A new study published in the professional journal Archives of Childhood Diseases shows that the incidence ofhas celiac disease has risen sharply in Britain in recent years. Today, about 1% of children carry the blood markers for celiac disease. This inflammation of the small intestine leads to significant transit disorders and makes it necessary to follow a strict gluten-free diet.
For this study, researchers looked at data from a UK database that collects public health records. They thus studied the files of more than two million children, of whom 1,247 had been diagnosed as carriers of celiac disease, ie one new case each year among 10,000 children.
The number of newborn diagnoses has remained low for 20 years, but data showed that among children aged 2 and over, the number of diagnoses has tripled over the same period. On the other hand, the researchers noticed that the number of diagnoses was two times lower in children from less well-off socio-professional categories.
According to Professor Laila Tata, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Nottingham (Great Britain), the explosion in the number of diagnoses could, in theory, be due to changes in diet. But according to her, the most likely explanation is that there is simply an increased awareness of the disease, which would also explain why the better-off children are also those who are most often diagnosed.
In children with celiac disease, ingestion of gluten leads to an abnormal immune reaction in the small intestine, which creates inflammation and damages the intestinal wall. Once damaged, the intestine becomes unable to absorb certain nutrients. Malnutrition can follow. Children therefore have no choice but to follow a gluten-free diet for life.
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