As
gluten-free diets become popular, many critics of the trend say gluten and
wheat allergies or sensitivity are imagined.
But a
recently released study found that the uncomfortable symptoms some people
experience after eating wheat and related products aren’t in their heads, but
in their intestines.
The
study's findings suggest that those who experience symptoms such as abdominal
pain, bloating and fatigue after eating wheat and related products have a
weakened intestinal barrier.
The study
was led by researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) is
published in the journal Gut.
“Our
study shows that the symptoms reported by individuals with this condition are
not imagined, as some people have suggested,” said co-author Dr. Peter H. Green,
a professor of medicine at CUMC and director of the Celiac Disease Center, in a
press release from CUMC. “It demonstrates that there is a biological basis for
these symptoms in a significant number of these patients.”
The
study’s researchers examined 80 people with non-celiac gluten or wheat
sensitivity (NCWS), and 40 people with celiac disease.
Celiac
disease is an autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine of an
individual—who is susceptible to the disease—upon eating gluten. Those with
NCWS experience symptoms similar to celiac disease but lack the blood, tissue
and genetic markers that come with the autoimmune disorder.
An
explanation for NCWS offers that exposure to wheat, rye or barley grains sets
off a severe systemic immune response instead of a localized immune response in
the intestine, according to the CUMC press release.
The
researchers discovered that although the NCWS group did not have cytotoxic T
cells found in those with celiac disease, they had markers of intestinal
cellular damage related to a severe systemic immune activation.
The study
stated that NCWS patients who were excluded wheat and related products from
their diets for six months saw improvement in their symptoms and effects.
According
to the CUMC, without any biological markers to indicate someone has NCWS, it
was estimated that about 3 million Americans are affected by it, which is the
about the same amount of people affected by celiac disease.
“The data
suggest that, in the future, we may be able to use a combination of biomarkers
to identify patients with non-celiac wheat sensitivity, and to monitor their
response to treatment,” said Dr. Armin Alaedini, assistant professor of
medicine at Columbia and the study’s leader.
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