Irish Heritage And Celiac's

[Queen Serenity]

I am curious to know how Celiac's is related, in the majority, to people of an Irish background. Everyone I have spoken too, who have the disease, have some Irish background. I just want to know if there is a connection. If you have no Irish background, please let me know what nationalities you are. Thanks in advance, if you choose to take the survey.

Vicki

[plantime]

On my dad's side, I am German. On my mom's side, I am French, Irish, and Dutch. My Grandpa used to tell my Grandma "The French and the Irish, they ain't very much...But anything's better than the ____ ole Dutch!" It never failed to get her riled up!

[Thomas]

interesting

[dkmb]

Yes, there is Irish in our background, along with many other European ancestors including Danish, English and German.

I have heard that there are some who think JFK with all his medical problems may have been an undiagnosed Celiac.

Italy is another country that has a high percentage of Celiacs. It may be due to their much more frequent testing for the disease.

DK

[khyricat]

not positive yet- waiting on test results, but:

the only irish in my background is having lived there....

my family background is from alsace lorraine (france/german) and other parts of eastern europe... mixed with native american....

again- the eastern european part makes sense for me....

[rsavage]

My heritage is, as most, a mixed bag. German, English, Swiss and of course the ever lovable Irish. Any or all of these could be considered Northern European. Guess we have a lot of that going around. My husband's family is Danish and while he is not a celiac, we have at least one of our seven offspring as a diagnosed celiac. My sister, mother and grandmother were also affected. Hope this helps. Thanks for the post, rs.

[kalo]

I know I have Irish/Norwegian on my mothers side. My fathers side has several things but I never remember what they are. Would have to ask my daughter who is into family history. My father had chron's disease but I think he may have had this and we didn't know about it. However, my grandfather on my mothers side had colon cancer. Hugs, Carol B (who is waiting test results from enterolab for a formal diagnosis)

[MySuicidalTurtle]

When I told a new friend that I had Celiacs she said "Oh, you must be of Irish decent." I told her I had some Irish in my background and asked her why she would know that. She told me that she knew people with it and about how people with Irish backgrounds having it more ofter and such. I don't really remember all she said about it though. So, it's funny seeing that on here!

[gf4life]

I am English, Welsh, Dutch, German, French, and American Indian (that I know of, there may be more). I'm not sure about any Irish, but all my relatives on my mom's side are gone and that's where the celiac disease would have come from, so I can't ask any of them. That was most of the Welsh, Dutch, and French. Possible some Irish or Scottish. It's kind of hard to say. I'm just a euro-mutt.

My kids are all that plus Philippino, which for my husband includes Chinese, Japanese, Malay and Portuguese.

[oreyes]

My father was German and my mother Dutch/Irish. Looking back Mom had numerous problems with diarrhea but just delt with it and didn't seek any medical help. She passed away four years ago but now that I've been diagnosed with celiac, I wonder if maybe she had it also but it was a disease doctors just didn't know that much about when she was younger.

[debmidge]

My celiac husband is Danish/German/Italian. No Irish involved as he is third generation and knows that the great grand parents came over from the other side. There is one point I'd like to make and that is no one really knows who married into their families when their ancestors were in Europe. For example, his Danish side could be mixed in with Irish a century ago unbeknownst to him. An Irish person could have migrated to Denmark and settled there, as the two countries are so close.

I understand that Asian , American Indian and Black populations don't see celiac as much, but then again, if there is some European in their ancestry that they don't know about, they could very well be suffering from celiac as well. Also, keep in mind that during the time of the European explorers and the Vikings, Europeans traveled vast distances and put down roots: examples: South & Central America, in the Carribean, Africa, parts of Asia....this would mean that the gene for this may be more widespead than the medical community realizes. The gene doesn't go away so the general population may see a day where the percentage of people with celiac disease is getting higher and higher.

Just a few things I think about when I am not making gluten-free food.....

Debmidge

[carleyq]

I also come from Irish decent, however my mothers side seems to be the one that has symptoms of the disease. They are Dutch. It seems as though the Dutch are sharing responsibility with the Irish here!

P.S.: Debmidge-

[j9n]

Irish on my mothers side. She had a lot of health problems including pancreatitis and insulin dependent diabetes and she never drank a day in her life. She used to hate it when she would go to the hospital and they would try to get her into AA.

[Eliza444]

I am a newly diagnosed, Celiac, by blood test only. I am soon to have a biopsy, by a new Gastro. Dr. Almost the first question he asked me, was are you of Irish Descent? I am, my parents on both sides have Irish heritage. Lucky ME!

My sister is also a Celiac, and suspect a deceased sister, probably was also.

[Karina]

I am Scotch-Irish on my mothers side, and German/French on my fathers side. I have celiac and we don't know if one of my parents has it --mom is getting tested and she does have symptoms. The doc thinks I may have hemochromotosis (iron-overload) and it is also known as "The Celtic Curse"! Guess thats what they call the "luck of the Irish".

[celiac3270]

Mother's Side: Lots of Swiss and Swedish

Father's Side: Some Irish, some English, and some other stuff

[Mark]

I have read that people with celtic origin are at higher risk in developing celiac. So, the conclusion about the Irish descent sounds reasonable to me. And obviously, guess what the celtics had on the menu.

(My mother is German, my father is Czech)

MARK

gluten-free/CF since September 03

[GinEva]

Hi:

My family line came from London (England), Londonderry (N. Ireland), Scotland, Alsance Lorraine (German/French border), and Austria.

I had sent an e-mail to an old friend of mine and described the countries relationships to being Celiac, as such:

"It's inhereted, runs in Irish, Italian, and Northern Europian families and is due to getting a gene from our Hunter/Gatherer ancestors (a real caveman's gut!). The Romans (Italian) brought their cross-pollinated wheat/rye hybred up to the North, but my ancestor's couldn't digest their bread. (Remember in StarTrek the episode "The Trouble with Tribles", the Tribles ended up dying from starvation from eating the wheat seads....the same exact stuff that effects me....) Well, the Roman's took back wives from Ireland, England & Germany and that's why they got the gene, too!"

[bluebird]

My ancestors were Swiss, German, English, French, and whatever people are called from Luxembourg. Luxemburgers? Luxembourgians? They both sound funny. No Irish as far as I know. Too bad, I really liked Ireland and the people when I was there.

Lynn

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

My family and i are true germans. I'm probably the last descendant who was born in Germany. My grandma on my mother's side was born in the Rhineland-Palatinate, which is actually german, too. There's no irish or any other nationality in our family that i know of.

Actually what i found pretty confusing was, that my doc asked me, if my ancestors come from the Middle East (cause i'm a pretty small, greenish/hazel eyed brunette). I replied, not of what i know. He said, celiac would be more common there. I don't get it ??? Maybe somebody could help me out here???

Greetings, Stef

[Canadian Karen]

My family is predominantly Irish on both my mother's and my father's side..... There is also French, Scottish, British mixed in there too!!!

Karen

[astyanax]

both irish and english, more irish than english though. ireland is the best country i've been in for celiacs

[celiac3270]

Open Original Shared Link tried to post using the report button, therefore, it didn't get added to the thread, but came to the moderators. Here is what dscialla wanted to say:

I was diagnosed with Celiac 3 months ago. I do have Irish ancestry.

[GEF]

I also have some Irish ancestry. Also, Italian, German, Norweigan.

Gretchen

[crc0622]

Yep - Dutch is what I've always heard we were. Some German thrown in there, too. I have fair skin, freckles and look Irish so there's probably some of that floating around. (I have a strange fondness for Ireland, also. They say if you have a drop of Irish blood in you, you always consider Ireland home, so maybe that's it!)

My whole family has been on this side of the pond since before the Revolution, though, so no telling what else is lurking up the tree!

Celeste