Related Condidtions

[SpikeMoore]

Hi Everyone

I am wondering what you think of a family history like this:

5 siblings

2 with junvenille insulin dependent diabetes

1 with epilepsy

1 died at 42 with undiagnosed liver disease, thought at the time to be infectious, but never diagnosed, had osteoporosis, anemia and the BM's described as pale, floating etc

1 niece with Down's syndrome

None diagnosed with celiac, but none tested either.

I am looking at a cluster of relatively rare things and finding them all in one family and wondering if gluten could be a common thread, but just manifest with different related condidtions in each person. Or am I just looking too hard?

[trents]

The one who died at 42 had several conditions common to celiacs: liver disease, floating BMs, osteoporosis, and anemia. 18 to 40+ percent of celiacs have elevated liver enzymes, which if allowed to go unchecked for a long enough time can cause permanent liver damage. Higher rates of diabetes is also associated with celiac disease.

[nikki-uk]

..and to add....although people with Downs Syndrome are more prone to celiac disease than the general population the fact that your niece has Downs does not increase your familial chance of having celiac disease.