Celiac disease link to depression

Women suffering from celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder associated with a negative reaction to eating gluten, are more vulnerable to depression and disordered eating compared to general population, even when they stick to gluten-free diet, a new study has revealed.

People with celiac disease often suffer from abdominal pain, constipation, decreased appetite, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. The disease is typically controlled by avoiding gluten-containing foods such as wheat, barley and rye.

“It is easy to see how people who are not managing their disease well can frequently feel unwell and, therefore, be more stressed and have higher rates of depression,” said Josh Smyth, professor of biobehavioral health and medicine, Penn State.

“But researchers had not carefully looked at whether people who are effectively managing celiac disease exhibit a greater risk for such difficulties,” he noted.

Smyth and his colleagues used a web-mediated survey to assess a range of physical, behavioural and emotional experiences in 177 American women over the age of 18 who reported a physician-provided diagnosis of celiac disease.

Celiac disease

The survey questions explored respondents’ levels of adherence to a gluten-free diet and assessed various symptoms of celiac disease, how physical symptoms interfere with functioning, the respondents’ experience and management of stressful situations, symptoms of clinical depression, and frequency of thoughts and behaviours associated with eating and body image.

“We found that most participants frequently adhered to a gluten-free diet, and this greater compliance with diet was related to increased vitality, lower stress, decreased depressive symptoms and greater overall emotional health,” said Smyth.

“However, even those people who were managing their illness very well reported higher rates of stress, depression and a range of issues clustered around body image, weight and shape when compared to the general population,” he added.