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Celiac Disease Prevalence More Than Doubled in US Since 1988
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The overall prevalence of celiac disease in the United States has increased between 1988 and 2012 and is more common in whites, whereas blacks are more likely to adopt a gluten-free diet without a diagnosis of celiac disease, according to data from a recent population-based, cross-sectional study.
“We demonstrated that the prevalence of [gluten-free diet] without a diagnosis of [celiac disease] in non-Hispanic blacks is highest compared with other racial groups, although non-Hispanic blacks have the lowest prevalence of [celiac disease],” Joseph A. Murray, MD, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues wrote. “In light of this sharply increasing prevalence of [celiac disease] in non-Hispanic whites, the potentially protective factors associated with African Americans need to be further evaluated,” they added.
Joseph A. Murray
Aiming to identify trends and racial differences in celiac disease prevalence and individuals avoiding gluten without a celiac disease diagnosis, Murray and colleagues obtained data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1988 to 1994, 1999 to 2004 and 2009 to 2012. They evaluated trends of celiac disease seroprevalence in 17,010 adults aged at least 50 years using data from 1988 to 2012, and also analyzed seroprevalence and questionnaire data on demographics and adherence to a gluten-free diet from 14,701 participants aged at least 6 years from 2009 to 2012.
Overall prevalence of celiac disease in adults aged at least 50 years was 0.17% (95% CI, 0.03-0.33) from 1988 to 1994, 0.3% (95% CI, 0.1-0.52) from 1999 to 2004 and 0.44% (95% CI, 0.24-0.81) from 2009 to 2012, indicating more than a twofold increase between 1988-1994 and 2009-2012 (P < .05), predominantly in non-Hispanic whites.
They found that overall celiac disease prevalence in the general population from 2009 to 2012 was 0.8% (95% CI, 0.5-1), representing at least 1.5 million individuals nationwide. Prevalence was significantly higher in non-Hispanic whites (1%; 95% CI, 0.7-1.3) compared with non-Hispanic blacks (0.2%; 95% CI, 0.03-0.3) and Hispanics (0.3%; 95% CI, 0.02-0.5).
Overall prevalence of individuals avoiding gluten without a celiac disease diagnosis from 2009 to 2012 also was 0.8% (95% CI, 0.5-1), but this was significantly higher in non-Hispanic blacks (1.2%; 95% CI, 0.6-1.7) compared with non-Hispanic whites (0.7%; 95% CI, 0.4-1) and Hispanics (0.5%; 95% CI, 0.2-0.9). – by Adam Leitenberger
Disclosure: Murray reports financial ties with Alba Therapeutics, Alvine Pharmaceuticals, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, BiolineRX, Entera Health, GlaxoSmithKline and Sonomaceuticals.
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