Recognizing women with unexplained infertility and previous adverse pregnancy outcomes as at risk of celiac disease. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Celiac disease: an underappreciated issue in women's health.
Womens Health (Lond Engl). 2010 Sep ;6(5):753-66. PMID: 20887172
The Celiac Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy that is secondary to gluten ingestion and classically associated with gastrointestinal symptoms. Diagnosis is based on serology and confirmatory duodenal biopsy, and the only treatment is lifelong avoidance of gluten. CD has been increasingly recognized to encompass a wide variety of manifestations that are relevant to women's health, including infertility, adverse pregnancy outcomes and reduced BMD. Currently, CD is underdiagnosed, largely owing to lack of recognition of the diverse manifestations by general practitioners. Increased awareness of the clinical spectrum of this disease, as well as targeted testing in at-risk individuals (including women with unexplained infertility and previous adverse pregnancy outcomes, and in specific populations with reduced BMD) is greatly needed in order to improve rates of diagnosis.