<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Following is a Medline abstract that Sue Goldstein posted to the list back on 30 Aug 95. Recently I corresponded with a graduate student at Rutgers, and she looked up the article. Following the abstract is her analysis, which is quite interesting. Don Wiss. Coeliac disease and autoimmune thyroid disease, Gut, 1994, June, Vol 35, Pg. 844-6. Counsell, et al. A well defined cohort of coeliac patients was studied prospectively to assess the prevalence of coexisting thyroid disease and positive thyroid autoantibodies. Comparison with epidemiological data on the prevalence of coeliac disease in a neighboring area suggested that few adult coeliac patients had been missed. Overall, 14% of the coeliac patients had thyroid disease: 10.3% were hypothyroid and 3.7% hyperthyroid, both significantly more than expected. There were significantly more coeliac disease patients with thyroid autoantibodies than expected--11% had thyroglobulin antibodies and 15% had thyroid microsomal antibodies. This association is clinically important. Three patients are described in whom the coexistence of coeliac disease and hypothyroidism led to diagnostic difficulties and delay of treatment. From: Lynda Callicotte <[log in to unmask]> Date: 16 Nov 95 Autoimmune hypothyroidism is more common in coeliac patients than Graves disease is. Around 10% of coeliacs had hypothyroidism and there was a high incidence of anti-thyroid antibodies. Anti-thyroid antibodies, unlike Graves antibodies, target the thyroid hormone itself and cause it to be destroyed or to be ineffective. The doctors didn't know why coeliacs should be predisposed to hypothyroidism, but they speculated that maybe the excessive gut permeability results in greater than normal exposure to foreign antigens that resemble thyroid hormone and can trigger an immune response to it. Most coeliacs who had hypothyroidism were elderly and probably had untreated coeliac disease for a long time. The reason why hypothyroidism and coeliac result in diagnosic complications is that some of the symptoms are the same. When one of the two diseases is treated, but the symptoms don't all go away, the doctors are confused. Hypothyroidism can also mask some symptoms of coeliac disease. For instance, coeliacs often have diarrhea, but hypothyroidism can cause constipation.