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Regarding Michelle's post- : )

The reason I didn't post Michelle's note is simply because
my question was 'has anybody had children with problems before they were
diagnosed with Celiac'. Michelle's note to me was simply:
"Celiac disease is not associated with any type of birth defect. However,
celiac does affect the size of the developing fetus, and the incidence of
miscarriage in women with CD.
Michelle Melin-Rogovin "

I didn't know who Michelle was and what evidence she had to support her
statement. I guess I was kind of doing my own little research on this list
and was not particularly affected by her post since it was so vague and
not supported by any research whatsoever. I was looking for personal
statistics from people in this group.

In my original post I copied some pertinent information showing how folic
acid deficiency can cause a host of birth defects. I had read that
undiagnosed Celiac Disease can cause vitamin deficiency (including folic
acid) that can lead to many problems as a result of malabsorption. Please go
to this site and read the information that I read:
http://www.tccsgcom/celiacdisease.htm

When I read this information, I decided to look up, on a Google search,
"folic acid deficiency and birth defects". It is widely known that a lack of
this vitamin in pregnancy can cause neural tube defects. That is common
knowledge these days. (Why are people folic acid deficient? For many reasons
I'm sure, but certainly one of them is Celiac. Therefore, undiagnosed
Celiac's
would be at a slightly greater risk of having a child with neural tube
defects, right?)

My google search brought up a very interesting page with some excellent
information. The information I referenced in my original post was from this
web site: http://www.i2k.com/~suzanne/page26.htm

Please go and take a look. The portion of the article that I copied was the
part that showed some birth defects that were being associated with folic
acid deficiency. Here it is again.

Central Nervous System Disruptions
Birth Defects
Types / Toxins & Drugs / NTD History / Folic Acid Awareness / Rates and
Trends
Types of Birth Defects *Because folate enzymes help create neuron structures
(eg: myelin), and highly mitotic fetal cells depend on maternal folate to
support the specific timing of proliferative bursts during gestation, a wide
range of negative pregnancy outcomes can result when a deficiency occurs.
The type of negative outcome depends upon which structures were being formed
when folate enzymes became exhausted (Antony AC, 2000). Folic acid
deficiency is basic to a wide range of central nervous system (CNS)
disorders, particularly devastating structural anomalies of the brain and
spinal cord (neural tube birth defects - NTD's: spina bifida -a failure of
the spine to close; anencephaly -absence of or part of the brain; and
encephalocele -a hole in the skull through which brain tissue protrudes).
Its role as the major cause of NTD's has been confirmed (Oakley GP Jr, 1996,
Molloy AM, 1999). Because many drugs interfere with folate metabolism, most
are ill-advised during pregnancy. Besides NTD's, other conditions such as
still birth, spontaneous abortion, premature delivery, low birth weight,
preeclamsia, placenta abruption, hydrocephalus, club foot, cleft palate,
Down's Syndrome, mental retardation, and heart defects, have been attributed
to a deficiency as well (Mills J, 1999, James SJ, 1999, Nelen WL, 1998). In
October, 2002, the results of a case-control study of women with spontaneous
abortion and control women from January 1996 through December 1998 in
Uppsala County, Sweden further confirmed that low plasma folate levels
significantly increase the risk of early spontaneous abortion (George L,
2002). A certain gene located on chromosome 21, known as CBS (cystathionine
beta-synthase), is overexpressed in Down's Syndrome (also known as trisomy
21). This gene abnormally replicates itself so that there are three of these
chromosomes instead of two, hence the name "trisomy 21." In-vitro cell
studies have shown that this abnormal replication occurs when folate enzymes
are lacking and homocysteine metabolism is hindered (Pogribna M, 2001).
Mothers of infants born with Down's Syndrome and children with the condition
often have polymorphisms in two folate genes, MTHFR 677C-->T and MTRR
66A-->G (Hobbs CA, 2000). Cleft palate occurs more often in children born to
mothers with folate gene mutations as well (Martinelli M, 2001, Mills, 1999)
Folate sensitive sites have been located on the X chromosome involved in
the most frequently inherited form of mental retardation, "Fragile X
Syndrome" (Gu Y, 1996, Li N, 1985). Cardiovascular malformations (CVM's)
have also been associated with maternal dietary folate insufficiency and
maternal folate gene mutations (Rosenquist TH, 2001). In a recent study
conducted by the Birth Defects and Genetic Diseases Branch of the CDC, it
was determined that one in four major cardiac birth defects could have been
avoided if mothers consumed a daily multivitamin periconceptually(Botto LD,
2000).

Again, my research wasn't to scare anybody. I have had three children with
major birth defects with no answers, even from doctors. After my "on-line"
studies, I just thought I would do my own little research, not for books,
just for me, and anybody interested. I'm assuming that everybody on this
list has been diagnosed with Celiac already, so I can't imagine that it
would scare anybody on this list. I certainly would never desire to put fear
in anyone.  In fact, I would think that people with Celiac might like to
know
more facts concerning issues.

I hope that everybody that read my original post and my summary
will understand that I was just asking, and I was truly amazed how many
people had children with problems. I can't imagine that it was just
coincidence, but please know that I didn't give out any inaccurate
information. I only posted what was reported to me and the only opinion I
gave was, "I am convinced from the responses that undiagnosed Celiac can
also
affect the unborn child." And, honestly, I still am. But that is only my
opinion.

I guess what perplexes me is the fact that undiagnosed Celiacs (or Celiacs
that
are not on a gluten free diet), can have so many other problems from
vitamin deficiency (like anemia, other auto-immune diseases, etc), however
when it comes to something that is also proven to be caused (at least
sometimes)
by vitamin/mineral deficiencies, it is regarded as coincidence.  Why is this
a subject
that is not considered with the same common sense logic as other
health issues related to Celiac/malabsorption?

I just wanted to clarify everything I said and posted. Thank you so much for
your input on this subject. I certainly appreciate it. : )
Have a lovely day. Any questions or comments are welcomed.

Joyfully Serving Jesus~
Lynnette (Wife to Kyle, Mama to Jared 12, Abigail 9, Cecily 6, Anna 4,
Silas1, Samuel 7/1-7/14/1992, Josiah 1/15-1/20/1995 and Baby # 8 due Aug.
22nd)


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