New research published in the Annals of Medicine suggests celiac disease can develop at any age — even in seniors who seemed for decades to be able to eat the foods that trigger the autoimmune disease.
Celiac disease is triggered by eating gluten, the protein in many grains including wheat, barley, and rye. The condition prompts the immune system to destroy the lining of the small intestine. That prevents the absorption of nutrients in the intestine and causes diarrhea, weight loss, anemia and fatigue.
According to the report, there has been a five-fold increase in the prevalence of celiac disease during the past 30 years, and a lot of these new cases are being diagnosed in elderly people.
Researchers had believed celiac disease began only during childhood. It didn’t seem possible that people could eat gluten with no problems for decades and then suddenly lose their ability to tolerate it.
But that’s exactly what researchers from the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine discovered.
The findings could prompt doctors to rethink some of their most basic assumptions about the disorder — including that the disease begins in childhood.
