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Celiac disease increases patients' risk for neuropathy
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A recent study found patients with biopsy-verified celiac disease had an increased risk for neuropathy.
Using national registry data on neuropathy and small-intestinal biopsies performed at Sweden’s 28 pathology departments from June 1969 to February 2008, Jonas F. Ludvigsson, MD, PhD, from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and colleagues calculated the relative and absolute risk for developing neuropathy in a nationwide population-based sample of patients with biopsy-verified celiac disease (n = 28,232) compared with age- and sex-matched controls (n = 139,473). Mean follow up was 10 years.
Jonas F. Ludvigsson
They found 0.7% of celiac disease patients had a later diagnosis of neuropathy compared with 0.3% of controls; absolute risk was 64 vs. 15 per 100,000 person-years, respectively, which corresponded to a 2.5-fold increased risk (95% CI, 2.1-3) of later neuropathy for celiac disease patients. They also found celiac disease patients had an increased risk for chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy (2.8; 95% CI, 1.6-5.1), autonomic neuropathy (4.2; 95% CI, 1.4-12.3) and mononeuritis multiplex (7.6; 95% CI, 1.8-32.4), but not acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.
“Physicians managing patients with celiac disease should be aware that these patients are at increased risk of polyneuropathy, not only just after diagnosis but also later in life,” Ludvigsson told Healio.com/Gastroenterology. “[Furthermore], in patients with neuropathy where there is no obvious cause (such as high alcohol consumption, vitamin B12 [deficiency], or type 1 diabetes), celiac disease should be considered, and here celiac screening is appropriate.” – by Adam Leitenberger
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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