A small US study found that women having untreated celiac disease may strike menopause early and are at higher risk of pregnancy related complications, in comparison to those without the condition. But, if women suffering celiac disease is diagnosed early and follow a strict diet as a treatment than they would not go through menopause early, suggests the findings.
In people with celiac disease, the immune system reacts to protein called gluten that is found in wheat, barley and rye. Consuming foods having gluten harms the small intestine and keep it from soaking up nutrients. The nutrient deficiencies, plus lower levels of some key hormones in women with celiac disease, may cause earlier menopause in women.
The levels of estrogen are usually lower in women suffering celiac disease, explained study author Dr. Carolina Ciacci from Federico II University of Naples, Italy. Celiac disease affects the whole spectrum of the reproductive career of women, stated Dr. Shawky Badawy, the head of obstetrics and gynecology at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.
People with celiac disease, might have really chronic diarrhea, due to which they lose much of the necessary amino acids, vitamins and minerals. All these definitely have their significance in the functioning of the vital endocrine organs. They diminished body fat and inflammation twigging from the celiac disorder itself may contribute to hormonal interruption.
The new study led by Dr Ciacci included a group of one hundred postmenopausal women. Twenty-five of them had been diagnosed with celiac disease and followed a gluten-free diet for about ten years prior to menopause. Another thirty had celiac disease that was not diagnosed until after menopause and remaining forty-five celiac-free women included in control group.
All study participants were asked about their first menstruation and when they stopped their menstruation. They were also asked about how many times they had pregnant, about any pregnancy complications like miscarriages or premature births. The subjects were inquired about symptoms they had during menopause counting hot flushes.
Typically, women with and without celiac disease had their menstruation at the age of twelve or thirteen. Women without the disease and those who had followed a gluten-free diet hit menopause around the age of fifty. But women with untreated celiac disease went through menopause between the age of fort-seven and forty-eight, making their fertile life span shorter than other women.
Whereas, in all groups women had gotten pregnant two or three times, the combination of miscarriages and premature births was more frequent in women with untreated celiac disease, in comparison to control group. The study was published in the journal Menopause.
Women in the untreated celiac group reported more menopause-associated problems, such as hot flashes, irritability, and muscle and joint symptoms than non-celiac women. Diagnosing celiac disease early and preventing some of the nutritional and hormonal differences in celiac women, might delay an otherwise early menopause, concluded Ciacci’s team.