Origin Of Celiacs?

[C'smum]

I reside in Ontario but grew up with my family in England.My family believed themselves to be true English.Recently we found out that we are of Irish decent through my fathers side the same side that has passed on Celiacs to me.There is some belief that Celiacs originate from Ireland.Whats your background?

[tom]

Well I AM of Irish descent, but celiac can happen to ppl of any race.

Of course, the chances are higher for those of western euro blood - or is it northwestern?

P.S. It's Celiac, not Celiacs.

[irish daveyboy]

I reside in Ontario but grew up with my family in England.My family believed themselves to be true English.Recently we found out that we are of Irish decent through my fathers side the same side that has passed on Celiacs to me.There is some belief that Celiacs originate from Ireland.Whats your background?

Hi 'C's mum',

Well My father was English, my mother was Irish, I was born in Scotland

I married a German girl who's brother was also Coeliac/Celiac so where do you go from there!

.

Ireland is supposed to have the highest prevalance of Coeliac Disease in the world,

maybe they should have stayed off the bread and stuck to the Potatoes!

.

My profile and the blog on My Web Space gives all my background details.

.

I don't think it's down to our forefarthers home country or race,

I believe if you have the pre-disposition to Celiac it's not a matter of How but When!.

.

There's a lot said about introducing babies to 'wheat' too early (ie. before 6 months)

.

Mothers unknowingly giving their babies their first taste of 'Gluten'

by either blending regular food for baby without realising that the 'gravy or sauce'

may have used 'wheat' flour to thicken it, or maybe when they are 'teething' giving them

a 'Crust ' of bread to chew on?.

Let's face it most people on this forum have Celiac, it's not going to go away,

so we have to do the best we can and every little bit of help and comfort goes a long way!

.

I'm kinda getting off-topic here so I leave it at that.

.

Best Regards,

David

[jerseyangel]

I'm Italian on both sides

[gfp]

I don't think it's down to our forefarthers home country or race,

I believe if you have the pre-disposition to Celiac it's not a matter of How but When!.

Pretty much true.... however Americans always seem to think there is such a thing as Irish or German etc. when most Europeans realise they are all mixed up.

I think it goes back to when their family emigrated and they presume they must have a 100% pure blood line prior to that date or something??? Most of the 'incidence' differences are just down to the fact once it becomes prevalent more people are tested and doctors become more aware. Italy has a fairly consistent 1:200 incidence despite the huge genetic differences between North and South. (the only real genetic link being the Scandanavian one from the Lomards and Normans)...

Its funny for us Eurpeans to think that someone with blond hair and blue eyes from Lombardy is genetically closer to someone with very dark skin and afro hair from Sicily... not to mention Italy didn't exist as a country until Garibaldi in 1878... or that a Hindi family living in Rome (perhaps for over 2000 yrs) are somehow closer than a Austrian to some Italian genotype???

[Offthegrid]

My family is predominently German.

[hathor]

Irish, Scottish & Dutch (and a little English -- I guess that's why I sometimes argue with myself )

[Dandelion]

I'm German, Irish, Danish and Swiss. I think members on both sides of my family have celiac disease.

[blueeyedmanda]

Slovenian

[stargazer]

I'm Irish, English, Scottish, and German.

[NoSugarShell]

German

[Ridgewalker]

Irish, Scottish & Dutch (and a little English -- I guess that's why I sometimes argue with myself )

We're a big mix, too. German, English, Native American, French Canadian- does that count?

[dandelionmom]

I'm Irish, Polish, NA, french Canadian, and English.

[nutralady2001]

Irish descent on Dad's side, English on Mum's

[Ed-G]

Irish with a little English thrown in for good measure.

Ed in MD

[darlindeb25]

I am thinking that it doesn't really matter where you come from anymore. I think it may be more prevalent in certain areas, but is being found in outer areas too. I read celiac is now found in some of the areas where we supply rice and flours to those who do not normally have these foods and now they are developing the disease too. I think at first we thought it was more Irish and Greeks maybe, only because they are the leaders in finding the disease. The United States was way behind other countries in diagnosing celiac disease.

When my group, the Suffolk County Celiac Support Group, from Long Island, NY, had their vendor fair, the largest vendor fair ever held anywhere, there were people there from all walks of life. I talked to so many different nationalities, I was so surprised. We come from everywhere, we are all colors, we speak all languages, we are all heights, we have all different hair colors, long hair, short hair, bald, we are in wheelchairs, some of us are very young, some are very old, and everywhere inbetween.

My background is German, English, American, and maybe some Irish. My mom is a hot tempered redhead!!!

We all have gluten in common. We want it out of our lives. Whether we are celiac, gluten intolerant, or gluten sensititive, we want gluten freedom.

[mandy0221]

Irish and German here!

[melrobsings]

Hungarian mostly.

[woolwhippet]

I am English and Irish with a touch of French Canadian and First Nations.

[little d]

I have Irish, English, German, American Native can't remember the tribe, and of course Texan

donna

[loco-ladi]

Maternal: english (mostly)

Paternal: French Candian and Irish

There's a lot said about introducing babies to 'wheat' too early (ie. before 6 months)

They are now says also for peanuts not to let your child have this for 3 years!

[confused]

I think im the oddball in this group, im spanish and little indian.

my step-son is

german, polish, spanish and a something else, i cant think right now.

paul

[ShadowSwallow]

I'm English, Irish, Russian, Scotch-Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Swedish, and Native American, a real mutt.

[amber-rose]

Irish, English, Scottish, and my dad says a little bit of native american...but im not so sure about that.

[kbtoyssni]

I'd recommend the book "Guns, Germs and Steel". It's super super long, but there's a great chapter about the beginnings of agriculture and which grains were "chosen" to domesticate. It gives a lot of insight into gluten and which ethnic groups are most affected by celiac even though gluten is never specifically mentioned.

Agriculture began in the fertile crescent/Mesopotamia region. The people who are descended from this area have less issues with gluten because they've had more generations to develop the ability to digest gluten. Places where these grains were more recently introduced like Ireland have higher incidences of celiac.

Grains with bigger seeds were the ones that were developed for agriculture. There's some interesting stuff about genetics here - in the wild a desirable trait is grains that drop off the stalk so the seeds disperse. In agriculture, seeds that remain on the stalk are the ones that are picked and planted the next year so domestic grain is not dramatically different than the stuff found in the wild. Wild wheat is also much lower in gluten content, so the recent high-gluten wheats may have added to the incidence of celiac.

Oh, and I'm English by the way