Auto Immunde Diseases

[Lister]

so celiac is considerd a auto immune disease correct? ok so abriveated its aids so that is a little confusing... does this meen that people with celiac are more easaly subject to get things like cancers and just in general health problems or are we healthy?? just a little confused

[jerseyangel]

Yes, Celiac is considered an autoimmune disease. In an autoimmune disease, the body attacks it's own tissue. In Celiac, the gluten triggers an autoimmune response that in turn attacks the small intestine. In undiagnosed or untreated Celiac, there is a greater risk of Intestinal Lymphoma--being strictly gluten-free lowers that risk, and after 5 years, our risk returns to that of the general population. I have also read that if a person has one autoimmune disease, they are a greater risk for another one. Bottom line--it's vitally inportant for us to be as close to 100% gluten-free as possible.

[Lister]

wish the doctor would let me know things like this

[minibabe]

Okay so here is my theory on the whole thing.....

When you have a recation to a food or somthing like that your body has an inflmation. Acutally, I believe that any auto immune dieases cause an inflamation which naturally makes the body weaker. When you body has an inflamation you are more suseptable to things. And I believe that this is because your is weak and your immune system is weak. I have had converstions about this with people and I have books on it at home. I am at work right now, but when I get home I will rummage through the books.

Hope that this helps

Amanda NY

[Katie O'Rourke]

Hi. I've heard that coeliacs are more prone to bacterial or fungal infections, and over here coeliacs are supposed to have a pneumonia jab, to reduce the chance of catching it. The way I look at it is this, you're body is so used to attacking itself, that it is slower to respond to actual invading organisms, and is less able to cope with them compared to other people's. I've heard coeliacs also have a lower infective dose as far as things like bacterial food poisoning are concerned. However, and I'm not sure if this is just me and my dad or coeliacs on the whole, but I find I am actually totally immune to viruses of all kinds including influnza, as long as I have not eaten gluten. Recently everyone at my work who I sit near to every day has been off for at least a few days with flu which turned into chest infections, laryngitis or gastro-flu, all of which were very nasty, and I totally didnt get any of these, and I was the only person. However, I think the reason I get them if I have eaten gluten, is becasue your body is so busy attacking itself it doesnt notice the virus invading, so may get it worse than everyone else. However, I find the exception to this rule is the Herpes zoster virus - chickpox, as this is always dormant in your spinal cord after first infection, and can come back when you're run down, usually in the form of shingles. I personally have had chicken pox 5 times

I know this may not help you, but eating a wide variety of fruit and veg shouldhelp keep you healthy, as well as staying gluten-free, obviously

[Lister]

yeah, im just checking since after reading that its a uto immunde disease the first thing that ran thru my head is omg im gonna get like cancer or something before im 30 but i also always think on the most negative aspects of things, i too have noticed even though im not fully healed that i dont seem to catch bugs that are going around,

a form of influenza, the one that comes from beeing on boats hit our town about week and a half ago, killed about 30 elderly 2 children and infected over 200 including every one of my co-workers and i managed to not get it

[shai76]

You would think that gluten intolerance would bea lot like allergies; atopic people who have lots of allergies, which is actually the immune system attacking things it shouldn't all the time, are less likely to have cancer, and other infections, such as the cold and flu.

[minibabe]

yeah, im just checking since after reading that its a uto immunde disease the first thing that ran thru my head is omg im gonna get like cancer or something before im 30 but i also always think on the most negative aspects of things, i too have noticed even though im not fully healed that i dont seem to catch bugs that are going around,

a form of influenza, the one that comes from beeing on boats hit our town about week and a half ago, killed about 30 elderly 2 children and infected over 200 including every one of my co-workers and i managed to not get it

WELL AT LEAST YOU DID NOT GET SICK

[lorka150]

every single person in my family and extended family has an autoimmune disorder and no one has cancer... if that makes you feel better.

[Lister]

just after reading that its a auto immune disorder it got me really worrying about other ilnesses that i thought i may be easy to get, but now that i think about it, yeah are bodys attack ourselfs if we eat gluten but other then that, with our eating habits and what not we are more healthy then most, even though most celiacs that i have seen around here where i live are all pale skinny and look like there going to break if u tuch them but i think probably they where very late in diagnosis also

[queenofhearts]

Just to clarify, Lister, the initials are confusing, but AIDS is actually Acquired Immune DEFICIENCY Syndrome, which is not at all the same as an Auto-Immune disease. Lots of folks mix these up-- I've even heard of people being afraid they could catch Celiac.

I'm not a doctor, by the way, but I do know that the medical definitions are very different. After all, our immune systems are going overboard! With AIDS one loses the normal immune response. More or less the opposite mechanism.

Not to say that Celiac isn't a little scary in its own way, but much less dangerous than AIDS.

Hang in there, you'll be fine!

Leah

[Hair Detective]

In the 2006 book - Celiac Disease - A Hidden Epidemic....the author Dr. Green from Columbia University who runs the Celiac center....says that Celiacs have a 30% odds of getting an autoimmune disease versus the rest of the population which is 3%. Cancer is 2X as likely to occur if you have celiac. Inflammation is the bodies response to an outside invader...parasite, flu bug, food poisoning, and gluten if you're celiac. So the body responses...like firefighters would to a 911 call. The problem is if you've ever cleaned up after a fire...the water and chemical sprays can be as damaging as the fire. So image you're body is doing a 911 drill everytime you eat gluten....lots of fire damage :-)

[Lister]

gah 2x likely colon cancer runs in the family now thats just great o well to early in my life to start worrying i guess

[phakephur]

Here's an article from this site about autoimmune disease and celiac

[kb8ogn]

I have several auto immune diseases and have just recently been diagnosed with Celiac. Now, my rheumy told me that I am more suseptible to other auto immune diseases and when I get things like a cold or the flu, I feel it a lot worse than others because of the the autoimmune diseases.

My first dx was Lupus, then RA and Raynaud's, then Severe Vitamin D deficiency, now possibly fibro and the last was Celiac. I am also being tested for sjogrens.

Now, I did have uterine cancer, but that was also before all of my other issues and that also runs in my family. Those problems also started when I was very young.

[Lister]

well so i guess we all are just playing a waiting game to see what we get next then

[elye]

Since I was first diagnosed with celiac (eight months ago), I have often wondered if there is any connection to it and the fact that I so rarely get a cold or the flu...now I wonder more, because it sounds like a number of other celiacs have the same situation. Yep, people around me can be dropping like flies, and I remain the lone one standing. I would suspect that our immune systems are particularly STRONG, not weak (witness the damage it does!), but as my endocrinologist put it, it is "twisted", i.e., responding when it shouldn't. Maybe that's why I'm never sick...my immune system has had so much practice attacking things, and it gets such regular "workouts" that it is stronger than any threatening virus.

Lister, I've gone through all the autoimmune stats with my endo: one in eight celiacs will develop type one diabetes, and one in ten (the number's higher for women) will develop hypothyroidism. I've got all three. Now, I'm assuming that those are celiacs who have been undiagnosed and had a lot of damage. All the more reason to avoid gluten!

[Lister]

yeah its great to hear that we probably wont get viruses but at the same time we get stuck with the crap that makes us feel sick all day long... i just want to feel "normal" again its been so long im starting to forget what it feels like

it feels like i have been on a mild mushroom trip for the past 2 months. and i hate mushrooms

[ravenwoodglass]

well so i guess we all are just playing a waiting game to see what we get next then

Lister, if you stay Gluten Free these other autoimmune problems are not going to appear. They appear because the body is fighting the gluten response which takes place in any organ that gets blood. In attempting to protect us from the gluten our immune response starts to activate on the organs also. I believe this occurs because the gluten gets into all body fluids and perhaps even cells. If you do not consume gluten and get to a gluten free workpalce (are you still at Burger King?) you will not develop these other responses. No Gluten EVER IN ANY FORM will keep the other autoimmune problems from developing. IMHO There are exceptions of course like diabetes but in general we are more healthy than the rest of the population IF we are diagnosed young enough which you were

it feels like i have been on a mild mushroom trip for the past 2 months. and i hate mushrooms

This could be from CC. The obsessive thought patterns you mentioned in another post could be also.

[Hummingbird-Hill]

Dear KB: My first DX was celiac and that was 15 years ago. Since then I have been DX'd with Sjogrens, fibromyalgia, connective tissue disorder, and finally diabetes one year ago. I think the celiac was just a precurser to all the auto immune stuff that I finally ended up with. Sort of like a trial run. I look at it like it was God's little test to get me used to the idea that there was some bumpy roads ahead. I learned how to deal and cope with celiac so when the really debillitating stuff came around it was easier to cope with. If you look at it, celiac is treated by diet, which is self administered, and all up to us really. How we feel is totally in our own hands. Or mouth. But the other diseases we haved to deal with in the auto immune family is so much more complicated and diffiuclt, it makes celiac look like a walk in the park. That is how I look at it anyway. And I feel so totally blessed. I feel like I could have gotten some disease that was a death sentence and only got an disease that is hard yes to deal with, but mostly an inconvenience. Now how lucky are we?

[au natural]

I have had my thyroid out before I was diagnosed. (They found cancer starting). Was also diagnosed with severe chronic idiopathic neutropenia ( unable to keep a healthy white count) before the celiac diagnosis. Have a few other food allergies. The more you keep on the diet hopefully the more you can remain healthy.

[moonmaiden]

I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I notice that whenever anything at all challenges my immune system, be it a cold, flu or bug bite - my immune system seems to go into "overkill" and my Hashi's symptoms get worse. moon

[loraleena]

Lister,

If colon cancer runs in your family, I would suspect others in your family had or have celiac as well. I would urge your family members to be tested. Lister, your mind can have an enormous affect on your health and well being. You can actually damage your health and make yourself sick, by having such negative thoughts. You should rent the movie What the Bleep to we Know? It talks about this. Try not to dwell so much on all those scary thoughts and picture yourself healthy!!

[Nancym]

AIDS is not short for autoimmune disease, it is short for Acquired Immune Deficiency (if I remember correctly).

You're more likely to get other autoimmune diseases if you're gluten sensitive. I've had two diagnosed so far.