Celiac Can Lead To Cancer?

[ElizaC]

I watched Dr. Oz show today with Elisabeth Hasselback and her doctor. They talked about how untreated Celiac can lead to cancer...specifically non-hodgekins. Any information about this? I find this very interesting and never heard of it before. My husband is a 14 year survivor of Hodgekins Disease. He has also self diagnosed an allergy to wheat and gluten. He had a stomach biopsy many years ago (this is how they said they diagnose it) and it came back negative. He has done a good job at eating a pretty clean diet. Now I'm concerned that he may need to be more strict. He has cut out all wheat but he does use rye and oats and he seems to think he feels fine using these grains. He is having stomach issues for the last month or so. Any input???

What is the way of being diagnosed?

Do you think the oats and rye harm him?

thank you.

[JillianLindsay]

It's a tough question to answer without knowing 100% for sure if your husband does in fact have celiac disease. I can answer generally that yes, untreated celiac disease (meaning not following the diet) increases a person's risk for many health complications, including cancer. Oats, rye, etc. would certainly be harmful to a person with celiac disease.

The options for being diagnosed would be to go back to eating gluten for a good length of time (some DRs say 2 months, some say as much as 6) and having a blood test and biopsy, or getting a genetic test done without consuming any more gluten. The genetic testing is NOT conclusive (nothing is 100% conclusive though), and only tells you if you have a predisposition to developing celiac disease, not if you actually have it.

The other option is for your husband to just stop eating all forms of gluten and playing it safe. Some can self-diagnose and others need a definite answer, so it depends on his wishes.

Good luck

Jillian

I watched Dr. Oz show today with Elisabeth Hasselback and her doctor. They talked about how untreated Celiac can lead to cancer...specifically non-hodgekins. Any information about this? I find this very interesting and never heard of it before. My husband is a 14 year survivor of Hodgekins Disease. He has also self diagnosed an allergy to wheat and gluten. He had a stomach biopsy many years ago (this is how they said they diagnose it) and it came back negative. He has done a good job at eating a pretty clean diet. Now I'm concerned that he may need to be more strict. He has cut out all wheat but he does use rye and oats and he seems to think he feels fine using these grains. He is having stomach issues for the last month or so. Any input???

What is the way of being diagnosed?

Do you think the oats and rye harm him?

thank you.