Club fingers

[catharine westlake]

Can club fingers be a symptom of coeliac disease?

[plumbago]

In terms of the clubbing shape, how it happens is actually a complex process. But usually nail clubbing occurs as a result of deficiency of oxygen to the body's tissues.

[knitty kitty]

Welcome to the forum, @catharine westlake!

Yes, hypoxia (not getting enough oxygen) can cause clubbing in the fingers.  

Hypoxia can occur in subclinical Thiamine deficiency.  Thiamine Vitamin B 1 is needed to help carry oxygen around the body.  If one is low in Thiamine clubbing can result.  

My fingers showed clubbing when I experienced Thiamine deficiency, but they have returned to normal after supplementing with Thiamine in the form called Benfotiamine.  

Celiac Disease causes damage to the small intestine where essential vitamins and minerals are absorbed.  Nutritional deficiencies can result, and, unfortunately, can easily be overlooked or attributed to other symptoms.  Thiamine Vitamin B 1 simply runs out first, but do get checked for other deficiencies in B12 and Folate, too.

Ask for an Erythrocyte Transketolase test which tests for how well Thiamine is being utilized in the body.  

Hope this helps!

Thiamine deficiency disorders: a clinical perspective

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8451766/

[trents]

Yes. 

"Other conditions related to digital clubbing

Ascariasis. A roundworm infection of your intestines.

Celiac disease. An autoimmune disease that can damage your small intestine." https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23957-clubbed-fingers

[captaincrab55]

Here's a general reply to a simple search that includes Celiac Disease:  

People also ask

What is Club fingers a symptom of?

Clubbed fingers is a symptom of disease, often of the heart or lungs which cause chronically low blood levels of oxygen. Diseases which cause malabsorption, such as cystic fibrosis or celiac disease can also cause clubbing. Clubbing may result from chronic low blood-oxygen levels

[Scott Adams]

Clubbing of the fingers is not typically associated with celiac disease. Clubbing of the fingers is more commonly associated with certain respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.

[knitty kitty]

"While clubbing is associated with many pathologies, it may also be observed with malnutrition, chronic alcohol use disorder, and chronic laxative use, often seen in individuals with eating disorders."

Nutritional Assessment

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK580496/?report=reader

 

"Review of the literature indicates that between 75 and 80% of cases are associated with chronic pulmonary diseases; 10 to 15% are associated with cardiovascular diseases; 5 to 10% with chronic hepatic and gastrointestinal disorders; and 5 to 10% with miscellaneous disorders."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK366/

And...

https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/symptoms/clubbing-of-the-fingers-or-toes

And...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340070700_ATYPICAL_CELIAC_DISEASE_PRESENTING_WITH_CLUBBING

"In our case, there were impairment of finger and iron

deficiency anemia which did not improve with replacement.

After the diagnosis of atypical celiac disease, a gluten-free diet

was started and symptoms rapidly regressed."

Edited October 20, 2023 by knitty kitty
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[Wheatwacked]

     Kwashiorkor.   protein deficiency.  Around 1969 the Biafran Relief Society was convinced to buy the modern wheat; developed by Norman Borlaug (who recieved the Nobel Prize in 1970); instead of the rice flour they had been buying.  Shortly afterwards we started seeing newspaper images of the famine in Biafra, now Nigeria. It was attributed to protein deficiency Kwashiorkor.  It would not be good to blame the wheat with a Nobel Prize at stake.     In 1976 when my just weaned infant son looked like this I recognized the image.  He was diagnosed with Celiac Disease after several biopsies.  A few months of Nutramigen followed by gluten free diet when weaned and he grew up healthy and strong.