Beyond Celiac joins the #ShineALightOnCeliac campaign for celiac disease awareness
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
In the United States and around the globe, May 16 is recognized as Celiac Awareness Day, and Beyond Celiac has joined the #ShineALightOnCeliac campaign to help spread awareness.
As part of the campaign, several organizations including Coeliac Australia, Canadian Celiac Association, Coeliaque Québec, Coelicak UK, and Celíacos do Brasil agreed to light up world landmarks in green to raise awareness about gluten-free food insecurity, the need for research, and other celiac disease-related issues.
To do our part to support celiac disease awareness, Healio has compiled a list of the latest news and research on celiac disease including AGA updated guidance on diagnosis and management, risk for COVID-19 rehospitalization in this population, health disparities and more.
ACG updates guidance for celiac disease diagnosis, management in children, adults
The ACG has published updated guidelines for the evaluation, diagnosis and management of children and adults with celiac disease.
“Celiac disease (CD) is defined as a permanent immune-mediated response to gluten present in wheat, barley and rye. CD has a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations that resemble a multisystemic disorder rather than an isolated intestinal disease,” Alberto Rubio-Tapia, MD, director of the Celiac Disease Program at the Cleveland Clinic and assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and colleagues wrote in The American Journal of Gastroenterology. “Current treatment of CD requires strict adherence to a gluten-free diet and lifelong medical follow-up.” Read more.
Patients with celiac disease have twofold higher risk for COVID-19-related hospitalization
Vaccination against COVID-19 is strongly recommended in patients with celiac disease, who are at greater risk for hospitalization due to SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with people who do not have celiac disease, according to research.
“While studies have shown increased susceptibility to viral illnesses, the research to date has demonstrated similar incidences and outcomes between those with celiac disease (CD) with COVID-19 and the general population,” Andrew Ford, MD, an internal medicine resident at Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues wrote in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. “Although the humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was similar in CD to that observed in healthy controls, prior reports about outcomes of CD and COVID-19 were dated before the availability of COVID-19 vaccines. Read more.
Patients with COVID-19 experience GI symptoms more frequently than noninfected controls
Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 had a “modest increased risk” for long-term gastrointestinal symptoms and irritable bowel syndrome compared with control patients, according to research published in Gut.
“The data we collected show that those who have contracted COVID-19 experience gastrointestinal symptoms more frequently than those who have not been affected by it,” Giovanni Barbara, MD, study coordinator and professor of medical and surgical sciences at the University of Bologna in Italy, said in a related press release. “Given the vast spread of COVID-19 globally, we should therefore expect an increase in diagnoses related to gut-brain interaction disorders.” Read more.
Q&A: Overcoming health disparities in celiac disease: ‘We can’t do this alone’
Only half of Americans reported being aware of celiac disease or gluten-sensitivity, with Black Americans reporting least awareness of this disease, according to “eye-opening” results from The Harris Poll on behalf of Beyond Celiac.
Although celiac disease was previously thought to affect predominantly Caucasian populations, a 2018 systematic review published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology demonstrated that celiac disease can – and does – exist among all ethnic groups. Awareness of these comparable disease risks have not been disseminated among minority groups, indicating possible health inequities in both diagnosis and treatment. Read more.
Beyond Celiac, 9 Meters partner for trial recruitment
In this exclusive video, Alan M. Ehrlich, MD, of University of Massachusetts Medical School, discusses the partnership between Beyond Celiac and 9 Meters Biopharma to recruit patients for clinical trials.
Ehrlich, board chair at Beyond Celiac, said the organization will use its contacts and patient database to help recruit for a trial that will explore larazotide acetate for patients with celiac disease who continue to experience gastrointestinal symptoms while following a gluten-free diet. Watch here.
AGA releases 10 best practice statements for management of refractory celiac disease
In an expert review published in Gastroenterology, AGA provided updated guidance for the diagnosis and management of refractory celiac disease, including supportive and therapeutic treatment options and recommendations for monitoring.
“This new clinical practice update on management of refractory celiac disease presents a step-by-step clinical approach for patients with celiac disease following a gluten-free diet with persistent or recurrent symptoms and the most up-to-date information about tests and treatments for patients with refractory celiac disease,” Alberto Rubio-Tapia, MD, senior author of the update and director of the Celiac Disease Program at the Cleveland Clinic, told Healio. “This AGA clinical practice update would be very helpful to clinicians to improve care of patients with refractory celiac disease.” Read more.
References:
- A united celiac disease awareness campaign. https://shinealightonceliac.org/. Accessed May 4, 2023.
- Celiac awareness month. https://www.beyondceliac.org/celiac-awareness-month/. Accessed May 4, 2023.