Celiac Disease And Diabetes-Is There A Link?

[BarryC]

I am lucky to not have full blown celiac, but definitely gluten sensitivity. Its possible that celiac is in my family, as is diabetes for sure. I wonder how many people with diabetes develop celiac, and vice versa? Personally, I could only lose weight on a low carb diet, but they are very hard to stick to-eating all that meat. Eliminating just the gluten containing foods is working much better for me in that department, together with all the other stuff that is resolving.

[Adalaide]

I think it's important to distinguish what people mean when they're talking about diabetes. Type one is an AI disease and because of that does have a link. About 10% of people with type 1 have celiac and about 3-5% of people with celiac have type 1. Open Original Shared Link Nothing really says though which came first for these groups, although it would be easy to speculate that that puts type 1 people at a 10% increased risk, since 1% of the general population has celiac. The ADA says that 9.3% of the population has diabetes but only 5% of those are type 1 and I'm too lazy to math tonight so it's really difficult to say what the risk is for celiacs to develop type 1, but it seems vanishingly small in comparison.

 

As for the risks with type 2? I've never looked it up but I imagine we can manage our risk the same as everyone else outside of genetics. Stop being fat and lazy with really poor diets loaded with more carbs than 3 people have any business eating.

[1desperateladysaved]

The same gene that is linked to celiac is linked also with diabetes, I believe.  When I did a gene test they asked about the families history of diabetes.  I have heard my functional medicine nurse comment on a genetic link between the two.

 

Dee

[pfongk]

When I was first diagnosed with Hashis, my endo told me that one of the first things he recommends is for his patients to go on a low gluten, preferably gluten free diet and to get their blood sugars taken due to there being a link between celiacs, type 1 diabeties, hashimoto's/graves and rheumatoyd arthritis. According to him, this is because when you've been diagnosed with one autoimmune disorder, you're body is more likely to go "I don't like this game, lets develop another autoimmune disorder".

[SMRI]

I don't know if it's a "fact" or just seems to happen kind of thing but autoimmune disorders tend to come in 3's....

[caniac4]

I don't know enough about a bonafide link between diabetes and celiac disease but I have both.  I've been a type 1 diabetic for 11 years and now have a diagnosis of celiac disease.  I'm on an autoimmune roll as I also have Addison's Disease and autoimmune thyroid disease and Sjogren's Syndrome.  So I was blessed with 5 AI disorders.  So far !