Tens of Thousands of Children Die from Celiac Related Diarrhea

In the US, our ability to diagnose celiac disease is very poor – only 5% of those suffering get diagnosed, and this occurs after an average of a decade of suffering and visiting numerous doctors. Therefore 95% remain undiagnosed despite their visits to many different doctors.

Worldwide that diagnosis rate varies but a new study cites that children worldwide, but in Asia and Africa predominantly, maybe dying by the thousands from the lack of knowledge and awareness of the celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

Peter Byass, Professor and Director of the Umea Centre for Global Health, in collaboration with several colleagues, published an article entitled “The Global Burden of Childhood Celiac Disease: A Neglected Component of Diarrheal Mortality?”

The Facts are Chilling

• Diarrhea is the 2nd leading cause of death among children under the age of 5 globally. I’d like to focus on its relationship to celiac and gluten sensitivity.

• In the developing world, 24,000 children under the age of five die every day.

• While most diarrheal deaths worldwide are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene, greater than 33% are due to malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization.

• The child mortality rate or under-5 mortality rate is the number of children who die by the age of five, per thousand live births per year. In 2009, the world average was 60 (6.0%). In 2006, the average in developing countries was 79 (7.9%), whereas the average in industrialized countries was 6 (0.6%), this last figure includes the United States.

Just because the figure in industrialized nations is under 1%, doesn’t make it unheard of or very rare. Remember that celiac disease, at an incidence of 1%, makes it the most common lifelong disorder in the US and Europe. 0.6% child mortality rate is very much too high.

Gluten as a Cause of Diarrhea is Overlooked & Children are Dying

Children with the celiac disease commonly present with chronic diarrhea and malnutrition but the diagnosis are often overlooked, particularly in poorer settings where children often fail to thrive and water-borne infectious diarrhea is common. Unfortunately, this is an all too familiar scenario to what we see here in the US and other industrialized nations.

The patient with gluten intolerance can suffer from over 300 diseases and conditions, the vast majority of which are treated symptomatically with a drug that offers only temporary relief while the root cause, gluten, remains completely hidden from view.

In the study cited above, a model was used that suggests that in 2010 there were around 2.2 million children under 5 years of age living with the celiac disease globally. Among these children, there could be 42,000 deaths related to the celiac disease every year. The researchers estimated that in 2008, deaths related to celiac disease accounted for approximately 4% of all childhood diarrheal deaths. We could prevent the deaths of these children by raising global awareness.

Why are Deaths from Celiac Disease Worsening?

While that estimated 4% only accounts for a small portion of diarrhea-related mortality, what is even more concerning is that these death rates will likely not improve by applying normal diarrhea treatment guidelines – in fact, they will get worse. Why?

Because supplements and food are given to ‘handle’ malnutrition, frequently include gluten-based products. The researchers conclude that as other causes of diarrheal mortality decline due to better treatment and increased awareness, celiac disease will become a proportionately increasing problem unless consideration is given to trying gluten-free diets for children with chronic diarrhea and malnutrition.

We Can Do Something About This!

This IS our problem. It’s happening here in the US, where I live, and it's happening where you live. We currently are in an age of ‘instant communication’ made possible by the internet.

Being a bit old school I’m sometimes surprised at the parts of the world I hear from via the internet, but believe it is global. So don’t let us think that we cannot make an impact globally, we can. If we all make a commitment to educating those in our lives, we will see a ripple effect that will save the lives of millions of children across this beautiful planet. We can do it. Will you help me?

Please tell your friends and I’ll keep writing and videoing and lecturing about gluten intolerance. Together we’ll make a difference. As a Destination Clinic, Root Cause Medical is able to treat patients from across the country and around the world – we are here to help! P.S. If this post was a little hard to read, I do apologize. I’ll confess to having tears in my eyes for a good portion of it. But I think you’ll agree that this is vitally important.