Coeliac disease complicates pregnancy

Coeliac disease is a common digestive disease that can cause abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and bloating. The disease stems from an abnormal sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye products. There is no cure for the disease, but patients can eliminate the symptoms by sticking to a gluten-free diet.

Researchers from the Orebro University Hospital, Sweden, found that if a woman has coeliac disease diagnosed prior to delivery she can be treated with a gluten-free diet, which reduces the inflammation in the small intestine within 1 or 2 years. These women would probably not suffer from malabsorption and would have normal pregnancies.

Researchers analysed the data from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare for roughly 2.8 million births between 1973 and 2001 to women without coeliac disease and for 2078 births to women diagnosed with coeliac disease between 1964 and 2001. Of these women, 1149 were diagnosed with coeliac disease before giving birth.

Compared with women with no coeliac disease, those with undiagnosed coeliac disease at birth were 62 percent more likely to have an infant with poor growth in the womb. Moreover, women with undiagnosed disease were at least twice as likely to have a baby with a low birth weight as compared to unaffected women. A diagnosis of coeliac disease before birth was generally not associated with growth retardation of the baby.

The findings suggest that to have a similar (and normal) risk of preterm birth or low birth weight as women without coeliac disease, coeliac disease should probably be detected 1 or 2 years before pregnancy so the associated small intestine problems can resolve.