<<Disclaimer:  Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
Kemp,
 
You said:
 
More to the point on causal. My well-associated Type I diabetes came on 40
>odd years ago (same infection prone Feb. for the dx) and the CD last year.
>So did diabetes cause my celiac? From what little I understand of the
>immunology of both there's no immediate interaction. The remnant diabetic
>antibodies have no target and in any case are involved with carbohydrate
>metabolism, not gluten's protein metabolism.
 
Just thought I'd note that an immunology book I picked up for my birthday
says that if you have one autoimmune disease you are likely to get another
one. (Oh joy!)  It also said that if you put all autoimmune diseases on a
continuum from very organ specific to not at all organ specific, you are
more likely to get one of the other diseases that are closer to your other
disease on the continuum.  In other words, something very specific say to
the thyroid gland would make you more likely to get one of the autoimmune
diseases that was specific to some other organ. But if you have something
very generalized in the body, like lupus, you are more likely to get
something also still sort of generalized, like maybe rheumatoid arthritis.
But another net friend just informed me that she has the disease that's most
organ specific and probably the disease that is least organ specific.  So
much for generalizations.
 
For some reason, they left celiac off the chart, although it is included in
other sections of the book under autoimmunity. I'm sure it would be
considered very organ specific--ie, the gut.  Juvenile diabetes was about a
third of the way down from the top, closer to specific than non-specific.
 
Source:  Essential Immunology by Ivan Roitt
 
I'm very interested in the role of the body's use (whether high or low) of
specific amino acids in the development of autoimmune diseases.  A review of
my family's medical histories back a few generations, and the receipt of my
daughter's amino acid profiles has made my interest even more intense.
There are many connections out there just begging to be investigated.
 
FYI,
 
Susan Owens