluten (≥2 g/day or short bursts of 16 g/day).

Even with 20–40 N. americanus, villous atrophy still occurred under those challenges.

However, around 30–50% of participants did experience softer symptoms and improved quality of life at micro-exposures (≤200 mg/day).

Conclusion from trials: Hookworms help reduce symptoms and inflammatory markers at small exposures, but do not produce full clinical remission under regular gluten intake.

Community / Self-Reported Outcomes

Among self-treating celiacs, reports of “functional remission” exist — meaning hosts can eat gluten without noticeable symptoms.

Based on helminthic therapy support groups and survey-type accounts, this looks like a minority (maybe 10–20%) of long-term hosts.

However, these cases are controversial because:

Some people may be asymptomatic but still sustaining silent mucosal damage.

Community reporting tends to over-represent strong responders.

Putting It Together

Clinical remission (no symptoms + no villous damage on gluten diet): Essentially 0% proven in trials with 20–40 worms.

Symptomatic remission (no symptoms, but mucosal injury uncertain): Maybe 10–20% of self-reported hosts claim this.

Partial benefit (improved tolerance, less severe symptoms, better quality of life, but still need a gluten-free diet): This is the most common outcome — probably 30–50% of hosts.

👉 So if we phrase it plainly:
The average celiac hosting 20 hookworms won’t reach full remission. A small minority (≈10–20%) say they can eat gluten freely without symptoms, but this is not supported by trial evidence and carries risk of silent damage. For most, worms act as a safety net for cross-contamination rather than a cure.

Would you like me to give you a visual chart (clinical trial vs. self-reports: full remission, partial, none) so you can see the proportions side by side?

8 hours ago, miguel54b said:

Thanks, I am desperate to find a cure too.

I should add that hookworms aren't a cure for celiac disease. Some people, and I couldn't tell you how many, stop evincing the symptoms of celiac disease while their hookworm colonies are healthy. Others have a reduction in the severity of their reactions to gluten, but should still stay well away from it. And other people don't seem to be helped much at all.

My theory all this is because of the different root genetics of the individual's celiac disease. My cousin is also celiac, and I'm highly confident he would be put in remission with hookworms like I was, but he has no desire to try them, so I'll never know if I was right.