Cleft Palates And Celiac Disease

[CDFAMILY]

I am interested in finding more Celiacs that also have Cleft palates.

I wonder if some clefts may be caused by undiagnosed Celiac mothers with low vitamin levels caused by malabsorption. These mothers could very well be folic acid along with other vitamin and mineral deficient.

I also read an article discussing Biotin and zinc deficiency. I found it interesting when they discussed short small intestines as during my last EGD, my Gastroenterologist commented on how short my small intestine was.

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A biochemist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine is leading the study of how biotin, a micronutrient found in liver, egg yolk, milk, and yeast, may affect fetal development. There appears to be a link between the pregnant woman

[RiceGuy]

In fact, there was a recent post in which it was mentioned that their baby (yet unborn) has a cleft palate. If you do a search it should come up. I think it was within the last few days or so.

HTH

[LOney]

My son was just diagnosed at age 3.5 with Celiac disease. I just had my blood drawn today to see if I too have it, or my husband. I can't imagine my husband has it, but wonder about myself. I reacted badly to lots of food in college, but it seems that I don't have as bad of a reaction now . . .. but from reading here I know that might not mean much.

My second son, aged 18 months, was born with a cleft in his soft palate. We have not yet been through genetic counseling - as he was definitely our last. We just need to know if it is genetic for him and his older brother for when they have children.

Since my son has been diagnosed, I am now wondering if I have celiac, and if so, did that cause my youngest son's csp? I will let you know what I hear from the bloodwork, and dependent on that, I will be talking to his plastic surgeon and pediatrician to find out more.

[mtnplanner]

I am interested in finding more Celiacs that also have Cleft palates. I wonder if some clefts may be caused by undiagnosed Celiac mothers with low vitamin levels caused by malabsorption. These mothers could very well be folic acid along with other vitamin and mineral deficient...

I also was born with a cleft palate, repaired surgically when I was 19 months old (about 60 years ago). I recently tested to see if I had the genes for Celiac disorder (through Enterolab). I don't have the major Celiac genes but I do have a double copy of genes Enterolab identified for gluten sensitivity and am actively reacting to both gluten and casein. Consequently I now follow a strict gluten and casein-free diet.

Gene tests:

HLA-DQB1 Allele 1: 0202

HLA-DQB1 Allele 2: 0603

Serologic Equvelent: HLA-DQ 2,1 (SUBTYPE 2,6)

Translation, I inherited one gluten-sensitive gene from each parent. My mother had lifelong issues with B-12 anemia, was short in stature in a family of tall people, and as an older person developed a series of digestive issues but no classic symptoms of Celiac. My 'guess' is that she went her whole life as an undiagnosed, latent Celiac. She passed away in 2007 at age 86 from acute leukemia triggered by chemotherapy treatment of Polycythemia Vera. I suspect that there is also a latent connection between Polycythemia and Celiac as yet unexplored in medical studies.

Cleft lip, with or without cleft palate, affects one in 700 babies annually, and is the fourth most common birth defect in the U.S. Even today the medical literature has no real consensus on the cause of cleft palate defects siting the interplay between genes and the environment plus 'unkown causes'. Current Medical literature indicates that cleft lips/palates occurs very early in pregnancy, usually before mother even aware of pregnancy. Cleft lip occurs at about 6 weeks and cleft palate occurs at about 9 weeks gestation.

In the farming community that my mother grew up in, there were a number of 'cleft palate' children. My mother was advised that such birth defects were related to the prevalence of overwork of the farmwives very early in pregnancy, that such birth defects were not directly genetic, and it was not the Mom's 'fault'. Certainly my Mom was overworked.

If one cause is a lack of a specific nutrient at a critical time during a pregnancy, it is certainly possible that orofacial defects could be connected to undiagnosed malabsorption disorders like Celiac. After folate was added to cereals around 1996, the incidence of orofacial defects dropped substantially. Therefore, if Celiac disorder contributes to folate malabsorption then one would expect to find a higher-than-average incidence of cleft palates, among the offspring of confirmed celiac parents. So far there isn't much data.

The good news seems to be that Celiac mothers following a gluten-free diet avoid major problems with pregnancies. The bad news is that testing for Celiac disorder isn't standard practice. We should be asking why Celiac tests for early detection aren't being done more often, especially among women of child-bearing age. Or maybe all pregnant women should simply be advised to go gluten-free just like doctors advise no drinking or smoking!

[Keela]

I was born with a cleft palate. My cleft is genetic from my maternal grandfather's family. The gluten intolerance comes from my maternal grandmother's family. In my case I do not think the 2 conditions are related, but I am very interested in this topic and would love to learn more!

[ida pachinsky]

I had undiagnosed celiac during my preganacy. First, I did not get the prenatal vitamins until the second or third month. Doctors were quiting in our area because of insurance issues. My son was born with a subclinical cleft palete. He had a cousin with spinal bifeda (sp?). Folic is known to be the cluprit in SB and seemingly related to cleft, but I have always had a B12 deficiency. I probably had both.

At the ripe of age of 25 he came home from college with schizophrenia. I have read that 10 percent of cleft people come down with it as opposed to 1-2 percent of the general population. There seems to be B12 deficiencies corrolations with schizophrenia.

My heart has been broken knowing that non of this had to occur. My message and bandwagon has been- take vitamins. If you suck air on the face of this earth, don't think for one minute that a "good diet" will protect you. ida

[Desiree49]

I am in the process of getting tested for Celiac. I recently found out that my Crohn's disease was misdiagnosed. Anyway, my son was born with a cleft palate almost 5 years ago.