US researchers said that undiagnosed cases of celiac disease, where the immune system has a strong adverse reaction to the protein found in wheat and other grains, appear to have increased dramatically in the last 50 years. They also found, over a 45 year follow up, that people with undiagnosed celiac disease have a nearly four-fold increased risk of premature death from any cause.

The study was led by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and appears online in the July issue of the journal Gastroenterology.

For the study the researchers analyzed blood samples taken from 9,133 healthy young adults from Warren Air Force Base between 1948 and 1954, and compared them to those of 12,768 more recently recruited, gender-matched individuals who were born around the same time (5,558 people) as the Air Force group, or who were of similar age (7,210 people) when they gave their blood samples.

They tested the blood samples for signs of celiac disease (by first looking for tissue transglutaminase and, if abnormal, for endomysial antibodies).

The researchers measured survival of the Air Force base group over 45 years, and compared the prevalence of undiagnosed celiac disease between that group and the more recently recruited one.

The results showed that: 14 (0.2 per cent) of the Air Force group had undiagnosed celiac disease.
In the Air Force group, over 45 years of follow up, death from all causes was nearly 4 times greater among individuals with undiagnosed celiac disease than those whose blood samples did not show signs of the disease (hazard ratio = 3…