How Cigarette Smoke Helps Celiacs

[Candy]

I'm not a smoker but I sometimes crave a cigarette at least twice a month and that being only since I had seemed to develop Celiac Disease in my late twenties.

I did test positive for Celiac genes at Enterolab a few years back.

I remember reading on this site an article that said Celiacs benefit from cigarette smoke but the article didn't say WHY. And that's what I want to know --How does cigarette smoke help Celiacs? Is the nicotine helpful to Celiacs and how ?

Here is the Article-My link

If nicotine is beneficial to Celiacs they could use a nicotine patch which delivers 4mg of nicotine or electronic cigarettes.

Personally I could use a little nicotine

[WheatChef]

Technically the article doesn't say anything about nicotine, for all they know it could be the tar that has this effect.

[ravenwoodglass]

Please, please, please don't start smoking or use a patch etc. The addiction is so not worth it. Even if it seems to delay the gut symptoms other systems can be effected. I had DH and ataxia since childhood and started smoking at age 11, perhaps it did delay the GI symptoms but for me that was not a good thing. The damage done to my brain and joints was severe before gut symptoms became anything more than an annoyance. It may have delayed my diagnosis for a long time. I do so wish I did have the GI symptoms as a teen or child, perhaps I would have been diagnosed then if they had been present instead of having my brain attacked for another 30+ years first.

[Mari]

I read a similar study several years ago. In that study the researchers found that 30% of Celiacs were 'hard core' smokers - more than 5 cigarettes a day. I think they concluded that smoking was in some way beneficial to Celiacs.

Tobacco is used as a dewormer in horses and there is one alternative PhD researcher who had a theory that all autoimmune diseases are caused by the presence in the body of specific parasites and specific pollutants/toxins. In searching through her books I found 2 cases where she had treated 2 people, an infant and a young child with gluten problems by killing parasites and removing the pollutants. There was not enough information to draw any conclusions but it is interesting. I think at best that this type of treatment could reduce the risk of celiac disease but would not 'cure' the disease once the autoimmune reaction was triggered tho killing off the parasites a person carries and doing detoxification programs leaves a person healthier.

[mushroom]

Smoking held symptoms at bay for me until I quit at 29. Used to be able to eat anything until then - but suddenly, BINGO, problems all over the place

[heathen]

Regardless of anything nicotine might do to help our tummies, cigarettes are ALWAYS a bad idea. Multiple forms of cancer, heart disease, vascular disease, strokes, COPD... NOT WORTH IT!!! The only PROVEN treatment for Celiac disease is adherence to a gluten free diet.

[mushroom]

Regardless of anything nicotine might do to help our tummies, cigarettes are ALWAYS a bad idea. Multiple forms of cancer, heart disease, vascular disease, strokes, COPD... NOT WORTH IT!!! The only PROVEN treatment for Celiac disease is adherence to a gluten free diet.

I certainly was not advocating smoking!!! I quit because I have COPD....

[jerseyangel]

I will never go back to smoking, and it might be a coincidence, but the 6 years I smoked was the only symptom free period in my life.

[Pac]

When I was eating gluten, I always said I must have been a smoker in my previous life. I used to crave cigarettes like crazy even though I never smoked because cigarette smoke gave me really bad asthma attacks. Now on gluten-free diet both the cravings and asthma are gone.

Tobacco is used as a dewormer in horses and there is one alternative PhD researcher who had a theory that all autoimmune diseases are caused by the presence in the body of specific parasites and specific pollutants/toxins. In searching through her books I found 2 cases where she had treated 2 people, an infant and a young child with gluten problems by killing parasites and removing the pollutants. There was not enough information to draw any conclusions but it is interesting. I think at best that this type of treatment could reduce the risk of celiac disease but would not 'cure' the disease once the autoimmune reaction was triggered tho killing off the parasites a person carries and doing detoxification programs leaves a person healthier.

That's interesting because I've read the right opposite about the gut worms/gut diseases interaction. Population dewormed on regural basis suffer more from diseases like Crohn's, colitis, celiac etc. than populations with higher incidence of diseases caused by gut parasites. The authors even successfuly treated patients by implanting worms into their intestines. They proposed that lack of gut worms might negatively affect composition of gut microbiota, with plays a big role in developing autoimmune diseases. IMHO, we've had these worms in our guts long before we became Homo sapiens, so how can we be so sure that our new habbit of 'preventive' deworming isn't actually more harmful than good?

[Yoshi]

That's very interesting about cigarettes/nicotine. I was diagnosed with Crohns disease and type 2 Diabetes before I quit smoking. I had very few flareups with the Crohns and got my blood sugar down with diet and a minimum of medication and was able to go off the medication after a year. I quit smoking 8 years ago this month. Almost right away, the Crohns symptoms got worse. I was on one medication after another to try to ease the symptoms. Then I had to have surgery because my gall bladder ruptured, and I also ended up having to go on insulin to control my blood sugar. For awhile after the surgery, I had only minor digestive problems, but then they started up again, worse than ever. I struggled through it for over 3 years, before being diagnosed in February with gluten intolerance. I went gluten free immediately. My Crohns has improved and so have the other digestive issues. They're still there and flareup, just not as often or as bad. The only thing that still continues to be a problem is my blood sugar, which is very hard to control, even though I watch my carbs, exercise and take my insulin.