Connect
← Return to Gluten-free diet: What has worked? Your tips
Discussion
Gluten-free diet: What has worked? Your tips
Digestive Health | Last Active: Nov 24, 2022 | Replies (120)Comment receiving replies
My GI dr told me interesting news when I went to be tested for celiac. He said that he has noticed the Irish tend to get celiac more often than other people. I am half Irish. My friends with celiac also have Irish in them. It seems to be true.
Replies to "My GI dr told me interesting news when I went to be tested for celiac. He..."
@airey2 - Ireland has always been said to have many with celiac disease. I’m Swedish and was used to seeing all gluten free products in the stores- it is very common in Sweden. When I moved to US nobody knew of celiac disease except specialists. I have been tested more than once/ negative. My adult daughters started to have symptoms in their 20s and now can’t have anything with gluten.
Yup. 76% Irish here, according to Ancestry DNA. I have read in more than one place that the Irish have a higher percentage of Celiac diagnosis
Connect
@airey2
Hi,
This is so interesting and I did a little research because, although I do not have CD, my mom was born in Ireland and my dad in England. I found that both parents have to have the gene in order for it to occur in the next generation. They have identified it as a mutant gene which may have been around since 900 AD and is prevalent in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern Europe. It was originally called the Celtic Disease. There is research suggesting a relation to another mutant gene causing an iron overload (not anemia) called Hemochromatosis.
You think of Irish food and you think of potatoes and oats. They theorize that the Irish , in the early centuries , had a high gluten diet. But even though the diet has changed dramatically, the gluten intolerant genes persisted ultimately leading to the high rate of CD in these countries. And it’s not only the Celtic countries.
I remember my mom, who had 2 Irish parents and grandparents, having stomach problems when she was about 50. She had 3/4s of her stomach removed after having suffered a duodenal ulcer for a long time. I don’t know if she had CD but she could eat anything after that operation but only small amounts. My dad never had a problem with stomach issues. His ancestors were a mix of Irish and English so I am guessing he did not have this gene and perhaps my mom did.
Anyway, now I know how the name originated. We have one friend who has celiac and I know how hard it is to live with that. She suffers when she doesn’t pay attention to what she eats.
FL Mary