New research out of Sweden links a possible connection with celiac disease and cataracts. Yes one more thing you may be able to blame on celiac disease.
The study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (and I found in Health24) looked at data of 29,000 Swedish celiac patients and compared them with a control group. Over a decade’s time, they found 1,159 cases of cataracts in celiac patients and 909 cases in the control group (according to the study, there were “up to five age- and sex-matched controls for each [celiac] patient.”).
According to the National Eye Institute, “A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging.”
So is celiac causing it? Maybe or maybe not, says the article,
“It’s possible that coeliac disease itself is not the culprit, according to Dr. [Kaziwe] Mollazadegan. Instead, coeliac and cataracts may share common risk factors, the researcher told Reuters Health in an email…. Autoimmune conditions other than coeliac disease have also been linked to cataracts, including type 1 diabetes. So there may be some underlying process, such as chronic body-wide inflammation, that contributes to cataracts, researchers said.”
Another possible trigger could be the nutritional deficiencies some celiacs have after diagnosis, but researchers say that information is not clear at this time. What they want you to take away from this is awareness that this is a possibility.
Tags: cataracts, celiac symptoms, diet, gluten-free
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