“Patients … learn to deal with hunger and do not notice hunger signs as often as someone else would,” because they are often faced with situations where there are no gluten-free options. Such disturbed eating patterns and hypervigilance, coupled with a common increase in weight after a malnourished patient is diagnosed and treated, can be a cause for concern, especially in adolescent girls who are already more vulnerable to eating disorders. In one of her studies “we did find some people who actually ate gluten in order to lose weight,” just as diabetic patients have been known to withhold insulin for the same reason, she said (Eur. J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2007;19:251-5).
As awareness about celiac disease continues to grow, experts agree that the current average 11-year gap between symptom onset and diagnosis will shrink, resulting in more diagnoses in childhood and adolescence.
There was also a consensus among all the experts interviewed that, given the recent findings of an increased mortality rate associated with this earlier diagnosis, any attempts to reduce this higher mortality must begin with a better understanding of the unique burdens that childhood diagnosis and treatment may bring.
'I am personally convinced that eating gluten if you have celiac disease … induces serious changes in brain chemistry.' DR. GUANDALINI