Some IBS patients should be screened for celiac disease

July 1, 4:16 PMAtlanta Gluten-Free Food ExaminerTiffany Janes

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The video below from UCTV is not new. It was posted in December 2007 on You Tube. If you take the time to watch it in it's entirety, you will find out that the panel doing the study concludes that patients with IBS that do not respond to medications for the condition, should be screened for celiac disease.

Both conditions can and do present with the same symptoms in many cases. There are no medications for celiac disease but there are many medications available to treat IBS. Some GI doctors now screen their IBS patients for celiac but the majority of them do not. The NIH's efforts to educate doctors about the prevalence of celiac disease in the U.S. in on a typical government five year plan that started in 2007. The program doesn't seem to be very effective so far.   

Part of the reason that patients with supposed IBS do not respond to IBS medications is because they are not able to absorb the medication. When someone has celiac they have damaged villi. Healthy villi line the small intestine and absorb nutrients but in a patient with celiac, the villi are damaged and therefore do not absorb much of anything. The absorption problems that affect people with undiagnosed celiac disease also make it difficult for them to absorb many medications - both over the counter and prescription varieties. 

On page 60 of Celiac Disease : A Hidden Epidemic, Dr. Peter Green states that "Gastroenterologists are taught that irritable bowel syndrome is the most common diagnosis they will make, and this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy". Thanks for clearing things up a bit Dr. Green. Certainly your book should be required reading for all medical students and most practicing doctors in the U.S. today ; those that do not work in the field of celiac disease, of course.     

Without question, people who have an IBS diagnosis who do not respond to the medications doctor prescribed for it, should be screened for celiac disease. IBS is the most commonly misdiagnosis for those who actually have celiac disease. If your doctor doesn't even know how to start the testing process, refer them to Dr. Green's website to the physician section. Approximately 1 in 100 Americans have celiac disease and most of them do not know they have it. Everyone studying the issue agrees that over 90% of people with celiac in the U.S are currently undiagnosed. Why are there only a handful of research centers for celiac disease in the U.S. considering how prevalent the condition is?    

References: University of California TV ; Celiac Disease Center of Columbia University ;  The University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research