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The Dermatitis Herpetiformis Online Community Blog
| This weblog (blog) is a place for me to post articles of interest for people with DH and coeliac disease and enables me to communicate notices to site visitors. If you'd like to be advised when new posts are added, please either subscribe to the web feed or sign up for email notifications.
Annie Barnes (Site Admin)
Blood lipids after diagnosis of coeliac diseaseSource - Coeliac UK's October eXGScientific evidence suggests that raised levels of fat in the blood are related to increased risk of developing heart disease. Undiagnosed or poorly treated coeliac disease has been associated with individuals having low levels of fat in the blood, which could be potentially beneficial in lowering their risk of developing heart disease. However, there is a lack of evidence to back this up. It has been suggested that after diagnosis of coeliac disease and subsequent gluten-free diet, cholesterol levels in the blood may rise possibly due to improved absorption of nutrients. This study looked at the levels of fat in the blood of 132 patients at the time of, and after, diagnosis of coeliac disease and starting a gluten-free diet. After an average time of 20.5 months on a gluten-free diet it was found that total cholesterol and High Density Lipoprotein, (HDL, "good" cholesterol) levels had increased, and that Low Density Lipoprotein, (LDL, "bad" cholesterol) levels had not increased significantly. The amount of 'bad' LDL cholesterol compared to 'good' HDL cholesterol (known as LDL/HDL ratio) was found to have decreased. This study concludes that despite an overall increase in total cholesterol, the increase in HDL and reduction in LDL/HDL ratio should calm concerns that dietary treatment of coeliac disease worsens a persons risk of developing heart disease and, in fact, may lead to improvements in changes of fats in the blood. Reference: Brar P et al. Change in Lipid Profile in Celiac Disease: Beneficial Effect of Gluten-Free Diet. The American Journal of Medicine 2006;119:786-790 *************************************** Change in Lipid Profile in Celiac Disease: Beneficial Effect of Gluten-Free DietSource - The American Journal of Medicine Purpose Celiac disease is associated with hypocholesterolemia, which is thought to contribute to a favorable cardiovascular risk profile. This led to suggestions that the diagnosis of celiac disease and its treatment with a gluten-free diet may result in elevation of the serum cholesterol level and worsen this risk profile. However, no study proves this in adults. We therefore examined the effect of a gluten-free diet on the lipid profile in patients with celiac disease. Subjects and methods We identified 132 patients with celiac disease who adhered to a gluten-free diet and had lipid profiles performed before and after a median of 20.5 months on the diet. The patients lacked diseases that may affect serum lipids. Results There were significant increases in total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (P < .0001) but not low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (P=.06). The LDL/HDL ratio decreased by 0.36±0.7 (P < .0001). Both men and women had a significant increase in total cholesterol and HDL and a significant decrease in the LDL/HDL ratio. Only men had increases in LDL (P=.02). The greatest increase in lipid values was seen in those with the lowest initial values. The largest increase in HDL was seen in subjects with more severe disease as indicated by low albumin level and presence of total villous atrophy. Conclusions Diagnosis of celiac disease and its treatment with a gluten-free diet resulted in improvement in the lipoprotein profile, which included an increase in HDL and a decrease in the LDL/HDL ratio.
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