Referenced article about Thyroid-Celiac connection

Not dead yet!

Well-Known Member
I think this situation describes me very well. In case it helps others, I will post it here. They say this time that the prevalence of Celiac is now thought to be nearly 1% which is double what I read before at 1 in 250. And I thought that was high. Basically the message is, if you have thyroid issues, it should be routine to get a celiac panel. Transglutaminase is not only a controversial food additive, but also made by the human body to help your body hold together (ie. why your uterus doesn't slide down and out, although that can happen to women in old age, why your kidneys stay put... etc..). Making antibodies to TG has an obvious "sagging" effect on the body which comes with inflammation too.

[article=http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/110310p52.shtml]Research on the Celiac-Thyroid Disease Connection

from November 2010

Two of a Kind — Research Connects Celiac and Thyroid Diseases and Suggests a Gluten-Free Diet Benefits Both

By Cheryl Harris, MPH, RD, and Gary Kaplan, DO
Today’s Dietitian
Vol. 12 No. 11 P. 52

People with celiac disease are more likely to develop ATD than the general public, and the reverse is also true. The increased risk holds despite treatment with a gluten-free diet or thyroid medications5 and may be due to overlapping genetic predispositions. In a recent study by Alessio Fasano, MD, a recognized celiac disease expert, one half of the people newly diagnosed with celiac disease also had thyroid disease.6 Most studies show a significant but much smaller association. The largest longitudinal study to date showed that adults with celiac disease had 4.4 times the relative risk of hypothyroidism and 2.9 times the risk of hyperthyroidism compared with the general public. In children, rates were higher still at 6 times and 4.8 times the risk, respectively.5

While just under 1% of Americans have celiac disease, recent thyroid review studies show that an average of 4.1% of adults with ATD have celiac disease7 and 7.8% of children with ATD have celiac disease.8 The authors of a review evaluating the usefulness of screening for celiac disease in patients with ATD concluded, “We believe that undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease may switch on some as-yet-unknown immunological mechanism that sets off a cascade of other disorders.”9

A 2008 study by Naiyer et al explored the connection between autoimmune hypothyroidism and celiac disease and hypothesized a mechanism via serum antitissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies. It is well established that anti-tTG antibodies are present in patients with active celiac disease and that they decrease and eventually disappear on a gluten-free diet. The study demonstrated that these anti-tTG antibodies bind and react to thyroid tissue as well, which may contribute to ATD development. Antithyroid antibodies were observed more often in patients with celiac disease than in either controls or patients with another autoimmune condition (eg, Crohn’s disease).10,11 Type your article here[/article]

I should also say that I don't think this situation is mutually exclusive with ME/CFS. I think we can arrive at this place via many paths. This could have been the predisposing condition that led to my overall ME/CFS. My encephalopathy symptoms are not typical for either celiac or thyroid, so there is definitely a third factor at work. Neither thyroid or celiac cause the one side of my body to be weak and spastic during a migraine. They don't cause me to be unable to walk or talk for about two hours in the deepest part of the migraine process. They don't get better if I ice my head, but migraine/brain fog does.

I believe the third factor to be viruses (o other germs) that are assumed to be "harmless" but aren't. Or possibly as many believe, an enterovirus that caused damage more easily because of the pre existing weakness. XMRV or other retroviruses could have easily become reactivated in such an environment. Whatever the "cause" of the ME/CFS, in my life thyroid and celiac seem to be a predisposing complication.

More about how it's possible that Thyroid and Immune issues can coexist and even predispose one another: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5694785/pdf/fimmu-08-01573.pdf
"A role for iodide and Thyroglobulin in Modulating the Function of human immune cells"
 
Last edited:

Get Our Free ME/CFS and FM Blog!



Forum Tips

Support Our Work

DO IT MONTHLY

HEALTH RISING IS NOT A 501 (c) 3 NON-PROFIT

Shopping on Amazon.com For HR

Latest Resources

Top