VIDEO: Brain fog, neurocognitive symptoms highly frequent in celiac disease
In this video exclusive, Alice Bast and Jessica Edwards George, PhD, discussed a study assessed how brain fog and other neurocognitive symptoms impact patients with celiac disease.
Bast, the CEO of Beyond Celiac said they collaborated with researchers from Northeastern University to survey 1,400 patients with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
“Brain fog isn’t given much attention from researchers as [gastrointestinal (GI)] symptoms,” she said.
George, licensed psychologist, associate clinical professor, director of counseling psychology at the department of applied psychology, Northeastern University, said 90% patients included in the survey experienced brain fog which lasted 1 to 2 days. Patients said the symptom began within 2 hours of gluten exposure.
“Symptoms are not just GI symptoms,” George said. “This is important at diagnosis when clinicians are inquiring about what are the symptoms that they aren’t just inquiring about the gastrointestinal symptoms but they are also inquiring about the neurocognitive symptoms because we know that they occur frequently in individuals with celiac disease.”
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Celiac disease is a multisystem disease with several well-described nervous system and behavioral manifestations. Neurocognitive symptoms are a frequent complaint in clinical practice. This study suggests that neurocognitive symptoms as documented by an online survey are frequent in patients with celiac disease (89%) and in patients with non-celiac gluten sensitivity (95%). Difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, grogginess, and mental confusion were the most defined symptoms by participants compatible with the frequent complaint of “brain fog.” The biggest limitations of this study are related to cross-sectional design, self-reported diagnosis, lack of generalizability and use of online survey. However, findings are consistent with clinical practice experience and assessment of these symptoms should be part of routine medical follow-up. Further understanding of the pathophysiology of neurocognitive symptoms and management alternatives beyond the gluten-free diet are urgently needed.
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