Celiac Disease on the Rise in U.S.

I am mostly gluten free, my son Nate is gluten free, my older sister has sensitivities to it — Scott’s cousin is Celiacs. You think there’s a problem? Nate’s pediatrician told me that gluten-free was just a fad — yeah, a fad.

FRIDAY, Aug.19 (HealthDay News) — Complaints of celiac disease are on the rise in the United States, with more and more people growing ill from exposure to products containing gluten.

Nearly five times as many people have celiac disease today than did during the 1950s, according to one recent study. Another report found that the rate of celiac disease has doubled every 15 years since 1974 and is now believed to affect one in every 133 U.S. residents.

“It’s quite widespread,” said Dr. Alessio Fasano, director of the Center for Celiac Research and the Mucosal Biology Research Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “We thought there were regional differences in the past, but now we know it’s everywhere.

“That increased incidence rate has left researchers scrambling to figure out why more people are developing the chronic digestive disorder. Doctors still can’t explain the trend, but they are making some headway testing a number of hypotheses.