There were already studies linking celiac disease with anorexia nervosa in the case of women. Now, research by a team of Swedish, Norwegian, American and British scientists has confirmed this link, which does not occur in men. Specialists have compared the histories of 18,000 Swedish women with celiac disease with those of 90,000 of their compatriots without the disease, and have found that in the former there are more cases of the dangerous eating disorder than in the latter.
Both diseases can be confused at the beginning, since they share some symptoms: loss of appetite, fatigue, stomach pain and, in girls, delay in growth and in the arrival of the first menstruation. According to the researchers, this difficulty sometimes leads to wrong diagnoses that harm those affected and complicate their treatments.
A dangerous relationship
Celiac disease is an inflammatory disorder caused by the ingestion of gluten, a protein present in cereals (wheat, oats, barley, rye …) and therefore in many foods. It affects the small intestine (although it causes various physical and even psychological symptoms) and its treatment consists of following a strict gluten-free diet throughout life.
For its part, anorexia nervosa consists of a fear of gaining weight and an altered perception of the self-image that leads to rejecting food and leads to serious disorders, sometimes even death.
But what is the relationship between the two ailments? Why are women who reject gluten more prone to anorexia? Researchers suspect that the need for a strict diet triggers obsessive eating patterns in certain people. Additionally, a poorly controlled gluten-free diet can cause a negative energy balance that sometimes works as a tipping point leading to anorexia.
3 key factors
Scientists cite three factors that contribute to this proven relationship between celiac disease and anorexia nervosa:
1. On initial examination, the early stages of anorexia and celiac disease are easy to confuse. For this reason, there are women who are diagnosed with the eating disorder of psychological origin, when in fact they have a problem related to gluten.
2. Diagnoses can be influenced by biases and biases in research, which lead physicians to confuse their appraisals.
3. Recent studies suggest a genetic relationship between anorexia and autoimmune conditions such as celiac disease.
To complicate matters, doctors have observed that, when concurrent, the two conditions make it difficult to treat the other. Having anorexia makes it harder to follow a gluten-free diet, and there are anorexic and celiac women who eat products with gluten that make them uncomfortable in order to lose weight.
The study authors conclude that the relationship between the diagnosis of the two diseases requires a greater follow-up of women with these ailments, which, when confused in their initial stages, make effective treatments difficult.
