Celiac Disease 20 Times More Likely for Those with Type 1 Diabetes

Pediatrics 2002;109:833-838.

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Celiac.com 06/06/2002 - The results of a study conducted by Dr. Graziano Barera and colleagues from the Scientific Institute H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy and published in the May issue of Pediatrics indicate that those with type 1 diabetes are 20 times more likely to also have celiac disease. The researchers collected data on 274 consecutive newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients with a mean age of 8.28 years. These patients were studied for the following 6 years. At the time of their diagnosis 10 of them (3.6%) already had celiac disease, and over the next 4 years an additional 12 children tested positive for antiendomysial antibodies, and 7 underwent biopsies and were confirmed to have celiac disease. The overall prevalence of biopsy confirmed celiac disease in the group was 6.2%, and most of the cases were asymptomatic and the children showed no obvious signs of the disease. The researchers conclude that greater than 10% of children with newly-diagnosed type 1 diabetes had developed serological markers for celiac disease within the first 6 years of diagnosis, and they recommend that children in this category be screened annually for celiac disease for several years following their type 1 diabetes diagnosis.