<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
In my haste to accomplish a task (posting to this listserv) I was less
precise in expressing my thoughts, a comment made to me by a physician
that replied to my original post. So I will restate my thoughts here and
provide more complete information so that anyone interested can research
this issue for themselves.
Celiac disease and pregnancy has been studied since the 1970's in the US,
and around the world. A review of the medical literature finds that over
1,000 mothers with unexplained infertility and/or celiac disease have
participated in studies to monitor their fertility, pregnancy and
childbirth experiences (with researchers often studying multiple births
from these women.
These studies have consistently found that unexplained infertility,
miscarriage, spontaneous abortion, low birth weight babies and early
deliveries are the hallmark of undiagnosed celiac disease.
They have not consistently found birth defects in children born to mothers
with celiac disease. They have also not consistently found, at this time, a
high rate of celiac disease among mothers giving birth to children with any
type of birth defect. When a case has been found, (one in the medical
literature, and one case report) it has not been established that the
incidence of birth defects in women with untreated celiac disease is
greater than in the general population.
An important study conducted in England sought to examine a major
nutritional research question related to undiagnosed celiac disease in
pregnant women, and that was to measure any level of risk between folate
deficiency and neural tube defects in children. It found that in testing 60
women who had given birth to a child with neural tube defects, 1 woman had
celiac disease. They concluded that the majority of neural tube defect
births were not due to celiac disease, but called for additional studies to
compare the prevalence in a population of people with celiac disease.
A second study in the UK found five women (out of 216 pregnant women) with
celiac disease, and of these five women, four had iron deficiency anemia.
One was borderline anemic. However, in a group of 30 pregnant women, the
researchers did not find a link between a positive celiac blood test and
folate deficiency, stating that children born with neural tube defects in
the study were not born to mothers with untreated celiac.
Researchers from the Netherlands have also found, in a study of 150 women
with infertility, that the increased rate of celiac disease affects those
who have infertility that is unexplained by other causes. They found that
in the 4 women with celiac disease, none of them had a folic acid or B12
deficiency.
In a letter to the Editor of a medical journal, a Polish researcher reports
the results of screening 101 mothers of children with cleft lip and/or
cleft palate, nonsyndromic spina bifida, and isolated cleft palate. He
found that one of the mothers had celiac disease. He determined that women
of short stature who give birth to a child with a birth defect should be
tested suggesting folate deficiency could be to blame. This data has not
been reviewed and published in a medical journal, and is considered a case
report.
A noted Italian researcher replies to this letter by stating that it is
unfortunate that his colleague from Poland did not collect data on folate
status in testing this group of women. In addition, he felt that folate
status can only be possibly implicated in a particular group of women--that
women who do not have gastrointestinal problems or other signs of
malabsorption would not have a folate deficiency.
For more information, you might be interested in visiting the national
library of medicine, and pulling up abstracts related to this issue or
others of interest. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi
The material appearing on the University Hospitals website was not
generated by our program and is not correct in making an assertion that
neural tube defects are a complication of untreated celiac disease in
pregnant women. It will be changed.
This information like all other information posted on the listserv, is
offered in an attempt to educate and assist all those who participate in
this forum. It is up to each person to research issues further and to
determine whether or not the information is applicable to them. While no
one individual is perfect, and no post may be perfect, it is offered in an
effort to help and share. To those who responded to my post with
constructive, respectful comments, I say thank you.
Michelle Melin-Rogovin
Michelle Melin-Rogovin, Program Director
The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Program
5839 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 4065
Chicago, Illinois 60637
Phone: 773-834-0166
Fax: 773-702-0666
* All posts for product information must include the applicable country *
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