Gluten Free Doctors’ blog

Hidden infections and gluten intolerances

Hello,
As a doctor writing a book on the subject of gluten I am writing about this very important, though often overlooked consequence of celiac and gluten intolerance - hidden infections.

The mechanism, for those who are interested, revolves around the inflammation that is created in the small intestine with the ingestion of gluten for so many years. This inflammatory response weakens the immune system of the intestine thereby allowing pathogenic (disease causing) organisms to gain a foothold. Every 10 minutes our small intestines are exposed to pathogenic organisms. A healthy immune system destroys them but a compromised immune system can't defend itself adequately.

These organism can cause a myriad of health problems including gastrointestinal symptoms, arthritis and joint inflammation, obesity and hormone imbalance, to name a few.

Anyone with celiac or gluten intolerance is at risk for these infections which can be bacterial, parasitic, amoeba or yeast. I find a stool test to be the most accurate way to detect them but there are some labs I prefer over others due to their sensitivity and accuracy.

Hope that helps for anyone curious.

Best,
Dr Vikki Petersen
www.healthnowmedical.com
www.glutendoctors.blogspot.com

P.S. Can't wait to try some of your recipes and share them with my patients.

Also, if an infection is found it is critical to retest to ensure that it's been eradicated. And lastly, since the immune system of a celiac or gluten intolerant individual can take a few years to reestablish once gluten and any offending organisms have been removed, annual testing is probably a good idea for a couple of years.

Gluten Blog – Post January 3, 2008

Many patients find themselves in the position of having removed gluten from their diet but still suffering health problems.  These patients have made the Herculean effort to remove gluten entirely from their diet and while improved, their health is still not where they would have hoped.

What’s the problem?

In my clinical experience I find that patient’s who are either Celiac or gluten intolerant are highly susceptible to intestinal infections.  The damage which gluten causes to the lining of the small intestine also damages the integrity of the immune system within the intestines.  Considering that it is estimated that every 10 minutes our intestines are exposed to a pathogenic (able to cause infection) organism, it is critical to good health that our immune systems are strong enough to destroy these organisms.  Gluten intolerant individuals don’t have a strong immune system and thereby tend to contract infections.

You might think that if you had an intestinal infection you would have a fever, severe diarrhea or abdominal pain.  While this can occur, more often these infections are less extreme in their presentation.  But they are not silent.  A patient with an intestinal infection will not enjoy optimal health and, unfortunately, will not get the full benefit of removing the offending gluten from their diet.  When infection is not present, the removal of gluten results in the healing of the intestines and the improved health and well being of the patient.  In the presence of infection that healing does not take place because the infectious organism continues to irritate the lining of the intestine and the patient does not improve markedly.

Most doctors who diagnose celiac disease or gluten intolerance only focus on the change of diet that is necessary.  They don’t go the next step and rule out any hidden infection.  Many times patients have been diagnosed with an infection and stated that they felt they had had an infection but were told that because they didn’t have a fever or acute diarrhea it was not possible.

If you have been avoiding gluten but haven’t seen all the benefits to your health which you had hoped, consider getting evaluated for hidden infection.