As You Age Your Risk for Celiac Disease Rises

Each day we get older. Statistically, that means that our chances of developing the celiac disease are also increasing. In fact, there is a 5-fold increase with age here in the US based on research. This means that not having a problem in younger decades does not rule out developing a problem later in life.

So, therefore, would be prudent to evaluate ourselves and family members for gluten intolerance as we age, especially if the individual’s health status is less than optimal.

A personal experience I had with my mother shed light on the fact that as we get older we often rely on others to prepare our meals which, in some circumstances, might be truly hazardous to our health.

Can You Get a Healthy Meal Outside Your Own Kitchen?

Recently my mother was hospitalized. The surgery went well (elective back surgery to repair an old injury) but trying to obtain a healthy diet with her gluten intolerance proved near impossible in the hospital (and later rehab facility) setting.

It is said that an American hospital is a terrible place to go to get any rest or decent food. I found no one who argued that point while maintaining a watch over my mother. The nurses and doctors all agreed that the faster one could leave the better.

That’s fine. No one wants to remain in a hospital or rehab facility for longer than they need to, but what does the person do that has to be there? How can they receive decent quality food? And what do they do if they have a food sensitivity or gluten intolerance?

My mother’s first two days following surgery only allowed her ‘clear liquids’ so I wasn’t too worried about contamination from gluten or dairy. But when I arrived with vegetable juice (minus the pulp and therefore ‘clear’ in my estimation) a major discussion ensued. Did this fit the criteria? Was it allowed?

Please understand that if I arrived from Starbucks with piping hot coffee there would have been no questions asked. Ditto for sweetened juice or jello loaded with sugar and artificial colors. All those were given a thumbs’ up and in fact, were residing on her food tray. I knew that after major surgery she needed some good nutrition and I persevered until I got an agreement. After two days solid food was allowed. I had lengthy discussions with the dieticians present and explained that my mother could have no gluten nor dairy containing foods.

Despite multiple discussions, desserts made with flour arrived, milk was on the tray in a container, and a ‘food bar’ that contained nothing healthy but definitely had gluten and dairy was also delivered. If you’re gluten intolerant yourself, you will relate to the fact that my mother became so afraid to eat that I had to bring her all her food. I had pretty much decided to do that anyway from a nutritional standpoint, but it truly did become a necessity.

Too Much Ignorance Exists by the Food Industry

It caused me to realize that not only is a hospital not a good place to get healthy food but for someone with a food sensitivity it could be downright dangerous – ditto for a rehab facility – we had the same problems there.

The hospital, that I will not name, is a leading hospital in this country and very well thought of. The rehab facility has a similar excellent reputation. We could reasonably state that with so many mouths to feed, mistakes understandably happen. That would be reasonable, but still dangerous and life-threatening for the individual it happens to. Mistakes are one thing, blatant lack of education is another issue.

At the rehab facility, I met with the woman in charge of dining room services. She was not a registered dietician but she did have a senior position and she made dietary decisions for those residing in the facility.

When my husband and I were discussing the problems maintaining my mother’s gluten-free diet she stated that ‘white bread would be fine’. We thought we must have misunderstood her so asked her to repeat her statement.

Unfortunately, we heard her correctly the first time. She went on to state that many residents in her senior facility were gluten intolerant but they did ‘fine’ with white bread.

Needless to say, we were horrified and made sure to not only set her straight but to speak to her direct senior. One has to wonder how many illnesses are being propagated at that very expensive facility simply due to the residents who are gluten intolerant eating gluten on a regular basis.

What Does Research Say about Age and Celiac Disease?

An excellent study was published in September 2010 that Dr. Alessio Fasano and many others contributed to. The research was titled: “Natural history of celiac disease autoimmunity in a USA cohort followed since 1974”.

We learned from this study that the incidence of celiac disease is not only on the rise, it doubled over a 15 year period, but that celiac disease increases with age, there has been a 5-fold overall increase in the US since 1974.

The increased incidence with age was felt to be due to an increasing number of individuals who lost the immunological tolerance to gluten in their adulthood. In other words, with age, they became less healthy and their immune system was no longer able to tolerate gluten.

Here’s What You Can Do

The take away here is three-fold:

1. If you’ve never been tested for gluten intolerance, you’re never too old to find out. In fact, even if you have been tested earlier in life, unless your health is optimal, getting retested is an excellent idea.
2. Regardless of your age, if you have any celiac disease or autoimmune disease in your family, get tested yourself, and encourage your relatives who suffer from health problems to do the same.
3. If you or a family member is known to be gluten intolerant and you’re being fed by someone else or an institution is providing you meals, do some due diligence to confirm that you are not being tainted with gluten. Your life could depend on it.

It is frustrating that individuals with celiac disease and gluten intolerance have to work so hard to ensure that their food is gluten-free, but in the long run, your health and that of your family and friends is worth it. I am here to help so please contact me with any questions you may have. Our destination clinic here at Root Cause Medical Clinic is designed to treat patients from across the country and internationally. It has been very gratifying to be able to help those who do not live locally. Feel free to give us a call for free health analysis.